Horrifying.

Let me know if you want to see more of my shrimp.

I just noticed we had a pet comm so I had to post but also I don't have a more interesting pet to share, I don't have the space for a dog/cat/birb. So you're stuck with my tiny shrimp.

  • MerryChristmas [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    I actually collect rainwater for that tank and mix it with some RO from the store. I also add just a dash of tap to put a tiny bit of mineral content back into the water column. To be 100% honest, though, I have no idea what my pH is - I mostly judge by the health of the flora and fauna. I've got visible fungal colonies starting to replace the nitrifying bacteria as the pH drops so I think I'm on the right track?

    One thing that I think made the process a lot easier was the way I setup the tank. I let plants dissolve in a bucket of rainwater with some small snails and rotifers to speed things up. Once I have a thick layer of mulm, I go ahead and use that as the bottom layer of my substrate.

    The idea there is that the decaying organics will provide a semi-permanent layer of humic acid to serve as a buffer. I mostly came up with this process through trial and error, but I was inspired by Alex from The Secret History Living In Your Aquarium on YouTube. He has a whole series on blackwater that I would highly recommend. He lacks the polish of the bigger fish streamers but his content is super easy to listen to in the background and extremely well researched.

    • comrade_pibb [comrade/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      Hey thanks for the insight! I'll check out that channel as well. I think I'm gonna start off by cutting my tap water with purchased distilled water, see if i can't knock off some of the hardness without too much fuss and then just keeping an eye on the stability of tank parameters while it cycles and seasons with some plants