Buy from this European EU store that has more than 8k Aquarium products ✅ www.aquaristikshop.com/no/421683 All sales within 90 days of the original visit through this link are credited to me (90 days cookie). So please add this to your bookmarks thank you.
I have an ADA amazonia tank that's been running for 9 months now, haven't added any prime. Had about 2-3ppm total ammonia in the tank at any given time since June still and have shrimp (and fish) breeding and thriving. only chemical alterations I make to my tap are adding sodium thiosulphate for chlorine and a small wondershell with each water change for calcium. Only change about 40% water every 2 months. pH runs at about 6.2 which is the key. As long as your pH is below 6.5 you should have nothing to worry about from a few ppm total ammonia since it is bound by hydrogen into ammonium. I think these soils often cause a knee jerk reaction when people (often established hobbyists trying a new product) see dreaded ammonia in their water (I paid so much for this and now I have water with ammonia like a novice!) without understanding that it's beneficial as a plant fertilizer in this particular context. It's actually part of what you're paying for IMO. Amazonia is kind of a full package deal in terms of providing root fertilization, water column fertilization, acidifciation (which also helps provide crystal clear water as it inhibits bacterial growth) and buffering capacity. A lot of the problems people run into with this stuff come from trying to work against it. Not cheap, wouldn't recommend it for every tank but it's the real deal when it comes to growing huge, healthy plants without the problems that capped potting soil substrates often cause.
Thats a very interesting comment, you think its possible the issue people have is really the massive ph drop or just not acclimating the shrimp properly ?
Something not often talked about with ammonia: Ammonia has two forms, pH and temperature control the proportion of the two forms. As pH and temp go up, so does the proportion of the more toxic form. Having a tank with lower pH would already be lowering the impact of the ammonia.
Hi Mark I frequently use Ada amazonia v2 in my shrimp aquariums ... I think the problem is not ammonia. I'm sure the problem is Ada's fertilizers. So this is the method I use. I make water changes of 15% every day during the first week. So as to remove all the Iron present in the water. Iron is the Problem! I hope I was helpful 🤗
So the prime is binding the ammonia. Agreed. But surely that's delaying the maturation of the UGF? I presume the only reason that doesn't matter too much is that you also have a sponge filter in there too?? Incidentally I'm not sure you can just state EC is 2x TDS. To quote a friend who has worked in biochemistry... "TDS is not an exact measure, you have to make a bunch of assumptions to convert EC to TDS, because Calcium and Magnesium carry twice as much charge as Sodium and Potassium, for example. As far as I know, most TDS meters assume that the solution is entirely Sodium chloride and convert accordingly, but to get an accurate measure you would need to know the constituent minerals that make up the dissolved solids". I would be interested in your take on that observation and how it relates to shrimp tanks in the context of remineralizes RO water/ tank water. This was a very interesting video and I think it needs to be part of a playlist on this topic. I'm interested to see how the tank plays out as you say, over the next few weeks/months. My only hope is that as ammonia is constantly released from the Amazonia (until it is exhausted), the prime stays on top of it, and there is no lag between the cycle of release-testing-dosing-release. Thanks so much for going into this level of detail and sharing what you are doing. Most people just want to show off their 🦐, whereas your angle is the sharing of information (which is far more commendable, and your shrimp speak for themselves anyway).
Prime absolutely raises TDS. I have been dosing with Prime for over a year now in my nano tanks and noticed the TDS jump. So much so I was just doing water changes with just pure distilled water. I worry that my shrimp are not getting enough of the minerals they need; I use Salty Bee gh+ sparingly.
I've used Prime for some years ( and keep using) , the first uses I got suprised with that but then I got reasonable: Prime increases ppm, but CORRECT dosage just increase less than 10 ppm ( over 5-6 in my case). The problem is that Prime is not normal as the products we could use before, it is a ultra-ultra-concentrated conditioner, so we must take care of dosage it's only like 1 drop per 10litres Anyway I actually use osmosis, but keep using prime
@@srl2485 Thanks for the dose chart! I am still using it as the benefits outweighed the ppm increase. I’m going to try using your dosing method and see if that slows the ppm increase. I did realize my mistake of just using pure distilled water without adding minerals (Salty Bee). I rarely just use unmineralized distilled water…I only use it for top ups now.
Prime is helping, but ADA aquasoil lowers the ph of the water, which means you probably have ammonium (acid), and not ammonia (base). Ammonium is far less toxic than ammonia. I'm really happy you're covering this topic Mark. I have 3 tanks that have ADA in them for 3.5 years (2 are bee shrimp tanks, 1 has chili rasbora). As I set the tanks up, I dreaded the day I had to switch out the soil due to depletion over time. Using mineralized RODI has extended the soil, but still. I fear the day will come soon that I need to change it out. Shrimp are still breeding, so are the fish. All is still well.
Yes I feel you Jen, I am not sure I am brave enough to try this on a fresh tank with shrimp in it, I would have to measure how long it takes the ph level to stabilize and then possible try it in the future.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I didn't add any shrimp or fish to any of the 3 tanks until 6 months after initial setup. I was going for "seasoned" tanks for extra measure. I was overly worried as my bee's were going to be my first ever shrimp pets.
@@MarksShrimpTanks haha, sorry, yeah the shrimp. He has a strong line of these, excellent reds and the size on them are shocking. I bet he would know what the all red grade are referred to as if anything.. maybe worth a message if you’re still itchin to know
I use prime , just for new water, but with correct dosage my ppm only increase 5-8ppm, its ultra concentrated conditioner I recomend you to use just in new water and not in the aquarium, your tank are suposed to be "clean" so it only has to work on new water First, when I used like a normal conditioner, ppm increased like 40ppm, then I read the instructions and get noticed about my error
So bad that shrimpkeepers (gladly not for neos) have to use this horrible soil stuff. I used so many substrates over the decades and nothing is nearly as good as very fine sand. Even for Aquascaping. Plants grow better and beautifuller, fishes that gravel clean around are much more happy, food doesnt sink into the sand, so it cannot rot there and flark up everything. If I would keep the low ph shrimp, I would rather hang or place a bag with some soil in the tank than using it as my substrate. So you can change it when needed. So you can use much less of it.
Its interesting you are having good results with ada amazonia and akadama. Both of these substrates lower the ph of the tank considerably more than other substrates, wondering if you are tracking pH as well? I also heard rumours about ada amazonia II not buffering pH as low as amazonia version I.
I fish a lot an i am firm believer in Carbon filter to make fish more happy ..Or lava rock i never have bait fish die..i tested my water it said its full of AMMONIA out of my well water
So expensive. I use a white silica sand base before adding Ada Amazon into the corners of the tank. Shape vegetation islands with it. To go full tank with the ADA Amazonia is pretty baller I done it the first time.
I think the best way is to cycle this UGF Box with News Soil for 2-3 Weeks in a Bucket with RO-Water. The Main reason is the swinging of pH in the First Weeks.
sodium thiosulphate is what i use for dechlorinating my water , i have used it for years . Like you Mark i do not think it removes chloramines . It saves me a fortune in the fish room !
is possible. i had 2 bio filter bags of plastic full with soil, 10 dais in a tank woth some plants only, i took them out and was full of ammonia these soils are traps .
Oh you definitely can, I debunked that theory with this tank. Here is the tank a few weeks later th-cam.com/video/VFXREDuTX9Q/w-d-xo.html Here is the tank again with baby shrimp in it th-cam.com/video/glVU0FZMxko/w-d-xo.html Here is the tank a few weeks ago overgrown and full of shrimp th-cam.com/video/-N8UpXT7_VM/w-d-xo.html
Yeah I am a little to scared to try it full on with a main tank and bags of soil, I dont think the issue would be ammonia and nitrites etc I think the issue would be the massive ph swing you get in the first week with ADA.
My Neocardina tank is Two years running.When i started tank i didn't cycle the thak. Before a week ago i was doing first ammonia test. ammonia level was 0.25.I changed 25 water. i tested ammonia again. result same ammonia levels 0.25. I dont understand why ammonia level rising?
@@MarksShrimpTanks My tank is not good planted so I use powdered food 4 times a week in morning and everyday give them solid food at evening.is it over feeding? Sir.
@@MarksShrimpTanks ok I’m interested to see because I recently bought a bag of the ADA Amazonia myself but haven’t set up the tank yet so I was wondering how long it will take. Please keep us updated!
Mark can u test for ammonia after dosing prime?we should see at least change in color to my understanding...if there is no change than how we know it works?and if does work isn't it causing fluctuations in ammonia levels every day?maybe dosing every second day will keep it stable but still shouldn't it actually bring it down to zero?can u do tests for a week?
Ammonia tests aren't testing for a single molecule they test for a range of molecules including ammonia, ammonium, and chloramine and other amines iirc. Only some of those substances are harmful, from what I understand prime react with the ammonia and changes it to the non-toxic form but still shows up on the test because it's chemically similar.
Depends. Are you using tap or RO/Distilled water and remineralizing it? If you're using tap water and its hard like mine is, for my Neocaridina I check it once a month if that. I know how hard my water is and luckily the gh kh are in levels that are ideal for my shrimp. However if you use distilled water you will need to remineralize the water. So you'll need a TDS sensor like you saw I'm the video, and shrimp mineral+. And if that's the case I'd test it after every water change to make sure everything stay where I want it.
Buy from this European EU store that has more than 8k Aquarium products ✅
www.aquaristikshop.com/no/421683
All sales within 90 days of the original visit through this link are credited to me (90 days cookie).
So please add this to your bookmarks thank you.
I have an ADA amazonia tank that's been running for 9 months now, haven't added any prime. Had about 2-3ppm total ammonia in the tank at any given time since June still and have shrimp (and fish) breeding and thriving. only chemical alterations I make to my tap are adding sodium thiosulphate for chlorine and a small wondershell with each water change for calcium. Only change about 40% water every 2 months. pH runs at about 6.2 which is the key. As long as your pH is below 6.5 you should have nothing to worry about from a few ppm total ammonia since it is bound by hydrogen into ammonium.
I think these soils often cause a knee jerk reaction when people (often established hobbyists trying a new product) see dreaded ammonia in their water (I paid so much for this and now I have water with ammonia like a novice!) without understanding that it's beneficial as a plant fertilizer in this particular context. It's actually part of what you're paying for IMO. Amazonia is kind of a full package deal in terms of providing root fertilization, water column fertilization, acidifciation (which also helps provide crystal clear water as it inhibits bacterial growth) and buffering capacity. A lot of the problems people run into with this stuff come from trying to work against it.
Not cheap, wouldn't recommend it for every tank but it's the real deal when it comes to growing huge, healthy plants without the problems that capped potting soil substrates often cause.
Thats a very interesting comment, you think its possible the issue people have is really the massive ph drop or just not acclimating the shrimp properly ?
Hello,
Did you do Prime once a day? Or more often!?
every second day 2ml in 50 liters tank
@@MarksShrimpTanks thank you..
@@MarksShrimpTanks how long?
Something not often talked about with ammonia: Ammonia has two forms, pH and temperature control the proportion of the two forms. As pH and temp go up, so does the proportion of the more toxic form. Having a tank with lower pH would already be lowering the impact of the ammonia.
Thats a great comment and something I will look more into , thank you. ❤
Also a reason to be careful with sulawesi shrimp. Not only are they pretty sensitive but the water gets toxic quickly.
I bought a tub of safe a few years ago. I've got a 3000L pond a 240L and a 45L
It's lasted for years!
I just bough 250g so it should last me a while
@@MarksShrimpTanks long time!
Hi Mark I frequently use Ada amazonia v2 in my shrimp aquariums ... I think the problem is not ammonia. I'm sure the problem is Ada's fertilizers. So this is the method I use.
I make water changes of 15% every day during the first week.
So as to remove all the Iron present in the water.
Iron is the Problem!
I hope I was helpful 🤗
What does too much iron do to fish?
yeah I cant do water changes every day these are shrimp not fish mate.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I know it's cuz I dose iron into my tanks and was wondering if it could harm my fish if I have too much 🤔
@@MarksShrimpTanks
I meant during tank starting cycle
🦐✅🙏
its nice experiment especially with some products being in low supply and i love your santa red crystals
Thank you Kris
So the prime is binding the ammonia. Agreed. But surely that's delaying the maturation of the UGF? I presume the only reason that doesn't matter too much is that you also have a sponge filter in there too??
Incidentally I'm not sure you can just state EC is 2x TDS.
To quote a friend who has worked in biochemistry...
"TDS is not an exact measure, you have to make a bunch of assumptions to convert EC to TDS, because Calcium and Magnesium carry twice as much charge as Sodium and Potassium, for example.
As far as I know, most TDS meters assume that the solution is entirely Sodium chloride and convert accordingly, but to get an accurate measure you would need to know the constituent minerals that make up the dissolved solids".
I would be interested in your take on that observation and how it relates to shrimp tanks in the context of remineralizes RO water/ tank water.
This was a very interesting video and I think it needs to be part of a playlist on this topic. I'm interested to see how the tank plays out as you say, over the next few weeks/months.
My only hope is that as ammonia is constantly released from the Amazonia (until it is exhausted), the prime stays on top of it, and there is no lag between the cycle of release-testing-dosing-release.
Thanks so much for going into this level of detail and sharing what you are doing. Most people just want to show off their 🦐, whereas your angle is the sharing of information (which is far more commendable, and your shrimp speak for themselves anyway).
The nutrients are still available to the filter even when bound by Prime.
Wow it’s amazing stuff then. So the question has to be asked - why not do an immediate start with a tank and dose prime every day?
@@chrisbee9164 The ph is still an issue, in the beginning it drops too fast, so you would still have to wait on it stabilizing.
Prime absolutely raises TDS. I have been dosing with Prime for over a year now in my nano tanks and noticed the TDS jump. So much so I was just doing water changes with just pure distilled water. I worry that my shrimp are not getting enough of the minerals they need; I use Salty Bee gh+ sparingly.
I've used Prime for some years ( and keep using) , the first uses I got suprised with that but then I got reasonable: Prime increases ppm, but CORRECT dosage just increase less than 10 ppm ( over 5-6 in my case).
The problem is that Prime is not normal as the products we could use before, it is a ultra-ultra-concentrated conditioner, so we must take care of dosage it's only like 1 drop per 10litres
Anyway I actually use osmosis, but keep using prime
@@srl2485 Thanks for the dose chart! I am still using it as the benefits outweighed the ppm increase. I’m going to try using your dosing method and see if that slows the ppm increase. I did realize my mistake of just using pure distilled water without adding minerals (Salty Bee). I rarely just use unmineralized distilled water…I only use it for top ups now.
Prime is helping, but ADA aquasoil lowers the ph of the water, which means you probably have ammonium (acid), and not ammonia (base). Ammonium is far less toxic than ammonia. I'm really happy you're covering this topic Mark. I have 3 tanks that have ADA in them for 3.5 years (2 are bee shrimp tanks, 1 has chili rasbora). As I set the tanks up, I dreaded the day I had to switch out the soil due to depletion over time. Using mineralized RODI has extended the soil, but still. I fear the day will come soon that I need to change it out. Shrimp are still breeding, so are the fish. All is still well.
Yes I feel you Jen, I am not sure I am brave enough to try this on a fresh tank with shrimp in it, I would have to measure how long it takes the ph level to stabilize and then possible try it in the future.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I didn't add any shrimp or fish to any of the 3 tanks until 6 months after initial setup. I was going for "seasoned" tanks for extra measure. I was overly worried as my bee's were going to be my first ever shrimp pets.
There’s the close ups, yay thanks mark. Love them, I got to get batch from Vin.
Batch of what? the shrimp
@@MarksShrimpTanks haha, sorry, yeah the shrimp. He has a strong line of these, excellent reds and the size on them are shocking.
I bet he would know what the all red grade are referred to as if anything.. maybe worth a message if you’re still itchin to know
Does akadama soil increase PH,Gh,tsd? Can I set up a fancy tiger shrimp tank with this soil? How long does it take to change the soil? Thanks
I use prime , just for new water, but with correct dosage my ppm only increase 5-8ppm, its ultra concentrated conditioner
I recomend you to use just in new water and not in the aquarium, your tank are suposed to be "clean" so it only has to work on new water
First, when I used like a normal conditioner, ppm increased like 40ppm, then I read the instructions and get noticed about my error
So bad that shrimpkeepers (gladly not for neos) have to use this horrible soil stuff. I used so many substrates over the decades and nothing is nearly as good as very fine sand. Even for Aquascaping. Plants grow better and beautifuller, fishes that gravel clean around are much more happy, food doesnt sink into the sand, so it cannot rot there and flark up everything. If I would keep the low ph shrimp, I would rather hang or place a bag with some soil in the tank than using it as my substrate. So you can change it when needed. So you can use much less of it.
Its interesting you are having good results with ada amazonia and akadama. Both of these substrates lower the ph of the tank considerably more than other substrates, wondering if you are tracking pH as well? I also heard rumours about ada amazonia II not buffering pH as low as amazonia version I.
I fish a lot an i am firm believer in Carbon filter to make fish more happy ..Or lava rock i never have bait fish die..i tested my water it said its full of AMMONIA out of my well water
So expensive. I use a white silica sand base before adding Ada Amazon into the corners of the tank. Shape vegetation islands with it. To go full tank with the ADA Amazonia is pretty baller I done it the first time.
AMAZING video with full information.. you have the best shrimps
i bet you go test any fresh water in the wild it has some salt in it
Do you sell any shrimp?
Those are some happy Shrimps!!! and Gorgeous!
I think the best way is to cycle this UGF Box with News Soil for 2-3 Weeks in a Bucket with RO-Water. The Main reason is the swinging of pH in the First Weeks.
yes you are probably correct that was my only worry doing this, I will try and test this sometime in a bucket.
Love your videos, can you tell me what is the small tub like device on the bottom in front of the square substrate container?
Hello Donna, watch this it will explain all th-cam.com/video/0QqyDKN-ABE/w-d-xo.html
sodium thiosulphate is what i use for dechlorinating my water , i have used it for years . Like you Mark i do not think it removes chloramines . It saves me a fortune in the fish room !
Yeah I wasnt sure, chloramines is chlorine + amonnia right, sodium thiosulphate doesn't remove ammonia from what I remember.
is possible. i had 2 bio filter bags of plastic full with soil, 10 dais in a tank woth some plants only, i took them out and was full of ammonia
these soils are traps .
I was looking more into it last night, ammonia isn't toxic under a certain Ph that could be why its not affecting them.
Can't put shrimp in the first month when using fresh ADA soil in your tank.
Oh you definitely can, I debunked that theory with this tank.
Here is the tank a few weeks later th-cam.com/video/VFXREDuTX9Q/w-d-xo.html
Here is the tank again with baby shrimp in it th-cam.com/video/glVU0FZMxko/w-d-xo.html
Here is the tank a few weeks ago overgrown and full of shrimp th-cam.com/video/-N8UpXT7_VM/w-d-xo.html
Your video’s are Awesome, i learned so Much from you !
Thank you very much. Greetings michel
Glad you like them Michel thanks for watching bud:)
Oh thank God. Whew.
ooh am i first?
Amazing information ! 👍
Would purigen be able to remove that bind amonia?
from what I know it can remove the chemicals that make up ammonia, nitrites and nitrates but not them. Ive just ordered some to test some things.
Not in my shrimp keeping days, but I have cycled fish tanks from day 1 using prime/safe. Awesome stuff.
Yeah I am a little to scared to try it full on with a main tank and bags of soil, I dont think the issue would be ammonia and nitrites etc I think the issue would be the massive ph swing you get in the first week with ADA.
My Neocardina tank is Two years running.When i started tank i didn't cycle the thak. Before a week ago i was doing first ammonia test. ammonia level was 0.25.I changed 25 water. i tested ammonia again. result same ammonia levels 0.25. I dont understand why ammonia level rising?
overfeeding maybe or old tank syndrome? you can do bigger water changes in neo tanks, I some times do 50% water changes in my neo tanks.
@@MarksShrimpTanks My tank is not good planted so I use powdered food 4 times a week in morning and everyday give them solid food at evening.is it over feeding? Sir.
Fingers crossed 🤞
How long does ADA Amazonia leach ammonia? When will you be able to stop dosing the prime?
we will have to wait and see, I have done this before but not documented the times.
@@MarksShrimpTanks ok I’m interested to see because I recently bought a bag of the ADA Amazonia myself but haven’t set up the tank yet so I was wondering how long it will take. Please keep us updated!
Hi Mark, I have a question which substrate can you recommend which is the lowest PH level? , currently testing Ada Gold and Ista 5.5
ADA powder is the only one ive had thats went below 5ph but I wouldn't recommend it as a stand alone shrimp soil it compacts to much.
@@MarksShrimpTanks No need that low , we need 5.5 \ 5.8 , what best for you now ? And for those that you don't have to wait a few weeks for ...
I only use inert substrate just so I never have to second guess if my substrate is the problem
you are breeding bee shrimp on inert substrate?
I currently have Blue Bolts and OEBTs berried on inert substrate. Also a Crystal Red tank on inert but those are still young. Ph 6.6 tds 115 range
Mark can u test for ammonia after dosing prime?we should see at least change in color to my understanding...if there is no change than how we know it works?and if does work isn't it causing fluctuations in ammonia levels every day?maybe dosing every second day will keep it stable but still shouldn't it actually bring it down to zero?can u do tests for a week?
the test still reads bound ammonia my friend.
Ammonia tests aren't testing for a single molecule they test for a range of molecules including ammonia, ammonium, and chloramine and other amines iirc. Only some of those substances are harmful, from what I understand prime react with the ammonia and changes it to the non-toxic form but still shows up on the test because it's chemically similar.
@@MarksShrimpTanks ok.thnx for replying..so I guess healthy shrimp will be good indicator if prime really works
Fingers crossed 🤞
i HOPE HE SAVES THEM 🥴
Would love to know the PH level
OK just for you I will go check, I am interested also. I will post a picture in my community tab when I am done. 👍
👍❤👍
How often should we check GH and KH ?
Depends. Are you using tap or RO/Distilled water and remineralizing it? If you're using tap water and its hard like mine is, for my Neocaridina I check it once a month if that. I know how hard my water is and luckily the gh kh are in levels that are ideal for my shrimp. However if you use distilled water you will need to remineralize the water. So you'll need a TDS sensor like you saw I'm the video, and shrimp mineral+. And if that's the case I'd test it after every water change to make sure everything stay where I want it.
@@JohnDabs420 thanks