Idk, my shrimp have always done fine in our hard water. The PH tends to go down the longer you go between water changes, unless you have a crushed coral or aragonite for buffer. They breed like crazy.
it’s definitely your rocks!! this was me and i tried to fight my seiryu rocks with RO WATER CHANGES but over two months it just wouldn’t budge until i removed em
Break a piece of the rock off and put it in a small container, then test the ph of that after day.
That would be your test. What kind of fossils? It looks like a sandstone to me. If they are marine fossils that means you will have a calcium source, and potential for heavy metals that could cause pH changes
Rocks probably shouldn’t leech that much, is there any clam shell or coral or anything with a shell? KH is a measure of carbonate ion and it’s usually coming from those I just mentioned. Carbonate then pushes up your pH and if it came in those shell material then GH will also correspondingly be high.
lucy_lu_2 
Which one’s KH and which one’s pH?
Its a lot easier to use distilled or RO water and add a re-mineralizer to get the numbers right. Tap water is too unpredictable.
Idk, my shrimp have always done fine in our hard water. The PH tends to go down the longer you go between water changes, unless you have a crushed coral or aragonite for buffer. They breed like crazy.
Whats your KH exactly? What kind of shrimp are you getting?
There are shrimps for all water parameters so just get the ones that suit your water
You worry too much about KH/pH. KH between 2-7 is fine with neos. Instead, you should get GH checked.
it’s definitely your rocks!! this was me and i tried to fight my seiryu rocks with RO WATER CHANGES but over two months it just wouldn’t budge until i removed em
For what it’s worth my pH and GH/KH were different before cycling. My pH has changed significantly after cycling.
Break a piece of the rock off and put it in a small container, then test the ph of that after day.
That would be your test. What kind of fossils? It looks like a sandstone to me. If they are marine fossils that means you will have a calcium source, and potential for heavy metals that could cause pH changes
How long is it running? It seems there’s active soil, that should lower the ph in few weeks
Get a cup and fill with water from the tap. Wait a day then test it and compare.
Rocks probably shouldn’t leech that much, is there any clam shell or coral or anything with a shell? KH is a measure of carbonate ion and it’s usually coming from those I just mentioned. Carbonate then pushes up your pH and if it came in those shell material then GH will also correspondingly be high.