Losing some color?

[Ankit]

First, some specs:
Substrate: ADA Aquasoil
Temperature: ~73.5F (~23.05C)
Filter: Eheim 2232 (#?)
Plants: Tons of java moss, subwassertang or however it's spelled, and rotala indica.

Some of my CRS aren't showing as vibrant of colors as normal - the red is fading a little, the white is actually just as strong as it was when I got them. I notice this most on 1 specific CRS and 1 other, the other 3 haven't changed a whole lot but I think it can be seen a little on all. Their white portions are in some cases stronger than the red. These were bought as A grade shrimp, and I have 5 of them.

My tap water is very hard, I do treat it with water conditioner to remove harmful metals, or neutralize them, whatever the proper word is. Because of the hardness, I recently did some water changes with R/O water, I have 4.5 gallons of it in my tank, which is an 18 gallon or so ADA tank.

I don't remember entirely if I saw this color fading prior to that, but that's the only thing I've done in the past week or so, or really for quite a while.

Any thoughts? Is a less red color a sign of stress or anything? What should I do?

[Ankit]

They finally all came out, after I submitted the post actually, lol, how ironic is that...

Anyway, I took a look at all of them and the red on their abdomen is really missing, the whites have gone away a little too. The gaps inbetween red areas are also larger.

I'm thinking that the only way to figure this out is through water changes and to see if going back to tap water is the best solution.

[retardo]

The fading of the colors does not indicate stress necessarily, but it does indicate that the conditions you have them in are less than ideal. If you post the readings from the water, it'd be helpful. pH, kH, GH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp, etc.

[Ankit]

Ok, measured all of what was requested.

pH: 8.0
kH: ~100 ppm, maybe a little more, 115-125?
gH: ~200 ppm, maybe a little less, 190?
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate: None measureable
Temp: ~73.5F

I'm using an Eheim canister filter and ADA's Aquasoil.

I'm using tap water for the tank, but have water that gets run through a water softener as an option incase I want to go that route.

[Ankit]

7dKH
10-11dGH

[retardo]

Your pH is 8.0 and you're using aquasoil? What is the pH out of the tap? For best results with CRS, you want your pH below 7.0.

Are your CRS breeding?

[Ankit]

Hmm... something odd - tap water's pH is 7.6, while the tank's pH is 8.0

I think the test kits are right, I've confirmed with 3 different sets. I have two test kits for the 6.0-7.6 range and another test kit I got recently for 7.4-8.8.

Here's my entire setup:
ADA 60cm tank
Eheim 2232 filter
1x 3 liter bag powersand (medium I believe)
1x 9 liter bag Amazonia Aquasoil
Tons of java moss, java ferns, 15-20 stems rotala indica, fissidens species moss, 2 pieces of driftwood (one is maybe 50 cm long while other is 25cm or so).

Inside the filter, I've got their media balls, coarse/fine filter pads, and lastly some Purigen that I used to clean up the tank.

Even before the Purigen, the water was this same pH.

And no, they aren't breeding.

[goerroe me]

Something in your tank is driving up your ph.
Have any idea what it can be?