Shrimp Tank Additives

VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
Well, the mondo water change happened. 12.5 gallons of distilled, remineralized (Salty Shrimp GH KH+) water. I'd have taken more out but the siphon stopped working and it's an awkward, tall tank to get into. My TDS is now 186. That doesn't seem like much but when you know that I started out at 345, it means something. And so, the waiting begins AGAIN. lol I did a little re-scape after digging through the aquarium stuff in the cold, dark shed.

Pictures or it didn't happen, right? ;)

WaterARama1.30.17.jpg RescapeWaterARama1.30.17.jpg Where Distilled Water Bottles Go to Die.jpg
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
VickiK said:
Well, the mondo water change happened. 12.5 gallons of distilled, remineralized (Salty Shrimp GH KH+) water. I'd have taken more out but the siphon stopped working and it's an awkward, tall tank to get into. My TDS is now 186. That doesn't seem like much but when you know that I started out at 345, it means something. And so, the waiting begins AGAIN. lol I did a little re-scape after digging through the aquarium stuff in the cold, dark shed.

Pictures or it didn't happen, right? ;)

View attachment 3526 View attachment 3529 View attachment 3530
Click to expand...
Oh wow! I love the new look! Really makes use of the tank's vertical dimension. Keep us posted!
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
julzhull said:
Love the addition of the wood! Will the TDS go down from 186?
Click to expand...

Well this morning, it's back up to 200 AND THAT IS PROGRESS! Colin said if I can get it to 200 and keep it there, I'll be OK in the long run. I am going to continue to work on the TDS though and try to get it lower. Maybe the remineralization stuff that I am using -- and that shrimp need - is having an effect too. Now to find the balance!

I did spring for a API Master Test Kit and played with that a little bit this morning before work. I also went to Amazon and got some API stuff that helps bring your PH down.

I'm tellin' ya. These are friggin' Gazillion Dollar Crystal Red Shrimp -- that I don't even have yet.
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
A nice way to keep pH on the acidic side is just to pop in some Catappa (Indian almond) leaves in the tank. The fry also eat them. I know the Co-op has them.
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
FishBeast said:
A nice way to keep pH on the acidic side is just to pop in some Catappa (Indian almond) leaves in the tank. The fry also eat them. I know the Co-op has them.
Click to expand...

Oh @FishBeast , I have spared no expense in this endeavor! I got a few of those and some of those shrimp balls too and even bought alder cones (I probably have a tree in my yard) and tossed it all in there. One whole Catappa leaf has already disintegrated in there. The snails have been working on it.
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
VickiK said:
Oh @FishBeast , I have spared no expense in this endeavor! I got a few of those and some of those shrimp balls too and even bought alder cones (I probably have a tree in my yard) and tossed it all in there. One whole Catappa leaf has already disintegrated in there. The snails have been working on it.
Click to expand...
Say "Shrimp Balls" 5 times real fast and as loud as possible.
 
Knutsen1122

Knutsen1122

Active Member
VickiK said:
Thanks for your support, Betty! Since the distilled water I has 0 TDS, Colin says that will work fine. This weekend, I"m going to do a 99% water change using remineralized distilled and let it cycle.

THIS HAS TO WORK!

I could have a few cherry shrimp and not go through all this nonsense, right? Someone was posting somewhere that they got some multicolored "Skittles" mix from LR Bretz...I'm thinking, why can't I be happy with that? Well, I can't. I want Crystal Red Shrimp, dammit. I'm not ready to give up. Not yet.
Click to expand...


When your tank is stable I have some CRS for you :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Knutsen1122

Knutsen1122

Active Member
VickiK said:
Update: PH Lowering juice from API arrived. I had it down 7.0 PH and 190 TDS this morning!

:D <==Giddy, I tell ya. Giddy.
Click to expand...
Yaaay!!!!

If you have substrate that actually buffers it should get down to about 6.5. I would say do about a 30% WC with straight distilled water, no re mineralizer. Maybe just a little prime, and let it stabilize. You should try getting your KH to 0. When the KH is 0 your ph will be very unstable and should buffer down to right where you need it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
Knutsen1122 said:
Yaaay!!!!

If you have substrate that actually buffers it should get down to about 6.5. I would say do about a 30% WC with straight distilled water, no re mineralizer. Maybe just a little prime, and let it stabilize. You should try getting your KH to 0. When the KH is 0 your ph will be very unstable and should buffer down to right where you need it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Doing this RIGHT NOW!!!
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
OK. I did just what you said @Knutsen1122 aka Colin.

Prior to the water change, TDS was back up to 247. After adding the non-remineralized distilled water, it was at 180.
I moved the wood by accident and tons of lovely brown moam (?) came up from the substrate. I took out 12 Liters and added 12 Liters (no remineralization) and, while I was at it, "cleaned" (rinsed/squeezed out in aquarium water) my HOB filter foam, bio rings and the sponge filter. Pic is after about an hour of the water settling. That's a lot of nice goo, right?
Lovely shrimp snacks! The Indian Almond Leaf is totally gone now; only a teeny bit of the skeleton is left. The plants are doing fine (I'm not going to use Easy Green or Easy Iron this week - I normally dose as directed on the bottle), there's Red Ramshorn Snails living it up in there. And the Pennywort is apparently a snail favorite as far as snacks go - fine with me.

And, because I'm an over-achiever, LOL I did a Master Test:
PH Low Range Test read 7.6
PH High Range Test read 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

I had to redo the Nitrate test TWICE because I was getting some whackadoodle color ... was using a wrong bottle combo -- DOINK.

So....I'll go get some more distilled water to have on hand -- I'm out now.

Colin, What do I do next??? After more waiting of course. lol

2.6.17 Shrimp Tank.jpg
 
Knutsen1122

Knutsen1122

Active Member
Wait haha. Actually you need to get your ph down. I don't think your substrate is buffering it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
Knutsen1122 said:
Wait haha. Actually you need to get your ph down. I don't think your substrate is buffering it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Update: my GH KH test kit arrived yesterday and I conducted the test this morning.
KH 7
GH 9

TDS 212 <== yay! improvement!

Clearly, I need to do more waiting! This is agony!

And I will get more distilled water...!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top