Help with water parameters

[jba6511]

I am new to keeping shrimp and was hoping someone can help me sort through some issue with the water parameters of my tank. The tank is a 4.6 gallon cube, that runs between 72 - 74 (22.22 - 23.33) degrees, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites. It has been cycled and running since December 2015 but about a month back converted to a shrimp tank (removed the fish, did a 100% water change and added sponge over filter). Current inhabitants are a nerite snail and 1 RCS.   I initially had 3 RCS, but lost two. I believe this was due to them trying to molt as they both had white lines on their back, but were fine the day before (one after 7 days and another after 12 days). I also have some java jerns, java moss, dwarf sags, crypt wendetti, and some floaters.

Current water parameters:

TDS: 166ppm

GH: 1.7

KH: 0

My PH is also low (6 something if I recall but can measure this again if needed). I am using tap water that I add prime to that is then place in a rubbermaid with a powerhead until I need to do top offs / water changes.  So far all I have done is top off on the shrimp tank. My plan is to pick up some Salty Shrimp and add that to the tap water to raise GH and KH. I believe I should be shooting for a GH between 6-8 and KH of 2-5, with a TDS between 80 and 200. I also plan to add some iodine twice a week to try and address the molting issue.

Does this seem reasonable? Any additional changes I should be making or consider? Once the water parameters are in order, I would like to add some additional RCS to the tank.

 

 

[jayc]

@jba6511, you have very softwater in your area. Perfect for shrimps and softwater fish.

The TDS measurement is already at the ideal level. Buying Salty Shrimp GH/KH + sounds like a good plan.

There are other methods to raise KH and GH, but for simplicity, Salty Shrimp will do as an all-in-one product.

Go slow and raise it 1degKH a week.