Filling new shrimp tank

[BiGGiE]

Hi all

im about to setup my shrimp breeding tank and wanted to ask whether everyone fills their tank 100% with RO water? Or half ro half tap or any ratio at all?

thanks

[BlueBolts]

Depends, are you using a new filter ?

[torface]

I set up my rack with 100% RO water...

[BiGGiE]

Yea BB usin a new filter

was thinking of cycling with tap water then do 50 % water change with ro once the tank is cycled?

[Squiggle]

I've just used 100% RO in my system, gonna take a long time to fill 1300L of RO water, took a week to fill what is running so far, lol :dejection:

[BlueBolts]

Especially for a large system/rack, time and practicality comes 1st. My RO unit is tiny ... 10lt/hr. during the initial fill, I use 50/50 Tap and Old Tank water (primarily to wash off any toxins etc that maybe lingering), on the 2nd day, 50% water change with 50/50 RO/Old Tank Water, 3rd + day 25% with RO water only....just depends how much RO, Old Tank Water etc you have. I'd prefer the natural way of cycling a tank, whilst Others may add a pre-starter bacteria culture. Between the 2-3 day, I would also rinse my old filter wool etc into the tank to introduce the bacteria.

[Squiggle]

+1 Agree, that's what I have been doing with my cycle, although I have been using 100% RO, I don't have that much volume of other tanks for old tank water. I have been cycling the sump for two weeks now & I washed out a couple of sponges in there & also threw a hand full of food on the top level of the mechanical/ biological section(on the fine filter wool) then I will be turning each tank on one by one as they are filled & ready to go. I have three tanks separate from the rest of the system at the moment running on sponge filters as they already have shrimp in them & once the rest of the system has cycled & the WP are the same I will slowly start adding system water to them while monitoring the WP in those tanks so it doesn't stress out the shrimpies & shrimplets too much :victorious:

[blindfisherman]

If you are adding 100% RO are you also adding salty shrimp to the mix?

[BiGGiE]

Thanks guys

the tank is only 150 litres so should i just start with 100% ro?

and yes ill be adding salty shrimp minerals to the water

its going to be setup up for crystals so will ro + salty shrimp amke a difference?

or just a waste of money?

[Squiggle]

Yes I am, I got the TDS/EC perfect before adding the shrimpies & will do the same thing with the sump & the rest of the tanks too, good question dude :encouragement:

Definitely not a waste of money :encouragement:

[blindfisherman]

In theory it should 'save' you some money as the initial water volume doesn't have to be buffered and the substrate should last longer.

Just make sure its all mixed with SS minerals before adding as pure RO will strip the buffering capacity pretty quick I would think.

[Squiggle]

+1 agree, very good point dude :encouragement:

[BiGGiE]

Thats a great tip thanks for that!

[BiGGiE]

Just a question though does ro water have a really high ph?

and thats y it would suck the buffering capacity out of the soil?

or the minerals would get sucked out of the aquasoil?

[HexaD]

I sourced my RO water from a local water supplier at $0.25 per liter when I filled my 3ft and 2ft as I didn't want to stress my RO unit. Maybe that's something you can consider if you didn't want to wait.

[blindfisherman]

If you leave RO water out it should technically reach around the high 6's in pH from the CO2 in the atmosphere forming a weak carbonic acid.

The RO water has zero minerals so it would take the minerals from the soil.

Just for a random bit of info - I managed to strip the buffering capacity of $300 worth of ADA in 3 months with Sydney tap water....

If you are using RO with SS minerals then the amount of minerals the soil needs to add is very minimal and it should therefore last a lot longer.

[blindfisherman]

I sourced my RO water from a local water supplier at $0.25 per liter when I filled my 3ft and 2ft as I didn't want to stress my RO unit. Maybe that's something you can consider if you didn't want to wait.

That would get quite costly if you were filling a larger tank or system wouldn't it?

I think I worked it out that my RO unit costs about 2c per litre to replace the cartridges. I don't pay for water though so there is another part most have to factor in.

[torface]

Just a question though does ro water have a really high ph?

and thats y it would suck the buffering capacity out of the soil?

or the minerals would get sucked out of the aquasoil?

My RO water is ph 6.0, but ive heard that it can vary.

[mr_c265]

Water with 0 mineral content will always have a pH of 5.8, this is due to the formation of carbonic acid due to the pressure of carbon dioxide in the air.

Minerals being sucked is a good enough explanation.

[blindfisherman]

Water with 0 mineral content will always have a pH of 5.8' date=' this is due to the formation of carbonic acid due to the pressure of carbon dioxide in the air.

Minerals being sucked is a good enough explanation.[/quote']

And that's why you are the go to guy for chemistry :)

I had a stab at high 6's :P Didn't realise it would go so low.

[BiGGiE]

Ive got ro water coming from a lfs at $5 for 20 litres

ro units waste alot of water dont they?

im thinking im going to fill my tank with tap water to cycle the tank

then do a water change with ro premixed with salty shrimp

does that sound ok?

[BlueBolts]

Just be weary of RO from external sources/LFS.....have heard and known of several disasters etc.....always check ALL WP before using. :-)

[BiGGiE]

Will do thanks BB

just want to double check that if i test ro water with a tds meter it should read 0 right?

[BlueBolts]

Yep, BUT mine reads 50 ATM...need to change the resin ! Thanks for the reminder

[BiGGiE]

Haha no worries glad i could help =D