DIY Remineralisation for RO or Rain Water

[BellaDragon]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I was hoping I was finally on the right track with minerals as I've about exhausted every other avenue at this point. I hated science at school & now I read papers trying to figure out water lol

 

Ok - the rainwater tank for collection is not metal nor is the 140L bucket :) I know that the water will leach copper from the pipes in this house which is why I use the Cuprisorb in the prefilter water. The copper readings were only just readable but I didn't want any reading so that's why I prefilter it. I have done some testing to a small degree for some metals (like copper) but no laboratory testing has been done. I did send away for a well water testing kit from the USA & it contained kits for many things but they were once only usage so I don't have them any longer to know what they were precisely. For all intents & purposes it suggested that both the rainwater & groundwater are of similar quality & local irrigation guys have told me that the colour is tannins due to where I live. I don't drink the ground water but I do filter it for the fish. They actually seemed happier in that water than rainwater in my opinion but rainwater is what comes out of the taps for now so thats what I use.

 

It has also been suggested that I start raising brine shrimp as food for my fishes to help with mineral replacement, would remineralising negate the need for brine shrimp? Or are they still a good home grown feeding alternative? I stopped using frozen foods a while ago as the quality at my LFS was poor (they been defrosted & refrozen, trays half full, etc) so all I have had access to locally is dried foods. Even brine shrimp eggs here are sold in large quantities only @ $99 or so - wasn't keen to invest that much but Aquotix has much better pricing.

 

Once my shrimp start to improve in health I will try & get some photos - my low ph with remineralised water should start improving their colour too if I recall correctly, so I am looking forward to a return to a happy, breeding & thriving colony :)

 

Finally, I must say - you guys answer here much faster than I've ever had a response on any fish forum I asked for help at :) I think I might get to like it here

[jayc]

It has also been suggested that I start raising brine shrimp as food for my fishes to help with mineral replacement, would remineralising negate the need for brine shrimp? Or are they still a good home grown feeding alternative?

remineralising is not a replacement for feeding nutritious food. Definitely do both.

Brine shrimp are good for fry and small fish, but worms would be more nutritious.

I saw Techden stocking freeze dried blackworms, you should get that. It's dry, and won't need freezing.

[BellaDragon]

Ahh, thank you for that information :) I will bear that in mind & improve their diets all round. What is best to feed cherry shrimp? I don't get the best advice here in Bunbury and usually get told to buy whatever the LFS is selling. I do prefer to purchase the more expensive foods hoping that they are also of better quality. However I am yet to be convinced that what they sell is the best food for my fishes & shrimps :)

[jayc]

Ahh, thank you for that information :) I will bear that in mind & improve their diets all round. What is best to feed cherry shrimp? I don't get the best advice here in Bunbury and usually get told to buy whatever the LFS is selling. I do prefer to purchase the more expensive foods hoping that they are also of better quality. However I am yet to be convinced that what they sell is the best food for my fishes & shrimps :)

 

You're welcome.

If you are already purchasing stuff from TechDen, or The Age of Aquariums, check out their list of shrimp foods.

They stock some good brands of food. Like Benibachi, Genchem, and Shrimp Crack.

Bundle up your purchases and only pay $7.50 for shipping.

 

Alternatively you can get Shrimp Crack from Boss Aquaria, the original creator.

Everyone who has used Shrimp Crack has reported their shrimps loving it. 

[killer007]

are this DIY mix even good with higher grade CRS?

[jayc]

Kinda confused with your question.

You can use this for CRS. Or any other shrimp for that matter.

But it's technically not really the answer. 

You use re-mineralising solutions to remineralise Reverse Osmosis water or Rain water or very soft tap water, in order to get it to a target TDS for whatever shrimp or fish you are keeping. This target depends on they type of shrimp and what their preferred water parameter requirements are.

 

If your high grade CRS likes 140 TDS, then mix just enough of this into your RO or rainwater to get it to 140 TDS. Measure it with a TDS pen.

If your Cherry shrimp likes 160 TDS, then mix enough to get your RO/rainwater to 160, again measured with a TDS pen.

 

You don't pour a whole lot of remineralising mix into the tank and it automatically adjusts itself to CRS ideal parameters. It doesn't work that way. You still need to test and measure. <- this goes for all remineralising products.

 

Therefore, while it's good for high grade CRS, it's also bad if you use too much. <- this goes for all remineralising products, not just my DIY mix. The trick is knowing what TDS your shrimp will like best and adding just the right amount to achieve the correct TDS reading.

This mix helps you raise TDS, since using pure RO water or rain water is detrimental to fish or shrimp in the long term due to the lack of minerals in that type of water.

 

Hope you understood my response. I didn't know what to cover, as I didn't know how much you knew about remineralising products.

Edited March 26, 2015 by jayc

[killer007]

thanks, covered very well

[killer007]

actually i also want to know, how did you come out to those ratio of mineral? if you dont mind me asking

is it by trial and error?

 

if i want to house RCS for now and later wants to change to CRS or maybe higher grade CRS, is it okie if i dobit by bit water change to this Remineral RO water mix for every water change? I am currently doing a aged tap water cycle to my tank, and the water is kind of hard in canada but okie for RCS cuz I breeded some years before with the tap water here.

 

or its better sucked out all the tank water and changed all to these remineral RO water mix and do a drip method to add shrimp back to the tank instead of water change bit by bit in few months or within a year until i reach the TDS level for CRS?

 

sorry if i have too many questions, but i am kind of suck at science

Edited March 26, 2015 by killer007

[jayc]

Not really trial and error.

A bit of science behind it. The final ratio was fine tuned was after a bit of trials. There was no error though   

 

Well if you are planning on housing RCS with CRS in the same tank ...

I would start the tank of with parameters that will suit CRS right from the start. 

RCS can get used to those parameters. Always drip acclimatise any new shrimp when adding them to a tank, even when you think ph, TDS, GH/KH match. There are a whole lot of other parameters to match apart from the common ones.

 

If you change to RO water later on, then you can do it at each water change, which is the least stressful on the shrimp or, in one big bang, then drip acclimatise the shrimp back in.

[kizshrimp]

Hey Killer, check out the pinned articles by BlueBolts and JayC in the water parameters section. The ratios are mentioned there and JayC has supplemented that information very neatly in his articles. The ratios were probably already established - Hagen's (Nutrafin) "African Cichlid water conditioner" and Seachem's "Equilibrium" both provide Ca:Mg at the same ratio. 

 

RCS really prefer harder water than CRS so it's not normally recommended to keep them together. If you will do then manage the water for the CRS as the Cherries will adapt better. If you're not keeping the CRS yet then a slow change to the new parameters is probably fine. 

 

Beat me to it JayC! What he said Killer. 

[killer007]

thanks a lot guys

very informative stuffs

[Tankeyone]

Is there any reason that your DIY Remineralisation mix couldn't be used for fish as well? 

Obviously you're not going to have tested it on every type of fish conceivable to be 100% sure, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be OK for most (if not all) species? 

[jayc]

Of course it can be used for fish. 

I don't recall saying that it can't be used for fish. If I did, apologies. 

In fact, I use it to remineralise rain water for my amazonian biotope fish tanks.

And for my Killie fish tanks. 

 

It doesn't matter what fish or shrimp. You just use as much or little as needed to get RO or rain water up to the right mineral content specific to the species you are keeping.

I keep my Amazonian tanks at 80 TDS.

Killie tank at 140 TDS.

Shrimps 150 TDS.

[revolutionhope]

Hey jayc

does that imply that ca:mg ratios are same for fish and shrimp?

[kizshrimp]

Check my post above. Hagen and Seachem both have plenty of resources for R&D and have developed products with the same ratios that are not specifically intended for shrimp. 

 

The Hagen product supplies Calcium as Calcium Chloride due to solubility and price reasons, and you'll find that most conditioning salts do too, including others from Seachem. Because Chloride (and Sodium) are not desirable for planted tanks and also not typical of soft water environments, "Equilibrium" uses the sulphate forms, the same formula that JayC described. 

[revolutionhope]

Tq for clarifying :-)

[kizshrimp]

I will add that it's just more important for shrimp due to the moulting issues they can experience. While fish and indeed all animals need Calcium, Rickets (bone deformity due to insufficient calcium supply) has apparently never been observed in fish. 

I'm sure Fishmosy could add some technical detail to that statement. 

[Disciple]

Sorry to jump in and change the subject. i was looking for this product Hagen's (Nutrafin) "African Cichlid water conditioner". Anyone know where I can get a bottle. My googling skill have failed me

 

Dw I found it.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Disciple

[jayc]

Paste this into your search engine

hagen African Cichlid water conditioner site:au

[Tankeyone]

not at all Jay, you didn't say not to use it for Fish, or even remotely come close to implying it! 

I just wanted to check with those in the know before I went ahead and did it, call it a 'stupid' question to avoid a potentially very stupid mistake. 

[Disciple]

Paste this into your search engine

hagen African Cichlid water conditioner site:au

Thanks

[Aquathumb]

If I remember correctly potassium will raise KH? If so have you found any issue with CRS/TBs ect. Most, if not all sites recommend 0 KH for Caridina. 

 

I like the sounds of your mix over saltyshrimp and the benefit to the plants/mosses sounds like a bonus and if no issues with raised KH, the water/PH stability a bit of KH would bring would be a good thing.

 

I am a bit hesitant to change my Taiwan Bee system over to it, but would like to if you (and others) have had good success. Are you using the mix with TBs?

 

Also, a bit off subject. Do you know if all these minerals (from Aquotix Aquarium or Aquarium Online Store) are food grade? I wonder if this mix would be good for re-mineralizing RO water for drinking. I use a re-mineralizing cartridge for the drinking tap for my family but I believe the cartridge says "dissolves Calcium Carbonate into the water. This adds minerals for good taste and health and neutralizes the pH" hardly sounds like healthy water to me. re-mineralization mix sounds like a better option or should I just stick to taking a mineral supplement/pill (hard to get the kids to do!)

[jayc]

Aquathumb, yes potassium itself will raise kh. The last time I checked my tanks, KH took 1 drop to change the API test. I wouldnt use potassium if there were no plants in the tank. But if you have some plants, they will use K up very quickly.

You can always reduce the potassium amount a bit more or remove it completely. Thats the beauty of diy mix.

You'll have to ask AOS, if those minerals are food grade. I doubt it, as they would have said so. Food grade would also cost more.

Edited March 27, 2015 by jayc

[kizshrimp]

I use Potassium Bicarbonate to raise the KH but I'm not sure how Potassium Sulphate is supposed to achieve this? 

[Tankeyone]

Hey JayC, I'm on my way out to buy a bunch of this stuff and i have a question re making the mix up and storing it. 

Is it a viable option to mix say 10x the recipe, dump it into a sealed container, shake the crap out of the container and then use it from there with the occasional shake?