Water Changes for New Tank question

[shrimpstan]

What ever it is in BT9 its good stuff and I rate it heaps. Wouldn't surprise me though if this were another case of misleading product labels although i do stand by using the stuff and it does seem to cycle quicker than without, not to mention that all the shrimp will come out of the hidey holes once it goes in.

 

Marketing geniuses.. what will they come up with next? :p

[Disciple]

Hi all,

 

Just a quick update to show how all your advise has helped this newbie. As you can see from the below pic the water parameters are starting to look quite good. I will do another 10-15% water change in a couple of days and if the water parameters are still good I think the tank is ready.

 

 

I also tested the TDS and get 184ppm which is slightly higher then water from the tap (180) not sure if it is too high or not.

 

One issue I am having is a lot of algae start to show up. I have been taking it out of the tank as much as I can. Now that the nitrates is down to 0 I am hoping it wont grow too much. I have my lights on 7 hours a day. Is this too much? Should I be bringing it down to 6?

 

Thanks for all the advise, Cheers!

[jayc]

Looking good.

If your tap water is 180, then you can't do much about it if you don't go towards RO.

As long as you keep it stable, and acclimatise any new shrimp slowly to your water parameters, it should be fine.

You can try removing the temporary hardness of the water by boiling it. Should reduce TDS to somewhere between 50-150ppm.

Of course you will need to cool the water before adding it to your tank, for goodness sake.

 

As for algae, it's a constant battle.

Do you know what type of algae?

 

Brown algae (diatoms) is fine. The shrimp will love it. And it should go away soon after the tank is cycled.

Green algae is also fine, as long as it's not out of hand. Just scrub it off the front glass, so you can see your shrimp.

The list goes on, and it depends on what algae you have before we can give you much more advice.

Edited September 3, 2014 by jayc

[Disciple]

Looking good.

If your tap water is 180, then you can't do much about it if you don't go towards RO.

As long as you keep it stable, and acclimatise any new shrimp slowly to your water parameters, it should be fine.

You can try removing the temporary hardness of the water by boiling it. Should reduce TDS to somewhere between 50-150ppm.

Of course you will need to cool the water before adding it to your tank, for goodness sake.

 

As for algae, it's a constant battle.

Do you know what type of algae?

 

Brown algae (diatoms) is fine. The shrimp will love it. And it should go away soon after the tank is cycled.

Green algae is also fine, as long as it's not out of hand. Just scrub it off the front glass, so you can see your shrimp.

The list goes on, and it depends on what algae you have before we can give you much more advice.

Sweet,

 

Really happy the way its going.

 

I am getting mostly green aglae off the glass its getting long in some areas. I have scrapped it off the front glass but left some on the side and back so there is some for the eventual shrimp. There is brown aglae coming off the rocks.  How much algae is too much?

 

I will also try boiling the water for my next water change. I will boil it the night before and see how it goes. I plan to get an RO unit as soon as I can. Would it be worth using a water filter? I got one of those jugs you get from k mart that filters water.

 

Thanks again.

[jayc]

How much algae is too much?

- that's up to what you can tolerate aesthetically. Get rid of it once it looks ugly to you.

Test the TDS of the boiled water.

If it's lower than the tap water, then you should be fine.

A TDS of around 150-160 is a good target for shrimp.

Drinking filters generally, make the water more alkaline. Just a bit more basic/alkaline.

So your teeth don't get eroded by acidic water. The slightly alkaline water also taste better.

I've never used those drinking filters, so can't comment.

I'd avoid using it until someone can confirm that it's ok.

That's why Reverse Osmosis units aren't just the same as those undersink water filter units.

Edited September 4, 2014 by jayc

[Disciple]

Fair enough

 

I will work on getting the TDS lower.

[Disciple]

I was doing my water change yesterday and the water coming out the tap was 124 tds. It was raining a lot would that why the water coming out of the tap went from 180 tds to 120?

 

Cheers.

[jayc]

Possibly. It depends on where your water is coming from.

 

My tapwater is usually 100 in Sydney.

But 100ppm of who knows what chemicals. 

Edited September 7, 2014 by jayc

[OzShrimp]

Please dont stress about your tds being 184, IMO its not excellent but its still good. Mine is around 160-180 but i used to keep my shrimpp in 280+ which is my tap water and thats when i had problems, not really any associated with my tds at this level.

 

I would be happy if my tap water was that tds level.

In terms of any added extra stuff i cant confirm either whether its good or not people have used RO units for drinking water i know that much and it was just a case of replacing one of the cartridges :) 

[Disciple]

Please dont stress about your tds being 184, IMO its not excellent but its still good. Mine is around 160-180 but i used to keep my shrimpp in 280+ which is my tap water and thats when i had problems, not really any associated with my tds at this level.

 

I would be happy if my tap water was that tds level.

In terms of any added extra stuff i cant confirm either whether its good or not people have used RO units for drinking water i know that much and it was just a case of replacing one of the cartridges :) 

 

 

Thanks Ozshrimp I am over thinking it haha. I tested my gh and kh I think it is fine too.

 

I have ordered some of the stuff you recommended also thanks for taking the time to link it all.

 

Possibly. It depends on where your water is coming from.

 

My tapwater is usually 100 in Sydney.

But 100ppm of who knows what chemicals. 

 

I was suprised when I checked it. I shouldn't complain.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Disciple

[shrimpstan]

Do u have plants that require longer light hrs? If not I'd kill lights to maybe 4 hrs a day if ur starting to get string algae, and remove this algae as much as possible as often as possible.

 

To answer your question about mironecton powder u asked in a PM its a Benibachi product comes is a light grey pouch. Boss Aquaria should stock it otherwise any of the other sponsors that sell Benibachi products will have it. It may also be called mineral powder. Used once a week. Monitor TDS as some have had issues with a spike... although this has not been my experience. It really helps them moult and grow healthy.

 

As for the RO drinking canister, FSA make a 5 stage system. The first 3 are for the tanks. The fourth will bring water back to neutral. The 5th is added for alkaline water.. I get around ph 8.5-9.0. Everyone who tries it comments on how completely neutral it tastes and its very refreshing. No grainy rocky taste some re mineralised filters taste. For an extra $100 I couldn't recommend it enough! Also the guys at FSA are very helpful and informative and seems like they are at the forefront of the industry within Australia.

[Disciple]

I do have some HC but I will keep the lighting to 4 hours a day just to reduce the algae.

 

Yeah I bought a few products from Boss Aquaria hopefully it will arrive in the next couple of days.