KH : 0?

[Shrimpy Daddy]

They will die within a month.

[Matuva]

If you want to breed caridina cantonesis, I think you should just use RO water and remineralise it. They are too sensitive with water parameter fluctuation. 

How do you achieve that?

They will die within a month.

Argh! not cool!

[Matuva]

Also, I'm concerned about the stability of PH: I have read that, the lower the KH is, the more instable the PH is too...

[jayc]

Also, I'm concerned about the stability of PH: I have read that, the lower the KH is, the more instable the PH is too...

That's one of the reasons many people use planted substrate or shrimp specific substrate, rather than inert gravels or sand.

It helps buffer the water parameters.

If you can't get an RO unit, your other option is Rain water, mixed with some tap water (or remineralise it).

Remineralising means adding Calcium & Magnesium mix to rainwater or RO water, which is too pure and has little to no minerals for your aquatic pets. You can buy 'Salty Shrimp GH+', 'Mosura mineral plus', or see my DIY mix that will make a huge batch for the same price. 

Collect the rain water off your roof. New Caledonia must be a lot cleaner than Sydney.

Just inspect your roof for rust and bird droppings - remove where possible, remove debris from the gutters, add a mesh strainer, use a plastic rain water tank to collect and store rainwater. 

 

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Also, I'm concerned about the stability of PH: I have read that, the lower the KH is, the more instable the PH is too...

This is not totally true. If your pH is below 7, the KH will only prevent pH from dropping but not as much for rising pH. In actual fact, it encourages pH to rise when your water is mild acidic. For matured tank that gather a lot of waste at the bottom of substrate, then your pH will keep dropping and you may need 0.5 to 1dKH to buffer it. For this sort of scenario, usually I will just put a tiny bit of aragonite in the filter to neutralize the excess humid acid.

[Matuva]

Thanks Mates!

Yey! I just found a guy with a RO unit. He will be able to give me some RO water next week after he repairs it.

I won't change a lot of the water in the tank, I believe it is more wide to do it as a routine maintenance (10-15% of the tank) so as to avoid sudden and important changes. Am I right?

As i will do my first add of RO water in the tanks whilst doing routine water change, do I have to remineralise or is there enough stuff in the tanks at the moment?

[Shrimpy Daddy]

It should be used right from the start. I have this guide on setting up the tank that you can refer to: http://www.shrimpydaddy.com/pages/how-to-setup-shrimp-tank You just have to replace my products with your own product of choice.

[jayc]

If your friend only gives you enough for a water change then use that the best way you can to reduce GH/KH. 

If he gives you enough RO to change the whole tank, then you can change the whole tank water, remineralise the RO, and slowly re-acclimatise the shrimp back in.

It all depends on how much you can get, on an ongoing basis.

[Matuva]

I think I need to buy a RO unit. That's some bucks to spend, but then I won't have to run at his store carrying heavy jerrycans, especially as I have a knee surgery coming soon.

Once made, can I store RO?

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Yes, it can be stored. If you put them in a sterilized container with cover, it can last one to two months.

[Matuva]

R.O. water unit of my friend is not working yet. Post office takes longer to deliver the spare part needed.

I was thinking about using rain water, but as there a Nickel plant smoking around my area, I have no faith in the quality of such stuff.

If KH/GH tests are good, I wonder if I can use the water from a creek where I usually collect wild C.Typus and Paratya ?

I think I have to boil it before putting it in the tank, but if boiled, is it worth it using this water?

Edited July 28, 2015 by Matuva

[jayc]

You will need to test the water parameters to test it's suitability.

[Matuva]

Yes sure, will do.

I'm pretty confident about the suitability as it's a mountain creek with sand and a lot of dead leaves/wood inside

[Matuva]

Here are the specs of the creek water I just finish to test:

TDS : 55
PH: 7.5
GH : 6
KH: 1

Almost nice water. Should I use it, considering I can find lots of C. Typus, Paratya, some machrobachium and wild guppies and perches?

[revolutionhope]

hey matuva, im no water chemistry expert by any means but i think 1 gh is approx 20 ppm (if youre using API check the gh instructions youll see it shows a chart) so i can say with certainty that either your meter is bad or you're gh test result is incorrect. good luck w:-) love n peace will

[Matuva]

Yup, I'm using API test. I found the conversion chart, but I must confess I don't understand at all what it means

According to this chart, 1 GH is 17.9 ppm

I have re-done the test with this water, and as for the KH test, the water turns yellow at the first drop, so I understand it means KH : 1, and with the GH test, I need 6 drops before the water turns from orange to green, so I thing GH : 6...

[revolutionhope]

hey matuva well 1 drop turning tube Green means there is 17.9ppm ( OR less ) of calcium and magnesium salts. 2 drops will mean more than 17.9ppm but less than 35.8ppm .. so between 5 or 6 drops will be 90 - 108ppm which is almost double your TDS meter reading so one or the other is wrong. could be a faulty testkit as well. dunno. if it makes any differemce - but shake the bottle well before u do it. and be sure to follow instructions with the gh test kit precisely and see what happens! hopefully you'll figure out which is wrong :-)

[revolutionhope]

ps regardless of this result. as long as the kh is low and if youre trying to lower your tank params from gh 8 and kh 6 it sounds like water changing with the Creek water will fix things up more or less :-) just be sure to match temps and pH if you can and do the change as gradually and slowly as u can so as not to stress out the little shrimpies :-) love n peace will

[Matuva]

OK, will do again, tomorrow at sunlight to get sure to catch the good number of drops. ;)

Other than that, what do you think of this "wild water", should I take care about something special in order to use it?

[revolutionhope]

i cant stress enough to re-read the instructions and follow them to the letter. i messed up my nitrate kits for years because of not doing this :-) aside from that youll have to wait for a reply from jayc daddy kiz mosy or another more experienced shrimper for more guidance re using creek water :-) love n peace will

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Here are the specs of the creek water I just finish to test:

TDS : 55
PH: 7.5
GH : 6
KH: 1

Almost nice water. Should I use it, considering I can find lots of C. Typus, Paratya, some machrobachium and wild guppies and perches?

I think your GH test kit may not be accurate. If you said that you are using API GH test kit, I think the water is probably have 4 to 5dGH max when you are reading 6dGH.

[Matuva]

So, the new testing I did this morning gives this results:

TDS: 48
KH: 1-2
GH: 4

Seems more accurate this time. Testing under the light of an electric bulb is not the best it seems.

I also tried the water in of of my nano, and... i realized there are dozens of very tiny worms swimming inside 

Jackass I am 

[Matuva]

Put the ramshorn snail in a spare little tank.

I have dosed some Flubendazole (wormer) in the tank. 1 hour spent now, and almost no more swimming worms. Blue cherry and CRS OK.

I already used this wormer and have successfully treated this tank previously because of planaria, and the shrimps did go trouble free. I like this product 

Edited July 29, 2015 by Matuva

[jayc]

So, the new testing I did this morning gives this results:

TDS: 48
KH: 1-2
GH: 4

Seems more accurate this time. Testing under the light of an electric bulb is not the best it seems.

I also tried the water in of of my nano, and... i realized there are dozens of very tiny worms swimming inside 

Jackass I am 

Remember I told to you boil the water from the creek first??? Did you forget?

It was on the first page of this thread. Doh.

 

The water parameters above looks ok for use in your tank. Just boil it first. 

 

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Remember I told to you boil the water from the creek first??? Did you forget?

It was on the first page of this thread. Doh.

 

The water parameters above looks ok for use in your tank. Just boil it first. 

 

Jay,

You forgot to remind him not to use the water immediately after boiled. I afraid he will forget about it and use it immediately. LOL!!! ;)

Matuva,

For boiled water, you need to put an air pump or water pump to circulate it for a day or two before use. Boiled water will contain much lesser oxygen and it is not good to use it directly. Also when you are boiling the water, it is better to heat it to 60C to 70C for 20 mins or more (pasteurisation) instead of boiling it to boiling point. High temperature will cause water to evaporate, and nutrients may react and lost it's bioavailability.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Shrimpy Daddy