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Hey SKF peoples, I'm just mixing up my RO water with a combination of GH+ and GH/KH+ to keep tiger shrimps in. And I thought I'd share my experience, I gradually added the minerals and measured pH along the way and I thought I'd share the results. I note that the pH may change overnight after letting stand but I have been running a pump in the water to mix it well and aerate it so I doubt there will actually be any measurable shift. As you can see by the results, the GH/KH+ pushed up the pH a LOT! Does anyone else have this experience? I have achieved my desired water parameters in terms of ppm and GH/KH however the pH is unreal.. and this is not the first time this has happened to me either. However t is the first time I have taken the effort to document the fact. I'm planning on experimenting with adding a very shallow layer of the cal aqua labs black earth premium and monitoring the pH over the course of days.. expecting it to slowly drop... Any input is 100% welcome! love n peace will PS the initial drop in pH after adding the first lot of GH+ I understand can be explained (as I have read elsewhere) that when attempting to measure the pH of RO water using a pH meter the device can not accurately produce any result due to the lack of ions/conductivity in the water. 27/05/2016 EC meter HM TDS-3 pH meter pH APIkit KH GH At time of water mixing EC0 ppm0 fresh RO 6.6 after adding 50ppm GH+ 6.3 after adding 30ppm GH/KH 7 after adding 25ppm GH/KH 7.5 after adding 45ppm GH/KH EC300 8.3 after adding 17ppm GH/KH EC333 ppm175 8.3 7.8 3 8

Awww, I completely missed this comp (and the last auction!) Prizes looked awesome, good work @newbreed and @Disciple (and all the others). Couldn't stop laughing when I saw @waffle 1D picture :)

I bought a pack of screen wipes from Office Works, (isopropyl alcohol), for around $5/100, and use one to wipe down the glass, then a soft microfibre cloth. Works every time.

Perhaps some testing is in order now it's winter. Get a digital thermometer and run the probe into a syrup box and see what the temps end up at overnight Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To achieve a slightly higher ratio of GH:KH - I wanted KH of 2-4 and GH of 6-10.

Thanks mate, cycling sucks but there is no other way unfortunately :( I think the worst part about cycling is you have so much motivation with the new tank and you just don't want to see it bare with nothing living in it lol.

That's it, if I move from Canberra, I am going to Queensland. I would love to have a tree. In Canberra it either boils or freezes or gets hit by plague after plague. I tried an organic veggie patch- invested $600 in my 'health' and after aphids, small green bugs the size of midges that scrape off the whole top layer of a leaf, beetles and some fungus/ virus, I was done. I bought mulberry leaves 'fresh' last weekend, was apparently delivered by Express post on the day I was working from home, but nothing ever arrived. Now, me being an eternal cynicist, I suspect someone got given my package by error and opened it and tossed my bulk leaf pack out. Can't ethically ask for a refund as it says delivered, and the seller put the effort in of picking them. Just bought some more on EBay. I suspect based on your feedback above that I might be able to get my baby survival rate up this way. Thank you for the great thread guys!

Someone on shrimpspot suggested using a pinch of purigen/ macropore. But what about shipping to places where it gets below freezing overnight? Do thr packs often sit in an uninsulated warehouse overnight? Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

There are other sources of Calcium for your shrimp apart from dosing Calcium sulfate or dropping shells and cuttlefish bones into the water column. These sources come from the foods we feed the shrimp. These are all natural sources of food, so should be okay to feed your shrimp, just be careful you wash them properly and ensure no fertiliser/chemical residue is on the veg/fruit. If you grow it yourself, you will be sure of what was sprayed on the plants. Here is a list of vegetables and fruits by mg of Calcium content per 100gm of food. Vegetable (mg Ca) Arrowhead 1 Chives (per tablespoon) 2 Peppers, Sweet 6 Alfalfa sprouts 10 Pumpkin leaves 15 Asparagus 14-28 Coriander (cilantro) 16 Chard, Swiss 18 Radish seed sprouts 19 Lettuce, Cos, Romaine 20 Lettuce, Romaine (100g) 20 Squash, Zucchini 20 Jerusalem artichoke 21 Pumpkin 24 Endive 26 Squash, Summer 26 Cauliflower 28 Purslane 28 Radishes 28 Carrots 30 Eggplant 30 Cabbage 32 New Zealand Spinach 32 Kohlrabi 34 Lettuce, Looseleaf 38 Peas, Green 36 Turnips 39 Cress, garden 40 Watercress 40 Broccoli 42 Mung bean sprouts 42 Celery 44 Beet greens 46 Snap beans 46 Parsnips 47 Spinach 56 Mustard Greens 58 Green Onions 60 Peas, Edible pod 62 Rutabagas 65 Celeriac 68 Chinese cabbage 74 Parsley 78 Salsify 80 Borage (Starflower) 82 Okra 82 Kale 94 Lettuce, Iceberg 102 Dandelion greens 103 Turnip Greens 105 Kale, Scotch 137 Chicory greens 180 Mulberry Leaves ~200 Collard Greens 218 Fruits mg Ca Plum 4 Peach 5 Nectarine 5 Casaba Melon 5 Blueberries 6 Honeydew Melon 6 Banana 6 Cranberries 7 Apple(with skin) 7 Pineapple 7 Persimmon 8 Watermelon 8 Mango 10 Grapes 11 Cantaloupe 11 Pear 11 Grapefruit, Red & Pink 11 Grapefruit, White 12 Apricots 14 Tangerine 14 Strawberries 14 Sweet Cherries 15 Raspberries 22 Papaya 24 Lemon (peeled) 26 Kiwi fruit 26 Blackberries 32 Lime 33 Orange 40 Seedless Raisins 49 Just a word of caution. These foods contain Phosphorous and could have an ill effect on your water quality. It might even cause an algal bloom if the levels of phosphorous become too high. Common sense applies when feeding ... not too much too often, and if there are any leftovers, remove it. For those Phosphorous conscious people out there, this is a table of Calcium to Phosphorous ratio: Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio - Vegetables 14.5:1 -- Collards 10.0:1 -- Mulberry Leaves 7.5:1 -- Spinach, Mustard 4.5:1 -- Turnip Greens 4.3:1 -- Lambsquarters 3.2:1 -- Dill Weed 3.0:1 -- Beet Greens 2.8:1 -- Dandelion Greens 2.8:1 -- Chinese Cabbage (pak-choi) 2.7:1 -- Lettuce, LooseLeaf 2.4:1 -- Mustard Greens 2.4:1 -- Parsley 2.4:1 -- Kale 2.1:1 -- Chicory Greens 2.0:1 -- Spinach 2.0:1 -- Watercress 2.0:1 -- Cabbage 1.9:1 -- Endive 1.6:1 -- Celery 1.5:1 -- Purslane 1.4:1 -- Cilantro 1.4:1 -- Lettuce, Butterhead 1.3:1 -- Okra 1.1:1 -- Swiss Chard 1.1:1 -- Turnip 1.1:1 -- Chard, Swiss 1.0:1 -- Squash (winter, all varieties) 1.0:1 -- Green Beans 0.8:1 -- Lettuce, Romaine 0.8:1 -- Sweet Potato 0.8:1 -- Rutabaga 0.7:1 -- Broccoli 0.7:1 -- Cucumber (with skin) 0.6:1 -- Carrots 0.6:1 -- Squash (summer, all varieties) 0.6:1 -- Carrots, Baby 0.6:1 -- Brussels Sprouts 0.5:1 -- Cauliflower 0.5:1 -- Kohlrabi 0.5:1 -- Pumpkin 0.5:1 -- Alfalfa Sprouts 0.5:1 -- Parsnips 0.5:1 -- Peppers,Green 0.5:1 -- Peppers,Red 0.4:1 -- Sweet Potato Leaves 0.4:1 -- Beets 0.4:1 -- Asparagus 0.2:1 -- Tomato .02:1 -- Corn, White Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio - Fruits 4.8:1 -- Papaya 2.9:1 -- Orange 1.8:1 -- Lime 1.8:1 -- Raspberries 1.6:1 -- Lemon (no peel) 1.5:1 -- Blackberries 1.5:1 -- Grapefruit, White 1.2:1 -- Grapefruit, Pink and Red 1.2:1 -- Tangerine 1.0:1 -- Pineapple 1.0:1 -- Pear 1.0:1 -- Apple (with Skin) 0.9:1 -- Mango 0.9:1 -- Watermelon 0.8:1 -- Cherries, Sweet 0.8:1 -- Grapes 0.8:1 -- Cranberries 0.7:1 -- Casaba Melon 0.7:1 -- Apricots 0.7:1 -- Kiwi 0.7:1 -- Strawberries 0.6:1 -- Cantaloupe 0.6:1 -- Honeydew Melon 0.6:1 -- Blueberries 0.5:1 -- Persimmon, Japanese 0.5:1 -- Raisins, Seedless 0.4:1 -- Peach 0.4:1 -- Plum 0.3:1 -- Nectarine 0.3:1 -- Banana So Collards are a good choice as they have a high Calcium to Phosphorous ratio While Bananas are not such a good choice as they a low Calcium to Phosphorous ratio.

Due to an unlikely set of circumstances I ended receiving some of the short creek caridina confusa from northboy - i decided against trying to keep the c zebra shrimp (which I had prepaid for in May or June but delayed and delayed, so anyway i'm hoping that these will be easier to keep given they're apparently used to a much wider range of water parameters than the zebs which live in parameters something similar to "evian - the essence of purity" The shrimp were packed very well by northboy in a large box; 2 very large breather bags inside the box with 10 shrimp in each, there was one casualty I discovered later, but the rest seemed quite happy. I also had asked for some native mosses and some leaves - he kindly included a very good sized portion of moss and also a few ferns which look beautiful but i'm not sure if they'll do well in gravel - (any tips about how to plant/grow them would really be appreciated!) He also threw in great samples of IAL and mulberry leaves and the shrimp went into a feeding frenzy for these mulberry leaves - they must have been somehow better than the mulberry leaf already sitting in the tank ? My first impression of the confusa was "wow these things are big" - I've never had any shrimp other than neos and CBS and some of the girls were already slightly chunkier than the biggest elderly female cherry I've seen. They really do have a different body shape/structure to neos and bee shrimps for sure and given my eyesight is bad I really appreciate their larger size ! They do have a pretty yellow hue when viewed in nice light conditions. I also thought they seemed to be social animals; seeming to congregate together for some reason ?? I tested water parameters of the newly arrived shrimp, EC 150ish (75ppm), pH 6.8, GH 2.5 and KH ~1 (I measured GH and KH using 10mL sample in an effort to get a reading twice as accurate as the API test kit normally would give). My tank which is approx 110 litres had been running for a month or two already and the canister was seeded with media from other cycled canisters as well as an air-sponge which was brought across from another tank. My substrate is just a fine black quartz. The water in the tank was RO plus a blackwater extract and some boss aquaria mineral powder and was around 9 or 10 ppm. I attempted to achieve a slightly softer water than the bags the shrimp came in by using a mixture of salty shrimp bee shrimp and salty shrimp GH/KH + and i think i did a good job with pH somewhere around 6.6 - 6.8 and a bit lower EC. I'm in Adelaide and our tap water is horrible with 100-200 ppm water and can even get much higher at times. So i realise if i am going to be able to share my shrimps locally with people who don't have RO units then I won't want to keep them in extremely soft water conditions that's for sure. The shrimp were acclimatised carefully by drip method and then temperature matched by floating them before releasing them; they seem to have settled in quite comfortably, grazing around and interestingly they do seem to still like to be in each other's company, clustering together somehwat and not scattering so randomly as my neos have always done whenever I've received a new lot. So my tank is horribly horribly "aquascaped" if you can call it that as I just didn't have time (or energy) to focus on appearances today and it is a practical tank not a display tank as such. I had to do water-changes and other maintenance in other tanks while I had the chance to spend time in my room and life is busybusy as it is for many of us at this time of year. So enough of my rant; I hope someone here finds my little shrimp-journey I've had today interesting.. and here are some shabby phone-pix, the colours show up very poorly in part because the tannins from the blackwater extract I recently added to the tank tints the water very dark and it will take a few days for it to become clearer. OK no pictures available due to technical problems - will post again tomorrow with some pix hopefully if i get time damn LOL love n peace will

Hi @jayc After trying your fantastic DIY RO reminelarising method I am keen to try your DIY food recipe I have found a company locally that sells a all in one super food. So my question is, do you think this would work, say adding 4 teaspoons of this mix to the agar agar? Sorry, its quite a long list, but please tell me if you see anything that might be dangerous or a no go for shrimp? Greens Blend-Proprietary 2500 mg Barley Grass Juice Powder (Certified Organic) Chlorella (Japanese Cracked Cell Wall) Spirulina USA (Certified Organic) Vegetable Blend-Proprietary 1500 mg (Certified Organic) Carrot Juice Powder Broccoli Juice Powder Cauliflower Juice Powder Spinach Juice Powder Parsley Juice Powder Kale Juice Powder OxiSure™ Blend -Proprietary 300 mg Concentrated Extract (Certified Organic) ActiveX Carrot Juice and Carrot Powder, Green Tea extract (decaf), Blueberry, Plum, Grape Seed Extract, Cranberry, Raspberry, Tart Cherry, Pine Bark Extract, Broccoli Powder, ActiveX Tomato, ActiveX Spinach, ActiveX Kale, ActiveX Brussels Sprout Soya Lecithin 1800 mg (GMO Free) Phosphatides (97%) Fiber Blend-Proprietary 1950 mg Oat Betaglucan (Certified Organic) Apple Fiber Pectin Brown Rice Bran Enzyme Blend 200 mg Bromelain Extract (80 GDU Per Gram) Papain Protease Amylase Lipase Cellulase Lactase Probiotics (Dairy Free) 200 mg L. Acidophilus S. Thermophilus L. Bifidum B. Brevis L. Bulgaricus Other Ingredients Sprouted Barley Malt 200 mg (Certified Organic) Green Tea Extract, Decaf (60% Polyphenols) 100 mg Quercetin (98% Dihydrate) 100 mg Resveratrol 100 mg Milk Thistle Seed Extract (80% Silymarin) Red Beet Root 50mg (Certified Organic) Cinnamon Powder 50 mg (Certified Organic) Aloe Vera Gel Powder 50 mg (Certified Organic) Tumeric Rhizome Extract 20 mg (85% Curcuminoids) Atlantic Kelp Powder 15 mg ( Certified Organic) Licorice Root Extract 5 mg Other Ingredients: Natural Flavors, Stevia, Citric Acid Thanks

Thanks to jay's inspiration I have been making "Shrimp Kandy Feast" too with great results, although I add raw shrimp (including shell) to mine. 12oz water 1 teaspoon agar agar 1 Tablespoon Chlorella 1 Tablespoon Spirulina (mainly because I already have a bunch of it and want to use it up) 1 teaspoon Astaxanthin, 1 teaspoon powdered Bee Pollen. 4 medium shrimp with shell and tails (prefer whole shrimp with heads if available) Method: I let the agar soak in 8oz of water while I prepare the other stuff. I puree the shrimp in a food processor with 4oz of water Mix all dry ingredients together Cook the agar solution and let it cool a few minutes Add the shrimp puree, then the dry stuff and mix. I use mini ice cube trays when I make a similar agar based food for my cichlids, but I didn’t like the big chunks for the shrimps. So I line a large cookie baking sheet with tin foil, and then pour the mixture onto it, spreading it to form a thin layer about 3-4mm thick. I let this set at room temp, only takes about 15 minutes or less, then I use an "Onion Holder (slicer)" to make nice long narrow strips by dragging it across the gel to score/slice it. Then I let it freeze and break the long thin strips into shorter pieces and put it in a baggie in the freezer. The results is long thin narrow strips that allow more shrimp to swarm on it at once because of the large surface area.