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Buy these items for a bit over $200: https://www.spectrapure.com/product/maxpure-mpro-90-gpd-ro-system-mpro-90/ and ask them to switch out the carbon block for a chloramine block https://www.spectrapure.com/product/inline-10-inch-gac-carbon-filter-cartridge-0-25-inch-quick-connect-cf-in-10-4jg/ https://www.spectrapure.com/product/hm-digital-sm-1-inline-single-probe-tds-meter-mtr-tds-sm1/ and also ask them if you are missing any minor parts like fittings. Or piece together a similar system on Amazon for a little bit less. U got to pay to play if you want clean water. The bonus is that you can drink this water yourself.

I'm not all that sure that pure RO or Zerowater is all that healthy to drink all the time as when it is filtered it removes everything, good and bad but I could be wrong as I am not known for my healthy eating........... Even for the shrimps you need to add back the good bits with GH+ (or GH/KH+)? www.zerowater.com I had a quick look and most of the range is available from walmart and the prices are the same (near enough) to the manufacturers website! Bear in mind that water going through the filter of this size is a SLOW business so if you are going to multi-use it, or do many litres each time you are best to get a largish one as kms states, so you can just fill the top bit and leave it to do its thing! If you do get a larger one you may also get a TDS meter (hand as a spare). You need to change the filter before it gets to TDS 006 and in my experience that happens suddenly so as soon as you get ANY TDS you will need to keep a closer eye on it (ie I probably get 90L at 000, then 6L at 001, then 4L at 002 and then TDS goes up each litre - hope that makes sense?). Simon

Thanks everyone. What scares me is that I’ve been drinking and feeding my children ‘filtered water’ with TDS 160+ for years. I thought the filter I had was filtering out heavy metals (lead, chromium). Maybe so, I actually sending samples for free water quality testing. It seems like the zero filter is the way to go. Rain water is also brilliant for the shrimp. I’m not sure how polluted it is where I am. I have rain barrels but I also dose with mosquito dunks which I fear are toxic to shrimp. I definitely want to get into crystal and bee shrimp and be healthier.

Like@sdlTBfanUK, which he recommended the zerowater to me, I got the table top 23 cup version, and recently I got a jug 10 cup version, the jug version works out cheaper than than just getting the filter from where I live. It's a must is a RO system cost too much. You can also consider the Oceanfree hydra in tank or canister filter, they do improve the water quality, it all depends on if you can obtain one, they have a large range.

I see that the two water levels are not the same, which means the pipe has air in it

The Caridina shrimp will need RO remineralised water as they are a lot more fragile than cherry shrimp. I tried for a few years to use tap water but even with the right parameters it didn't work so a lot of time and money was wasted. I deduced from this that even although the 'figures' may be right you don't actually know what those figures are made up of, whereas with the same figures using commercial shrimp products (GH+) you know it contains what the shrimp need! You can buy RO water machines but they usually need plumbing etc so I use the zerowater jug, as your tap water tds is similar to mine you should get about 100L per filter. As for the current Cherry shrimps, if it is working as it is without any obvious problems then you may be best just leaving it alone, sometimes chasing figures causes more problems than it solves, this I know from experience........... You can of coarse reduce the amount of mineraliser to get the TDS down and I would maybe try that, ie mix to TDS 200 from now on and use that for water changes/maintenance in the future, but add that water slowly. The KH and GH will drop a bit over time as well of coarse but cherry shrimps are quite adaptable. I have 2 tanks with cherry shrimps in and they are secondary to the fish so are in different water. One lot is in TDS 167, GH 4, KH 2 and is just dechlorinated tap water. This tank has had cherry shrimp in it for over 5 years without any problems. The other tank has TDS 252, GH 7, KH 3 and is tap water plus minerals (I SUSPECT THE SAME AS YOU ARE DOING) and that has cherry shrimp, also doing fine for a year. The biggest problem with tap water is that it changes a lot, mine is never the same as the previous time I tested it. You have a few options now: 1) Carry on exactly as you have been, and if there is no problems (deaths etc) you may be fine - if it's not broken don't try to fix it? 2) Do the same as 1 above, except use TDS 200 mixed water from now on as you now have a TDS pen. This will actually make life for you a bit easier as well as it is much easier to use the TDS pen than the GH and KH drop tests each time. It will very slowly drop the figures as well so there shouldn't be any problems as the shrimp will adapt to the slight differences. Add new water slowly (I use a dripper). 3) Use RO water and GH/KH+ to get perfect water. This will be the most expensive option and as per 2 above you can gradually adjust the water when you do a water change/maintenance (10 or 20%, whatever you usually do) and the figures will very slowly adjust so not upset anything. I would probably just do 2 if your not experiencing any problems and it doesn't really involve much on your part, and you just do the same as you are now, just reducing the minerals. As to whether you want to get an RO filter system would depend on how many tanks you intend to get and the sizes etc. You will need RO water for Bee shrimp but you may be able to just use the zerowater jug if it isn't too large a tank, or multiple tanks? The GH/KH+ I use creates APPROX TDS 025/GH 1/KH .5 proportion, and GH+ creates APPROX TDS 025/GH 1. I hope all this waffle is of sum help and you haven't fallen asleep??? Simon

I would buy one too if it existed. Water change only unfortunately. How much is the RO water? Another alternative is to collect rain water. Is you live in your own house, go get a small-ish rain water tank and connect it to your gutter down pipes. Not sure how much tanks are in your area. I can get a 100L raintank for about $50 and it is easy enough to diy install. There is a small initial outlay but is free after that.

Let us know how you go when the canister is added. Your pvc pipe looks big enough to handle the flow, but test it none the less.

Hello shrimpkeepers, I decided to get a canister filter and keep a fry screen on the intake. I have yet to set up. I also set up simple PVC pipe water bridges. It was so simple. Thanks for the idea! im hoping that the water displacement from the canister filter’s intake and output tubes (each in separate tank) will move water and temperature through the pipes by balancing the water levels.