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I think they mean what we call driftwood as roots? Usually those fancy mini trees people make in a tank are made from root wood rather than branch wood! I can see the wood in the photos and it looks like they may have been roots of a tree originally! Simon

The aquamaker sounds like the right thing to use. 4ppm sounds about right for a RO unit, depending on your input water TDS. It should cut it down about 95% or more. Else, time to replace the membrane. I still don't know what "roots" are??? Maybe they came with a non-copper pesticide.

Thanks! Checked yesterday again nitrite and there are less 0.01 on the jbl drop tester. I also bought the copper test to be sure that the roots are safe. Probably not the right test? I will test ammonia & nitrate when I get the tests. PS: Is Sachem better than any other water treatment? I am used to easy life products because they seems to be rhe most natural ones. They have a tap water product as well. https://www.easylife.eu/products/freshwater/water-conditioner/aquamaker They also make this one. Don't know if you know this brand? https://www.easylife.eu/products/marine/water-conditioner/easy-life-filter-medium/easy-life-filter-medium-dosage

You are correct. Typo. The cube is KH 0 as I only have SS GH+. I might experiment and put some of the CRS (that I would otherwise sell) into the cube with the Bloody Mary's.

Salty Shrimp GH+ will not give you KH2, but SS GH/KH will.

The cycle is broken if you see ammonia or nitrite. For example, it could happen if the pH drops too low and the nitrifying bacteria shut off. You should get a total ammonia test kit to find out. Also, you can test a sample of pure distilled water as a zero reference. You can test your RO water too, but ammonia can get thru a RO membrane, FYI. If you see ammonia, the short term solution is to dose Seachem Prime, or some other compound that is supposed to treat tap water. I don't think you need a copper test kit. First, copper won't get through a RO membrane. Second, the liquid test kits are useless because they measure at a too high level. If you want to check for copper, you should get one of those Hanna low range test kits that can measure in the ppb (billion). But I doubt copper is the problem, and Seachem Prime can bind to it anyways.

Does anyone have experience using alder cones, peat moss etc to reduce PH? Given the KH in the CRS tank is 0-1, I imagine it won't take much to lower the PH a touch.

You have something that can measure 0.05ppm? Do not remineralize to match the tank - remineralize to get your intended GH value. The tank's TDS should always be higher than your input water.

A 4th option - Keep current tank, and buy a 2nd smaller tank. To breed higher quality shrimp in. Promise other half that this is the last tank ? Sell the shrimp you don't want to keep to help fund this 2nd tank. Have you tried anything to bring the pH down?