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It seemed to work okay for your Chillies. However, putting fish into pure RO water from whatever water they were in previously is a HUGE change in parameters and can be quite a shock to the fish. Next time remineralise the RO water to about 100 TDS before adding any fish into it.

Thanks Simon!! The spots should drop off before the end of their treatment (I'm treating 2x in a row for 6 days), and then I'll wait another 3 weeks to add them back to the main tank after that to be safe. By then, all of the ich on the chilis and in the tank should be gone. If I still see white spots after a week and the 2 treatments, I'll have to start the treatment over again. ???? Giving them a break today after I do a total WC so they can fill their little bellies with food before the next round. I do have one question if you don't mind. Would it be okay to put them in RO water after the total water change instead of using tank water? I acclimated them to the tank water slowly (drip acclimation) and I'm pretty sure I can't just fill their quarantine tank with RO water?

I'm looking for a way to increase KH from 2 to 4+ while at the same time keeping pH below 7.6 and GH at 6-8. Ideally want KH 5-6 and pH between 6.8-7.2. Adding enough Bicarbonates will get KH to 5-6 but it will also increase pH over 7.5. Sea shells hold some promise but are very slow acting. Dolomite gravel will probably also help. Still need a way to get desired values via change water. P. S. My tap water is pH 6.9 with GH and KH each of 1 degree (or less).

You certainly dodged a bullet that time. ?

If your aim is to reduce the pH in your mix, than the answer is playing with the quantities of Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Chloride. Reduce Calcium carbonate to 1.5grams as I indicated, and increase Calcium chloride to 2grams (maybe a bit more).

Thank you so much JayC!!!! I will definitely not be taking that risk again. ?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️

Thanks for the response. I recently tried this recipe three times using 5g of Calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2.2H2O). All it did was raise GH from 5 to 6 (and of course increase ppm of Chloride). KH remained at 2 and initial pH around 7. I've also tried Calcium chloride at 25g and 30g in more distant past. What does make a significant impact on pH is Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) Chalk, even just varying the amount between 3.5g-5g impacted pH but KH remained at 2. I can get KH higher by adding more Potassium bicarbonate but that creates an excess concentration of Potassium (I'm aiming for 10 ppm), and resultant algae problems. When I soon try replacing Potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) with Potassium Sulphate then KH will probably drop to 1. Also Bicarbonates are just temporary buffers so pH won't remain stable. Perhaps it's time to start trying various carbonates and hydroxides but they're more dangerous chemicals. :( You right that most people would love to have Melbourne tap water. It's just a bugger to reach KH 4+ while trying to keep pH down. I know it can be done by locking the pH with Phosphate based chemicals but I'm also looking to have zero Phosphate in the recipe.

Hi Gavin, welcome to SKFA! You need to increase Calcium chloride. CaCl2 reduces pH. So replace some Calcium Sulphate and/or Calcium Carbonate in your recipe with CaCl2. (not necessarily 1 to 1 since calcium chloride is more soluble than calcium sulphate and certainly calcium carbonate) The increase solubility of CaCl2 will also help with reaching the ideal 4:1 Ca:Mg ratio. As a starting point, modify your recipe to 1.5g Ascorbic Acid (C6H8O6) Vitamin C (add first) 1.5g Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) Chalk 15g Calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O) Gypsum 17g Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4.7H2O) Epsom Salt 2.0gm Calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2.2H2O) Pickle Crisp - optional, just testing it. 6g Potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) - thanks to you I'll soon try substituting this with 4.9g of Potassium sulfate (K2SO4) 0.5g DTPA Iron Chelate (11%) (add chelates last) If KH drops too much in the amounts changed above, add back a bit of Calcium carbonate. But this should be a good start for you and your goal. Good luck with the testing. Let me know how you go. Melbourne water being so soft is a great problem to have. Many fish & shrimp keepers would love have that water come out of their tap.

I put them in pure RO water while I did the WC today and for a few hours after. They got a break from the treatment and a ton of food. Hopefully the RO water wasn't another no no. I made sure it was the same temp as the quarantine/treatment tank. I also checked them for spots today and only a couple still have spots on them now. All of them had spots when I started treating them Saturday. So happy news there. Now I hope this second round of treatment gets rid of the rest of their spots and I can start their regular quarantine. ????

Hi jayc...I was impressed enough by this thread and your ongoing input that I joined the forum. I've been researching DIY mix for Melbourne tap water which is so soft it may as well be RO/Rain Water. I've pulled down my suppliers Annual Water report to know the detailed MIN | MAX | AVG range of all components in my local tap water. I then top up various components to reach desired ppm, pH, GH, etc. One thing I haven't been able to achive is 4+ KH with stable <7.5 pH. Any tips on gaining a higher KH with neutral pH and without using CO2 or Phosphate buffers? We know KH inceases pH but some locations such as in USA seem to naturally have this water combination I'm looking for. My latest DIY recipe has KH 2 so pH buffering is poor. Anyone can increase KH at the expense of high pH but I want to keep pH below 7.5, and do it without Phosphate based additives. As an aside, adding a bag of sea shells to each tank seems to be helping in that it's prevented pH from dropping below 6.7 for the past two months. The shells aren't crushed (which would increase their surface area/effectiveness). I've also just added a bag of Dolomite gravel to see how that goes (it will slowly release Ca & Mg). I've just calculated my DIY mix is around 6.5x cheaper than purchasing commercial products. DIY is $0.75 per 220 lt. of change water vs. $4.97 for commercial. Shipping costs can partially reduce this DIY advantage because Commercial can be bought in one go from a local aquarium shop. However for Kegland sourced items I included a 20% allowance for shipping cost in my comparison. $0.75 Total Cost DIY Mix per 220 lt. ...verses $4.97 for commercial products comprising: $4.18 for 88 g per 220 lt. of Seachem Equilibrium (based on 600g buy at $28.50) $0.26 for 5 ml per 220 lt. of Seachem Prime Water Dechlorinator (based on 1 lt. buy at $51.45) $0.53 for 12g per 220 lt. Seachem Alkaline Buffer adjusts pH alkaline (7.2 -8.5) based on 600g buy at $26.25 (this is a Sodium bicarbonate based buffer). DIY Recipe (today's version) ====================== Dry Weight added to 220 lt. barrel of South East Melbourne tap water: 1.5g Ascorbic Acid (C6H8O6) Vitamin C (add first) 3.5g Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) Chalk 17g Calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O) Gypsum 17g Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4.7H2O) Epsom Salt 1g Calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2.2H2O) Pickle Crisp - optional, just testing it. 6g Potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) - thanks to you I'll soon try substituting this with 4.9g of Potassium sulfate (K2SO4) 0.5g DTPA Iron Chelate (11%) (add chelates last) A future addition... ~0.2g of 50%/50% mix of Mn & Zn powder (add sulphates last). Considering buying Manutec 500g Zinc and Manganese Soluble Powder from Bunnings. Above added Ca 31.6 ppm : Mg 8.82 ppm : K 9.69 ppm for a ratio of 3.5 : 1 : 1.1. Clearly Ca can be increased for more GH and TDS, as part of reaching for 4:1 ratio with Mg. Test Results ============ Total Chlorine 0.00 ppm. Hanna Checker. Free Chlorine 0.00 ppm. Hanna Checker. TDS between 152-157 pH 7.0 (becomes 7.6 after 48 hours). However after 50% WC my tanks range from pH 6.9 to 7.3 so this higher pH change water is working ok. KH 2dKH (< 35.8 ppm) GH 5 degrees Ca somewhere between 26-37.5 ppm Mg ~9-10 ppm Chloride ~10 ppm (calculated, not tested) Potassium ~10-11 ppm Fe ~0.5-0.6 ppm. Online calculator suggests I've added 0.25 ppm. I need to get a checker from Hanna Instruments for better accuracy than my current hobbiest test kits. Ammonia 0 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm Nitrate 0 ppm Cu 0 ppm Phosphate 0.00 ppm. Hanna Checker. The lengths we go to, to know what's being put into our tanks and ideally with little or no Na, Cl or P.

Okay ill hold on for now, thanks for helping me out jay. If you do manage to think which i think you will because youre good at what you do hahaha. Please let me know if you do succeed.

Haha I can totally relate, I’ve had moments where I’ve been so scared one of my berried girls died, and then I just find her chilling a couple days later, and I’m just thinking ‘where’d you go?!’ Oh cool! I’m setting up a tank with @Frosty right now that sits in a bit of sunlight in front of a window (so you can see it from both sides), hopefully the shrimp will look amazing in that light instead of an artificial one. A bit worried about the algae, but hopefully the shrimp and a scraper can take it. We’ve been inspired by you and a couple other guys on the forum to work with caridina, so we’re doing a bit of a fun mischling breeding experiment to see what we can get.

With such a great number of hobbyist joining the forum, thought I'd start a thread on some basic shrimp maintenance/breeding advise and techniques I'm guided with..... Water Parameters (WP) is critical, so depending on the shrimp type, do some research and ensure your tanks (WP) are within the recommended range. There are extreme cases (i.e. PH at 5 or 7.5 where CRS are successfully kept/bred, but on avg. these WP are theoretically a good starting point.... Caridina (CRS, CBS, SW/GB, TB*, Tiger**..) PH - 6.4 KH - 0-2 GH - 4-6 TDS - 100-200 Temp - 21-23 *TB (KK, WR & BB) - Some breeders prefer a slightly lower PH (5.6 - 6.2) for Taiwan Bee **Tigers - Some breeders prefer a slightly higher PH (7-7.4), KH - 2-8 and GH - 6-10 for Tigers Neocaridina (All colour variants of Cherry Shrimp) PH - 6.4 KH - 0-2 GH - 4-6 TDS - 100-200 Temp - 21-23 There's several thread on the forum with regards to soil type/recommendations, filters, chillers etc, so I'll just focus on the "day to day" maintenance and breeding habits I practice religiously... * Weekly water change (WC) is beneficial to even the best filtered system. I only do a 5-10% weekly WC per week, just to "freshen" the water. Add minerals like salty shrimp, mineral powder etc... On each WC. * The quality and consistency of Tap water varies. Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is recommended, to avoid any imbalances/pitfalls that can occur. Control what goes into your tank, to ensure minimal unexpected deaths. * Ensure a varied diet of commercial and fresh food to your shrimps, including. Powdered food to feed your shrimplets.. I daily feed all my shrimp, and depending on stock levels and shrimplets, two feelings per days are done. * Do water top ups caused by evaporation. I use straight RO water to top up all my tanks. * filter maintenance is done every 6-8 weeks for all my nano tanks, and 8-12 weeks for my breeding racks. This ensure the filters/bacteria is running efficiently. Ensure the filters are only rinsed off with the tanks water...do not over clean, and or use tap water, as this will kill the beneficial bacteria. * On a established system, ensure your nitrates are kept below 20ppm. Low nitrates do promote breeding ! Other notable mentions.. *Shrimp consume their exoskeleton that they shed during molting. This is a a rich source of essential minerals for the shrimp, so do leave them there for their consumption. *Iodine supplement is not necessary as freshwater crustaceans obtain iodine from their food. *Metals like zinc, lead, and elemental copper, are toxic for shrimps and will kill them. *Majority of fish feed on shrimps. Although through clever aquascaping, a co-existance can prevail, But it really depends on the seriousness you take your shrimps/hobby, i.e selective breeding program's, exotic shrimps ... *Hiding spots/shelters are important especially in periods of molting. Shelters can be bought or created via aquascaping. *Avoid chemical, and short term solutions...i.e. PH Up/Down.....I personally don't use ferts, and anything chemical.... *During our summer periods, have a Plan B even if you are running chillers. Have some RO ice blocks in the fridge for emergencies.. *Observe your shrimps, and develop an eye to notice any changes in their behaviour. This may highlight some potential issues before it becomes real issues. *Shrimps require oxygen rich waters. Ensure ample aeration, surface agitation etc... *PATIENCE IS KEY Mother Nature, whether purely natural or influenced by us do throw all of us a "curve ball"... So don't be discourage, get advise and share the grief with this forum, as your experience will help others.... No doubt, there's '000's of other advise, so please do add it onto this thread.......

Quick update: Definitely one saddled shrimp possibly 2. 3 Moults. And lots of activity! Here’s more pics.