Hard Lesson Learned

[mredman]

RO water

Where are you buying your RO water? I purchase mine from That Aquarium Place. TDS is 6. In my 135-gallon tank, I also have eco-complete with some fish and plants. I make a 15-gallon water change every 5 days and the TDS ranges from 105 to 125.

Mike

This post is pretty much what I'm going through right now. My TDS readings have always run higher with my RCS, Red Rili, Carbon Rili, and Blue Velvet tanks (anywhere from 400 - 760). I've been lucky so far and haven't had losses -- shrimp are molting, breeding, and seem happy/active. Due to this, I've done the usual cleaning and water changes (using RO only), but haven't let the TDS numbers bother me too much since the pH, nitrite, nitrate, etc. are good (these tanks are all heavily planted and contain driftwood -- I think I naively went with the other parameters being all right).

Now, I'm in the process of setting up a new tank with CRS in mind. I haven't kept them before but it has been drilled in that they are very particular and TDS is a factor. In the new tank, I used Eco-Complete and RO water, a little lava rock, and then added mosses, Subwassertang, and a couple of Anubias. I'm also running a little CO2.

The tank has been up a little over a month and I cannot get the TDS below 410 (ideally I'd like 175). Sorry it is taking so long to get to my questions -- I've combed the Internet and it seems that planted tanks usually run higher on TDS. I initially used a but of Seachem Stability and Excel, but was told that these weren't great for RCS so I stopped (two weeks after stopping and a few water changes with 25% RO/75% distilled -- my numbers went down from 580 to 410). Have you found a way to drastically lower the TDS and do you all find that planted tanks run higher? I also wonder if the CO2 plays a part. My other parameters are pH 7, nitrate 0, nitrate 0, GH 9. I added a filter insert of Fluval peat (2 teaspoons) to the filter and some cavatappa leaves, so I'm keeping an eye on pH due to the peat and will continue with water changes. Just curious what others have experienced and done with local TDS and GH.

Any and all advice or experiences are greatly appreciated.

[mredman]

I believe the TDS in a shrimp tank should be less than 150 ppm. This is based on breeders I know.

Mike

[Elle23]

Hi mredman ~ RO is from a home system and the TDS is 25, so I may need to check/replace membranes. Straight tap is 194. Aside from the plants, I'm not sure what else could contribute to the high numbers. I did insert 3 flourish tabs under the substrate to help with plants and did dose 1 week of Stability (and a couple of doses of Excel).

I may do straight distilled water 25-30% changes and see what happens (while closely monitoring/testing). I'm not adding anything to the tank until I get the parameters where I want them. With the established tanks I'm going to change the water, but more slowly -- maybe 10% per week and see what happens with the numbers.

[mredman]

Water changes

The easiest way to lower TDS is with RO water changes. My tap is 162 ppm (Spring, TX). All aquatic life will contribute to TDS as well as the food or nutrients you feed them. I am also using Osmocote Plus on a limited basis, which also will contribute to TDS. When I set up my tank initially, my TDS was at 48 ppm with just water and the Eco-Complete. Once I added some major pieces of driftwood, it rose to about 100. My TDS rises about 1 to 2 ppm per day. The water change brings it back to 100.

At 25 TDS, I would not replace the membranes. After changing membranes, you may not see an improvement.

I believe that adding Flourish or similar products only addresses symptoms and not the cause. Frequent water changes, whether salt or fresh water, is the answer to many problems. In reef tanks, corals will become much "happier" after a water change with more fullness and greater color.

Our filter systems are good but it is not perfect. Both biological and mechanical filtration is not 100%. We can compensate for the imperfect system with water changes.

It sounds like you are on the right track.

Mike

Hi mredman ~ RO is from a home system and the TDS is 25, so I may need to check/replace membranes. Straight tap is 194. Aside from the plants, I'm not sure what else could contribute to the high numbers. I did insert 3 flourish tabs under the substrate to help with plants and did dose 1 week of Stability (and a couple of doses of Excel).

I may do straight distilled water 25-30% changes and see what happens (while closely monitoring/testing). I'm not adding anything to the tank until I get the parameters where I want them. With the established tanks I'm going to change the water, but more slowly -- maybe 10% per week and see what happens with the numbers.

[morpheus]

i am by no means an expert, and still have yet to get my shrimp tank running. i just put some small plattys into it and leaving them in there for a while to ensure the tank is fully cycled before i attempt again.

but there is a shrimp forum on FB that i am a part of too. there are many extremely knowledgeable people on there. they reply to any post with really good information on setup, possible diseases, breeding, etc. I think the group is "South Texas Area Shrimp Hobbiest".

my tap is ~250 TDS. my tanks for fish generally are in the 370-420 range. there are many people that do have live plants, drift, leaves, etc. and still maintain the low TDS. the neos can generally handle a slightly higher TDS, but i cannot speak for sure on specific types that need lower. many start with RO and use a re-mineralizer to the water. i agree with mredman above....anything you add to the water will raise the TDS. for example dosing Excel will raise it. particles released from the decaying catappa leaves, rocks, fish waste, etc. frequent water readings and water changes keep the water extremely clean for shrimp

sounds like you did a lot more research than i did before i dove head first into my attempt. my next try i will be a lot more cautious in making sure levels are lower. i had the mindset of fish, and didnt think shrimp were that much different.