Alternatives to Salty Shrimp/Reminalizer for TBs

[Caudata]

I have been looking around for a cheaper soulution to remineralize RO water for TBs. Im going to start a 75g colony soon and I feel like using Salty Bees salts is a bit expensive for me and that I would run out pretty quick. Has anybody had success with anything else or is SS the way to go? I seen some GH+ boosters out there and was intrested if they would work as well as Shrimp remineralizers. https://greenleafaquariums.com/products/the-ultimate-gh-booster-1lb-bag.html 1lb for 5$ vs ~50$

[uuaaayyy]

Salty Shrimp Bee Mineral GH+ $50 is for twice amount (850g vs 450g), but the difference is still big. And it contains trace minerals for shrimp, while Booster has a lot of potassium and sulfur, that's it.

 

Seachem Equilibrium is also plant centered GH+, contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, 4.8 kg (10.7 Lb) $70 at Big Al's, plus heavy shipping. Roughly $7/Lb. No experience with it, using Salty Shrimp and small tanks.

 

Another thought: watch for TDS at required 5 dGH, it could be too high for caridina shrimp. Only small amount of SS is needed, resulting low TDS, while other have a lot of fillers, that could create high TDS and molting problems.

[JSak]

I haven't tried any other remineralizing salt, but I've been using Salty Shrimp GH+ for my Caridina and GH/KH+ for my neos in the 5+ years I've been in this hobby with lots of success. As uuaaayyy stated, there are different sizes of the remineralizer you can buy. I bought the 450g one for about $20 on Amazon and I still have about 1/3 of it left after buying it about 5 months ago. How often you do water changes and how much water you take out also dictates how quickly you go through it. For me, I do water changes once a month taking out about 10% each time. I use 5 gallon buckets of RO water and add about 3/4 scoop to each bucket. I have 7 10 gallon tanks and 1 20 gallon tank with caridina in them, so it can last you a while. 

 

That being said, I've also heard good things about Brightwell Caridina GH+, which is a liquid remineralizer. I've never used it, but Rob from Flip Aquatics supports it and I've learned almost everything I know about shrimp keeping from him so I take his advice/opinions with high regards. I believe he did mention that it's more dilute so although it may be easier to dose and possibly cheaper, you'll likely run out of it faster if you have large volumes of water you need to remineralize.

 

For me, if I'm spending a lot of money on the actual shrimps, especially caridina since they're pretty pricey, I try to spend a little extra to ensure that they'll have the best chance to live and breed. I've had solid results from Salty Shrimp remineralizers, it appears to have been in the hobby for a very long time, and many hobbyists/breeders/youtubers use it, which to me shows that it's an effective product. I'm the type of person who likes to go with the consistent products that have the most support, especially when dealing with live animals. I've tried to go with cheaper alternatives for different things in my shrimp tanks and have paid the price for them. Not to say I won't jump at a cheaper product/option if it's available and shown to be effective (this is definitely an expensive hobby so I can understand trying to save) but for me, what it always comes down to is risk vs reward. Is the savings you get from one product worth the risk of going with the more expensive but consistent product? That's what I also ask myself when I see shrimps I want for a cheaper price from a site I've never ordered from before (also paid the price for that mistake). Hope this helps!

[Danky808]

So just wondering, but would lightly filtered Fresh Sea Water be usable to mix with either RO or Good Tap Water? 
 

I was thinking my Sulawesi Cardinals would have been in water just like That where they lived. I’ve been told Sea Water is Dirty, but what if I get it from about 10ft or deeper? Our sea water here in Hawaii is A little better then some places in my opinion