Shrimpsnoob Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Hi, so i started my tank with tap water but after getting advices on here, i start to top up with distilled water. I know when doing top off with distilled water, there is no need to remineralize the water. What about when doing a water change? I had gotten borneo wild gh up so was wondering how should i do the change. Lets say i am going to do a 10 -20% water change. My tank current gh is 6. Do i need to make the distilled water to be gh 6 also or does it need to be a lower gh? Sorry for asking this basic qns but its my 1st time doing water change with distilled water. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 yes, for water changes you will want to remineralize to the gh you are aiming for. what kind of shrimp? depending on the type of shrimp you need to add kh too(neocaridina). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpsnoob Posted April 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Thanks for the reply. I have a mix. Crystals and cherries. So i think adding gh will be enough right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 the cherries have recommended parameters that include kh. crystals & cherries have different recommended water parameters from each other. I dont recommend keeping them in the same tank, but others have done it successfully. If you must, then I recommend using the parameters for the crystals since cherries are hardier. However, I think you will slowly lose the cherries if they did not come from a similar type of water from the breeder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpsnoob Posted April 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 I understand that they have different parameters. Will take note of that. Funny thing is my parameters are all towards the preference of the crystals and the crystals still died on me. From 10 of them at the start about a mth ago to now only left 3. I may change the tank to a cherry tank soon if my remaining crystals give up on me. I do not want to give up on the remaining crystals so will do all i can for them to survive. Just do not know what is wrong. Water parameters are all within range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 do you know if your shrimp were imported or home bred? what kind of substrate? what are the rest of your parameters? kh, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, tds, ph you should start by only doing small water changes ~10% as well. Then drip it into the tank vs. pouring into the tank. Same with your topoff water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpsnoob Posted April 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 The shrimps are just from my local fish shops. I do not know where they come from. Using aqua shrimp sand that helps to buffer the ph. Water parameter is as follow using api master test kit Ph 6.8 Ammonia and nitrite 0 Kh 1 Gh 5-6 Tds 230 Nitrate 10-20ppm. The chart looks same color for this 2 range...so not sure which it is.... Above parameters are taken before water change yesterday. I did a 20% water change quite late in the night and i make the distilled water to gh 5 b4 i let it drip back in at 2s a drop and i went to sleep. Somehow the drip stop not long after i went to bed. Only managed to drip in 1/4 of the water that is suppose to go back in. So far the shrimps are still acting normal. Hopefully it will be done when i reach home after work so i can retake the readings. Also hope the tds will go down a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Shrimp from LFS tend to be pretty beat up and stressed out by the time you get them so there may just be slow deaths over several months. That said, your pH is a bit high (depending on what they were bred in) and your TDS is also higher than crystals tend to like. It's hard to say since I don't know what each of the shrimp is used to but your tank might be in a strange in-between where it is neither great for cards or neos (I currently have one of those), explaining deaths on both sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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