christinenha Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I have been experimenting with MK-Breed Blue Diamond, MK-Breed Blood Diamond, MK-Breed Z-Silver Powder, MK-Breed Golden Powder, and Mosura TDS Up as far as how they affect TDS and parameters while I figure out the perfect proportions to achieve 4-5 GH with a TDS of ~130 (which is ideal for Taiwan Bee shrimp), and I thought I'd share that here as it may be helpful to those who have not used these products but want to try them in the future. I am using RO water with a TDS of 0. I started out with testing changes in TDS for Z-Silver Powder and Golden Powder in 1 gallon of RO water. No changes to TDS when adding either one of these products, although I only added about a quarter of a spoonful since I didn’t want to overdose. Then I tried MK-Breed Blood Diamond. I followed the recommended dosage for new tanks, which is 10 mL of product for every 25 gallons of water. So… 10 mL / 25 gallons = .4 mL/gallon This did not increase the TDS. I tried the equivalent dosage for a 5-gallon jug… .4 mL/gallon x 5 gallons = 2 mL for every 5 gallons This did not increase the TDS either, which is weird. Not weird because I got the same results using the same proportions but because it claims to contain minerals, vitamins, and other essentials, but maybe TDS doesn’t account for these? Anyway, I then went on to figuring out exactly how much Blue Diamond I would need to raise the GH to 4-5. The instructions on the bottle state that adding 10 mL of product to 25 gallons of water will increase the dGH by 1. So… 10 mL / 25 gallons = .4 mL/gallon for +1 dGH But I need 4-5 dGH, and I didn’t want to overshoot, it so I calculated for 4 dGH… .4 mL/gallon x 4 = 1.6 mL/gallon for 4 dGH I tried this on 1 gallon of water, and it yielded a dGH of 10, so I decided to halve it. 0.8 mL of Blue Diamond in 1 gallon of water yielded a dGH of 3, which was too low. (Go figure.) So I tried 1 mL of Blue Diamond in 1 gallon of water, which yielded a dGH of 5. I decided to settle for that. (The seller has his GH at 5 too.) I have 5-gallon jugs for easy storage, so instead of mixing 1 gallon increments, I just multiplied this dosage by 5 for a 5-gallon jug. 1 mL/gallon of Blue Diamond x 5 gallons = 5 mL of Blue Diamond for 5 dGH I filled up one of my 5 gallon jugs with RO water, and tested with 5 mL of Blue Diamond. The result was 5 dGH. Perfect! But the TDS always hovered between 85-95. Not perfect! That’s where the Mosura TDS Up came in. I’ve been using this in my other tank with great success, and it dissolves very quickly. I just tried 3 level spoons (it comes with a 1/16 teaspoon) in my 5-gallon jug with RO + Blue Diamond, and the result was ~120 TDS. I tried it again on another 5-gallon jug with RO + Blue Diamond, and the result was still ~120 TDS. I averaged this out to 1 level spoonful raising the TDS by 10 for every 5 gallons of water because I started out with… ~90 TDS + 3 level spoons = ~120 TDS That’s a difference of 30 TDS for 3 level spoons. So… 30 TDS/3 level spoons = 10 TDS/1 level spoon That means I needed 1 more level spoon to reach a TDS of ~130. I tried 4 level spoons of Mosura TDS Up on four 5-gallon jugs pre-mixed with Blue Diamond and always achieved a TDS between 130-133. TLDR: 4 level spoons of Mosura TDS Up are needed in conjunction with 5 mL of MK-Breed Blue Diamond to achieve a GH of 5 and TDS of ~130 in a 5 gallon jug of RO water. Z-Silver Powder, Golden Powder, and Blood Diamond affect the water in other ways but do not affect TDS. shrimpsf and Ekbergtog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpsf Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Wow ! Nice write up. What is your TDS coming out of your tap ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christinenha Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Wow ! Nice write up. What is your TDS coming out of your tap ? About 130, so not too bad. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Interesting... "BLOOD DIAMOND is made from high concentration of mineral, multi-vitamins, and chitin to increase the effective mineral content in aquarium environment." How can it be high concentration of minerals yet not increase TDS? That doesn't add up o.o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Did you test the GH after the Mosura TDS was added? I maining use TDS as an easy way to check new water, I know that 1 scoop of SS GH+ gives me a TDS of 102 and GH of ~4 - 5. So I check the TDS of new water before I add it to ensure I added the right amount. Not sure getting the TDS up is necessary if you have the proper GH, in my PRL tanks now my TDS is ~ 95 and GH of 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I would be interested to understand why mK blood does not effect tds also. Great math skills Christine! My brain shuts off as soon as numbers are involved. So with MK blue, I need 1ml per gallon jug to keep my gh hovering at 4-5 after a water change? Just confirming. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christinenha Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Did you test the GH after the Mosura TDS was added? I maining use TDS as an easy way to check new water, I know that 1 scoop of SS GH+ gives me a TDS of 102 and GH of ~4 - 5. So I check the TDS of new water before I add it to ensure I added the right amount. Not sure getting the TDS up is necessary if you have the proper GH, in my PRL tanks now my TDS is ~ 95 and GH of 4. Yes, I tested GH after adding Mosura TDS Up individually in each jug and after adding to the tank. GH remained at 5 in all cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christinenha Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I would be interested to understand why mK blood does not effect tds also. Great math skills Christine! My brain shuts off as soon as numbers are involved. So with MK blue, I need 1ml per gallon jug to keep my gh hovering at 4-5 after a water change? Just confirming. EDIT: Yes, *ma'am*. That's what's been consistent with me. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Im a girl! LOL. Everyone on this site thinks Im a guy littlebirdie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christinenha Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Im a girl! LOL. Everyone on this site thinks Im a guy LOL! I'm so sorry! I really had no idea. Us women are such a minority in this hobby, and it's hard to tell when most people don't have their own pictures as their avatar. <3 shrimprus and Shrimpie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 I just tested blood diamond myself and the TDS raised for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 I think you might want to double check your TDS meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necrectic Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Great Info! It will definitely help me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christinenha Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 OK. I just calibrated my TDS meter and it was off by 16 TDS, which is not too much, but still more than the desired 2% error range. (Calibration Solution: 342, TDS Meter: 326) This may be why I wasn't seeing a change in TDS with the other products in RO water. It may have been within the 16 TDS range so it wasnt detected. The GH will remain the same with the current instructions, but I have reduced the Mosura TDS Up from 3 level spoons to 2 level spoons to compensate for the difference in TDS. h4n 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Shrimp Depot Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Now if there was Blue Diamond available for sale ANYPLACE in the U.S. I'm not sure why none of the dealers has Blue Diamond in stock and have not for awhile - but this is really unacceptable. If MK-Breed get's breeders hooked on a product they need to assure that the product is available from one of the U.S. dealers at all time. I don't know who dropped the ball on this - but they can't use the Chinese New Year as an excuse. The exact date of the Chinese New Year has been known for a millennia and the effect that it has on shipping from the Asian countries during this time of year is an annual hassle. There should have been enough product in country to cover this period of time. I was about to switch from Salty Shrimp to MK-Breed -- however the situation of having unavailable product has me backing away pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4n Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 ahhh so your the mystery person who left a bad product review on my website about it being out of stock... lets start by saying.... I haven't been out of stock for weeks.... I sold my last bottle a few days ago.. second... products come and go.. from being in stock one day and out of stock the next, it can seriously happen over night. Sorry you believe this is my fault. And warrants a bad product review on my website.. Lastly let me see what I can do and restock it. Did someone tell you its was Chinese new years that set it back? Because all i know is that I didn't tell you that part or any part if that matters. A better thing to do was maybe send me an email/message on seeing when I would have it restocked instead of trying to leave a bad product review on my website. Ron, Darkchylde72, Fishprinceofca and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpmaster Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Interesting topic. TDS is a handy tool since it only measures dissolved solids. For example, when you got a glass of RO water en mixed it with some mud, the TDS barely raise, kinda cool. Soothing Shrimp and colorfan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubism Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Interesting... "BLOOD DIAMOND is made from high concentration of mineral, multi-vitamins, and chitin to increase the effective mineral content in aquarium environment." How can it be high concentration of minerals yet not increase TDS? That doesn't add up o.o Basically the amount of BLOOD DIAMOND added to the tank isn't enough to raise the TDS to the point that it'll show up on typical testing pens. BLOOD DIAMOND and BLUE DIAMOND are 2 very different products. One is designed to raise GH/TDS, while the other adds trace minerals and vitamins. I will be going to Taiwan in April and meeting with pretty much all the top breeders including MK. I'll post any findings of the parameters that they keep in their own tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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