Ok ready to remineralize. What am I aiming for?

[Crackhead Johny]

I have tested my 55 gallon tank with my API GH & KH test kit.

GH 1 green drop to changes from green to orange. The instructions say this is dKH of 1 or ppm GH/KH of 17.9.

KH 1 yellow drop to changes from yellow to blue (thought the instructions say blue to yellow). The instructions say this is dKH of 1 or ppm GH/KH of 17.9. I assume the 1 number is the GH or KH that people talk about.

PH 7.5 (I suspect this is the caribsea substrate raising the PH)

TDS 22

 

As it only took 1 drop and the instructions appear to be backwards I'm allowing that the water doesn't revert back to drop color after enough drops? or Is it supposed to shift on the first drop? It does repeat this so I'm wondering. After a few drops I can get the liquid to turn the same color as the drops. I'm also thinking with tannin in the water and a TDS of 22 that most likely the instructions are backwards. Am I supposed to add drops to the water until it turns drop color? I'd think it would start drop color and then shift when it got to a tipping point.

 

If the instructions are correct, here are how many drops it takes to turn the water drop colored.

GH 3-4 drops

KH 2-3 drops

 

RO water (shouldn't this be 1 drop?)

GH 2-3 drops

KH 2-3 drops

TDS 7 (meter is has not been calibrated)

 

distilled water.

TDS 12 (though looking at the lint in that bottom there are certainly undissolved solids) so lets skip guessing at how this water is.

 

My tank water is similar to my RO water because I have been doing 10% changes daily for 2 weeks or more(?) in prep for remineralizing.

 

So I want to make the water ideal for the most demanding of shrimp (PRL?). Am I right and thinking that the bee, tibee, taibee, etc and some neos will be happy in that water? I have SL Aqua blue wizard, what do I do? I assume I will have to add sulfuric acid to lower the PH. Is there a good/cheap place to buy the acid or just buy PH down? PH Down lists in % and everything I find on amazon is listed in N and the conversions I'm finding say that all that is on Amazon is weaker than PH Down.

[Trotwood]

There'll be others with lots more information but I can tell you that the instructions aren't backwards. You want to count the number of drops it takes for the liquid to match the drop color. As for remineralizing the water you basically want to add the amount of remineralizer required to get the ideal GH/KH for the type of shrimp you want to keep. Your current PH is good for neos and tigers. I don't have any experience lowering PH but I think most folks use a buffering substrate for that.

[Crackhead Johny]

Thank you for the clarification on how the test works.

Now I wonder if the test kit is weird as I'd think that RO water with close to 0 TDS should not be able to register above 1.

Maybe I should test my tap water as another source to see what numbers I get.