Nuthatch Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 I bought (2) 2.5 gallon jugs of RO water from my LFS. I intend to change my 9 gallon shrimp/fish/snail/plant tank over to it. Can someone walk me through whatever I may need to do? Please use small words, and don't explain too much! Just tell me what to do! I have fried my brain trying to search the forum & figure it out on my own. I would prefer to just slowly add the RO water by doing water changes, rather than trying to drain the tank & remove the critters. What do I need to add to the RO water? Anything? Is this change going to harm my fish or plants? I'm trying to make things easier for me, and better for the shrimp. Thank you to whoever can help me out here. I'm tired of beating my head in to the wall! Wygglz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wygglz Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Unfortunately, I am not the water quality person, but I have to say I sympathize! I have a degree in fisheries & wildlife, a masters and a phd in other things yet this stuff completely confuses me at times. You are definitely not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 It's nice to know that I'm not alone! I almost didn't post the question because I feel so stupid!! Wygglz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 It's best to just catch your fish and shrimps, drain tank, fill with RO water, add remineralizer. So you would need at least 2 more 2.5G jugs of RO water. If you are keeping neos, use Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ to correct GH level. If you are keeping cards, use SS GH+ to correct GH level. Acclimate fish and shrimps into tank after it's been filled and remineralized for an hour or two to allow things to stabilize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jynn Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Depends on your current water params. You'll need to know things like your GH/KH and TDS to know how much RO you should be adding to get to the desired parameters and if you'll need to remineralize it or not. You might be able to get the right levels of everything by doing a mix of RO and tap, but you'll have to have the test kits to know for sure. You will want to slowly acclimate the livestock to the new water, however you do it. It is probably easier overall to just go pure RO and remineralize than to try and get a perfect mix of tap and RO. sarah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trotwood Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 I'm not an expert but I'll tell you what worked for me. If you're goal is to switch to RO water I suggest getting a remineralizer. I use the Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ for my neos and tigers (as mentioned above you'll want to use the GH+ if you keep caridina shrimp). I would remineralize the water to the ideal parameters for the shrimp I was keeping and do small weekly water changes (10%) using the new water. A GH/KH test kit and a TDS meter are very handy tools to have when remineralizing the water, at least until you know how much you need. This is what I did when I switched from tap to RO and it worked well. Wygglz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 You could always try a water reset... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 What's a water reset? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 What's a water reset? Should be a button on the back corner of your tank.............................. Some version of this http://www.shrimpydaddy.com/pages/water-restarting-procedure Can be completed with or without the use of Shrimpy Daddy products jem_xxiii and Lyana 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hmmm, I prefer the button method... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 So, if I add the SS product to the RO water jugs can I add it gradually to the tank? As in, when I suction out a gallon then I can add a dosed RO gallon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 IMO, yes. Remineralize your RO to your target parameters, use it for water changes moving forward, try to match water temperature during changes. Since you are altering water chemistry make sure to drip in the water slowly (use air-line to siphon). With each water change, your tank will get closer to your target parameters. Assuming we are talking about Neocaridina shrimp, I wouldn't be afraid of performing larger changes to get to your goal faster. Wygglz and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Sorry, yes, they are Neo shrimp. If using SS gh/kh, I thought that you just followed the directions as far as how much you add? Looks like just under one scoop for 10 litres/2.6 gallons. My jugs are 2.5 gallons each... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Yeppers. I use 2 scoops for my 5 gallon hedpak containers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 In some cases, I've drained 50% of my water and used airline to add the new. I have 10g tanks, so that may be different from what you have- but it has worked well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brocknorman Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Make sure you test your water. [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.