smokey5011 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 If your tank parameters are good. And you have 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. TDS are perfect. Is there a need to even do a water change? Or would simple top off of ro/di water be sufficient until you need to adjust for water quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 This is a matter of personal opinion. Some people feel you still have to change to give shrimp minerals. Others feel if nothing appears off, why change? Still others go in between and do longer periods before water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 You'll find shrimping has a lot of gray areas, which is why you'll see so many answers to a "simple" question. heh EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nubster Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 IMO...I'd do at least bi-weekly water changes. Even if just 10%. I mean why not. Better safe than sorry. If you have a lot of shrimp...you might bump it up to weekly 10% or bi-weekly 20%. I'd rather err on the side of caution. Especially since shrimpin' ain't cheap...I don't want to risk potentially hundred's of dollars worth of my investment not to mention the health of the animals because I want to be lazy and not take 15 minutes to do a water change. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dluxeshrimps Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I have 2, 5, 10, and 20 gallon tanks along my shrimp room, normally I do water changes to the 2 and 5 more often then the 10 and the 20 gallon. the 2 and 5 gallons I do them weekly at 25% WC. for the others tanks its every 2-3 weeks I do a 50% water change. it all really depends on what you see fits. I have a testing tank where I keep orange Neo's and I hardly touch that tank, EVER. maybe a water change once a month if lucky. they seem to be doing fine as well. Euryth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I would like to change small amounts of water more often, but I'm trying to figure out the best method to do so. Is it best to just use RO/DI water for topping off like the OP asked or use temp matched dechlorinated tap water? I'm sure there's got to be a rule of thumb for at least this much, though I understand differences from personal preferences. Reason I'm asking as well is for guidance when tap water has higher or lower pH and may shift other params. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Tap water also has gh/kh/tds. So if you top off with that, you are also increasing all those variables and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I would like to change small amounts of water more often, but I'm trying to figure out the best method to do so. Is it best to just use RO/DI water for topping off like the OP asked or use temp matched dechlorinated tap water? I'm sure there's got to be a rule of thumb for at least this much, though I understand differences from personal preferences. Reason I'm asking as well is for guidance when tap water has higher or lower pH and may shift other params. Definitely top up with RODI if you can. Like soothing said, you harden the water that's already hardened by evap. You should only use matched dechlorinated tap for water changes, even then RODI with remin is better. ruuuey, Euryth and Soothing Shrimp 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruuuey Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 57 minutes ago, Euryth said: I would like to change small amounts of water more often, but I'm trying to figure out the best method to do so. Is it best to just use RO/DI water for topping off like the OP asked or use temp matched dechlorinated tap water? I'm sure there's got to be a rule of thumb for at least this much, though I understand differences from personal preferences. Reason I'm asking as well is for guidance when tap water has higher or lower pH and may shift other params. Ever since I started doing my weekly WC with remineralized RODI and top-offs with only RODI (instead of using my tap that's 50~ TDS), my tanks have had less complications and have been easier to maintain. Personally, doing WC every week gives me peace of mind that the water quality is pristine. I also vac up any uneaten food. In the end, and like the other posts have said, it's really up to what works for you. Mr. F and Euryth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 1 hour ago, Mr. F said: Definitely top up with RODI if you can. Like soothing said, you harden the water that's already hardened by evap. You should only use matched dechlorinated tap for water changes, even then RODI with remin is better. Hadn't thought about it that deeply before, but I guess it'd make sense since whatever's in the water would increase in concentration as the water evaporates. I don't have an RODI system, but have heard it may be possible to buy gallons of RO water from LFS's or supermarkets. Is this still possible? I've read about stores like Walmart and Publix, but I don't know if the stores near me still sell it. Until I can locate a source, what's the best way to top off water if RO isn't available? Do an extra water change and then add tap water back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Hadn't thought about it that deeply before, but I guess it'd make sense since whatever's in the water would increase in concentration as the water evaporates. I don't have an RODI system, but have heard it may be possible to buy gallons of RO water from LFS's or supermarkets. Is this still possible? I've read about stores like Walmart and Publix, but I don't know if the stores near me still sell it. Until I can locate a source, what's the best way to top off water if RO isn't available? Do an extra water change and then add tap water back?Buy gallons jugs of distilled water at the grocery. As for your own unit, there's a nice 4-stage, 50 gpd RODI unit I got from purewaterclub.com for like $62 shipped. Euryth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Here it is: http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=95&products_id=246 ruuuey, Vpier and Euryth 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Thanks! I'll definitely look into purchasing that in the next week or so, but I'm glad to know I can use distilled water for the time being. Just to make sure I'm understanding you clearly: My tap water is around 45-46 TDS, so if I add that to a tank with 200 TDS, would that then raise it to 245 TDS (excluding Prime, if that even affects TDS)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 Thanks! I'll definitely look into purchasing that in the next week or so, but I'm glad to know I can use distilled water for the time being. Just to make sure I'm understanding you clearly: My tap water is around 45-46 TDS, so if I add that to a tank with 200 TDS, would that then raise it to 245 TDS (excluding Prime, if that even affects TDS)? It depends on the volume. Say you have a 10 gallon tank (evaporated to volume of 9.5 gallons, or 95% total volume) at 200 ppm and you top it off with 0.5 gallons (5% total volume) 50 ppm tap then you use the weighted values of each to find the resultant concentration. So you would take: (200ppm x 0.95) + (50ppm x 0.05) = 215 ppm.Generally: (TDSofTANK x %finalVolume) + (TDSnewWATER x %final volume) = Resulting TDS.I should code a calculator for this and post it up somewhere, if I ever find some time... Hope this helps! Euryth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 Prime (used in the correct amounts) will have negligible effects on TDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 2 hours ago, Mr. F said: It depends on the volume. Say you have a 10 gallon tank (evaporated to volume of 9.5 gallons, or 95% total volume) at 200 ppm and you top it off with 0.5 gallons (5% total volume) 50 ppm tap then you use the weighted values of each to find the resultant concentration. So you would take: (200ppm x 0.95) + (50ppm x 0.05) = 215 ppm. Generally: (TDSofTANK x %finalVolume) + (TDSnewWATER x %final volume) = Resulting TDS. I should code a calculator for this and post it up somewhere, if I ever find some time... Hope this helps! That would probably be an AMAZING asset to entry-level hobbyists like myself, Mr. F! Mr. F 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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