Need RODI remineralizer for crystal shrimp, cheap, on Amazon.

5261 Views 18 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Yukiharu, Dec 26, 2016

XylemUP

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2016

What do you guys suggest? My tap water comes out at 900 tds, because Phoenix is friggin' DISGUSTING. And it has copper in it, so that's a 100% no go using tap water to remineralize like I used to.

Has to be on Amazon, because I've got Amazon credit. Cheap is good. I hear mixed stuff about the seachem things, but would be willing to use them if someone could show me pictures of their currently thriving crystal shrimp tank.

Thanks! Just wanted some better opinions on the subject before I go buying something. I've never used these products before

Reactions: 1

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Zoidburg

· #2 · Dec 19, 2016

No personal experience, but I hear SL-Aqua, Shrimp Nature and Salty Shrimp recommended often... or there's also MK-Breed, Tantora and Shrimp King.

Some people prefer powders as they say that powder is cheaper since you aren't paying for water. On the flip side, liquid remineralizers may contain more nutrients in them that can't be found in powders. Liquid also dissolves better in water than powders may, and there's always a possibility of the powders clumping up if they absorb moister. (even if you keep the lid shut between uses)

XylemUP

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 19, 2016

Zoidburg said:
No personal experience, but I hear SL-Aqua, Shrimp Nature and Salty Shrimp recommended often... or there's also MK-Breed, Tantora and Shrimp King.

Some people prefer powders as they say that powder is cheaper since you aren't paying for water. On the flip side, liquid remineralizers may contain more nutrients in them that can't be found in powders. Liquid also dissolves better in water than powders may, and there's always a possibility of the powders clumping up if they absorb moister. (even if you keep the lid shut between uses)

I've seen a few of those before, but was trying to find something slightly cheaper

Zoidburg

· #4 · Dec 19, 2016

I've heard of people using Seachem Equilibrium, but for Crystal Shrimp, I would not recommend skimping out on a good shrimp specific mineralizer.

If you don't want to use shrimp specific minerals for crystals, which can be picky about their water parameters, then I do not recommend keeping crystals, or other caridina species.

TropicalAquarist

· #5 · Dec 19, 2016

Salty shrimp is the one I use for my CRS, it works great.

Seachem equilibrium also raises KH, so not ideal for CRS...

XylemUP

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 19, 2016

Zoidburg said:
I've heard of people using Seachem Equilibrium, but for Crystal Shrimp, I would not recommend skimping out on a good shrimp specific mineralizer.

If you don't want to use shrimp specific minerals for crystals, which can be picky about their water parameters, then I do not recommend keeping crystals, or other caridina species.

I mean, to be fair, I used to use tapwater and RODI for crystals...

I'm not going to be buying prize winning top grade shrimp or anything. Infact, probably just the cheapest crystals I can find, so long as they're still red and white

And for that, I honestly don't believe I need the $26 bottle of mineral powder. Surely someone else has an alternative.

I'm just waiting for that person using the alternative to post. So as much as I appreciate the suggestions for things I've already considered, they're not what I'm looking for. I'd prefer to hunt around for a while first, before I go dropping that much on a bottle of powder that costs more than my buckets of reef salt

TropicalAquarist

· #7 · Dec 19, 2016

Well if you want cheap just use epsom salt to raise gh! It works well, just measure it with a test kit...

YumiChi

· #8 · Dec 20, 2016

I don't think keeping crystal red or black shrimp is a cheap hobbies anyways...
If someone did found an alternative for replacing salty GH+.. I am pretty sure these brand wouldn't be so popular and expensive. If you're planning to cheap on the mineralizer GH+ .. you might be risking of having more shrimps dying and spending more money to getting replaced.

There might be an alternative, but probably only found in the Asia shrimp breeder warehouse lol.

Reactions: 1

Zoidburg

· #9 · Dec 20, 2016

I don't know many people who can keep crystals in tap water, and those that do have usually taken a *long* time to acclimate their crystals to tap.

I've heard great things about this companies fertilizers, but I don't know about the GH booster. Are you looking for something like this?

GH Booster | NilocG Aquatics

Or are you more interested in making your own remineralizer?

natemcnutty

· #10 · Dec 20, 2016

Zoidburg said:
I don't know many people who can keep crystals in tap water, and those that do have usually taken a *long* time to acclimate their crystals to tap.

I've heard great things about this companies fertilizers, but I don't know about the GH booster. Are you looking for something like this?

GH Booster | NilocG Aquatics

Or are you more interested in making your own remineralizer?

My tap TDS here in Portland is in the 60's, and I use Nilocg's GH booster to bring GH up to between 5-6. I'm extremely fortunate to have found a local breeder on the same water, and my SS grade shrimp are breeding like crazy. Not sure if higher grade would do as well though.

I will definitely mention that Nilocg's GH booster is 3:1 Ca:Mg ratio rather than 4:1 like most remineralizers. It also adds Potassium and is not as clean as true remineralizers. I wanted to keep my TDS around 125-130 which is what they came from, but due to my current method, 160 is the best they will get...

Reactions: 1

Kubla

· #11 · Dec 20, 2016

YumiChi said:
If someone did found an alternative for replacing salty GH+.. I am pretty sure these brand wouldn't be so popular and expensive. .

We've found cheap alternatives for Tahitian Black Sand, Excel, Liquid plant fertilizers and Seachem Matrix. They're still popular and expensive.

Reactions: 1

TropicalAquarist

· #12 · Dec 20, 2016

Like I said, Plain Epsom Salt is used by African cichlids breeders to raise GH, and can definitely be used for shrimp with a test kit to adjust it. It can be found at any drug store and is cheap.

ichy

· #13 · Dec 20, 2016

I believe there are some DIY recipes out there on the interwebs.

natemcnutty

· #14 · Dec 21, 2016

TropicalAquarist said:
Like I said, Plain Epsom Salt is used by African cichlids breeders to raise GH, and can definitely be used for shrimp with a test kit to adjust it. It can be found at any drug store and is cheap.

The problem with only using Epsom salt is that you are missing the most important part of your GH makeup for shrimp - calcium. That's why people are so hooked on these expensive mineralizers - because they are properly balanced specifically for the needs of shrimp. You'll notice that most of them use 4:1 Ca:Mg for that proper balance

Reactions: 3

TropicalAquarist

· #15 · Dec 21, 2016

natemcnutty said:
The problem with only using Epsom salt is that you are missing the most important part of your GH makeup for shrimp - calcium. That's why people are so hooked on these expensive mineralizers - because they are properly balanced specifically for the needs of shrimp. You'll notice that most of them use 4:1 Ca:Mg for that proper balance

But doesn't Ca increase Kh?

I've not specifically tried it for shrimp as I got several different gh boosters from a friend but I've heard of people doing it...

Zoidburg

· #16 · Dec 21, 2016

Just to make myself sound smart, KH is bicarbonates and carbonates. Calcium does not affect KH unless you are using calcium carbonates. (ref: https://www.theaquariumwiki.com/KH)

Epsom salt may help to absorb calcium, however it does not contain calcium in itself.
(ref #1: Epsom Salts Explained ref #2: Epsom salt for calcium deficiency - Growing Hot Peppers - The Hot Pepper)

Without being a "Google Warrior" (re: above), what I do know is that if calcium always affected KH values, then we would not have a GH+ only mineralizers for Bee Shrimp.

(Hey! I learn something new, too! While looking into it!)

Doing some other digging around..... came across these things, too...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8...ebrates/304226-using-epsom-salt-raise-gh.html
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8...brates/151541-shrimp-survival-hard-water.html

Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Water Conditioners, Barrs GH Booster
The Ultimate GH Booster | Green Leaf Aquariums

I have come across a couple of the cheaper GH booster products, but have never used them, nor do I see many people who use them. What I do know is that shrimp specific mineralizers may have more trace minerals and elements in them than a basic GH booster, especially the liquid types designed for shrimp.

Which, Salty Shrimp actually goes over some of this...

SALTYSHRIMP - Aquaristic Water Conditioners and Minerals

See less See more

Reactions: 4

natemcnutty

· #17 · Dec 21, 2016

@Zoidburg, you rock! I am not great at chemistry, but that's pretty much what my previous searches turned up as well.

When I had asked about it previously, I was told they use calcium sulfate (CaSO4) rather than calcium carbonate (CaCO3) which would increase GH, KH, and pH.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

mrfiock

· #18 · Dec 22, 2016

You can totally use Seachem Equilibrium! It's derived from sulfate salts! It says right on the bottle. Also it has a ~4:1 Ca:Mg ratio (8.04:2.41), some iron and lots of potassium if you have plants! But no carbonate, so it won't raise KH.
I used to use it before switching to salty shrimp. Like everyone says, the stuff specially formulated for shrimp is worth the extra $.

Reactions: 3

Yukiharu

· #19 · Dec 26, 2016

Admittedly I've been looking into a diy mix for a while, and I found some complex recipes for cichlid tanks. However, I think that for high-grade shrimp, like everyone else said, it's too much of a risk. Might as well drop the extra cash on a lot of formulated remineralizer and make the money back through selling on the forum

Reactions: 1

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