[captinplanett]

First off, sry for making another one of these. I've been reading a lot but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. So a few of my cherry shrimp didn't make it through their molting this time (5 out of 14). I won't be able to afford a testing kit til the end of the month, so til then I've been going to the store to get my water tested. They use the paper strips, so sorry if it's not exact. Parameters are:

Temp:75
PH: 7.8-8.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0-20
GH: 150 (not sure what the conversion is to drops)
KH: 120-180

My tap water tested the same (besides temp). A day or two before I noticed the trouble, I found a dead shrimp who looked like he had been dead for a little while. I was worried about the water quality so I did a larger than usual water change (which I realize now was probably a mistake). The tank is heavily planted and I've been feeding them ocean nutrition shrimp wafers for freshwater shrimp a few times a week. The tank is probably 4-5 months old and the shrimp have been in it and doing fine for about 2 months.

So anyways there it is, any advice to adjust parameters or anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[TDerivan]

I'm not a shrimp guru, but are you adding any iodide to your tank? Iodide helps with the molting process.

 

[captinplanett]

I'm not a shrimp guru, but are you adding any iodide to your tank? Iodide helps with the molting process.

I am not, just straight up liquid iodide? About how much should I add to a 10 gallon?

 

[wicca27]

that would be iodide not iodine from the drug store.

 

[captinplanett]

that would be iodide not iodine from the drug store.

thanks for clarifying, is this something I have to order online? or might a petstore sell it?

nvm, found it. do my parameters look okay though?

 

[52149]

Kh way too high. Ph very fluctuating 7.4-8.4???? No accurate number these 2 numbers real bad

 

[captinplanett]

Kh way too high. Ph very fluctuating 7.4-8.4???? No accurate number these 2 numbers real bad

i don't think it's that the ph is fluctuating, the guy at the store used test strips so he was saying its between 7.8 and 8.4.

yeah i need to get a real test kit that uses drops, its just that i won't have money til next week. is there something i can do to bring my kh down? like mix with RO water or something?

I guess I'm gonna have to invest in a RO unit...I was hoping to avoid that and just keep cherries but it seems my tap water is balls

can anyone recommend what kind of RO to tap water ratio i should be shooting for? or how i should go about this? my shrimp that actually did survive molting are doing well, 2 are berried. last thing i want to do is kill them by messing up my parameters

 

[Coddy]

can anyone recommend what kind of RO to tap water ratio i should be shooting for? or how i should go about this? my shrimp that actually did survive molting are doing well, 2 are berried. last thing i want to do is kill them by messing up my parameters

I would add neat RO water slowly each week (20%) until you get the water parameters spot on. After that use re-mineralised RO water to maintain the water quality you have got. You need good GH and KH test kits.
I did this, my Shrimp are A grade and bred during the process

 

[captinplanett]

I would add neat RO water slowly each week (20%) until you get the water parameters spot on. After that use re-mineralised RO water to maintain the water quality you have got. You need good GH and KH test kits.
I did this, my Shrimp are A grade and bred during the process

sounds good, ill give it a try thanks for the reply!

 

[Coddy]

sounds good, ill give it a try thanks for the reply!

Having read back your thread it maybe best to do a 10% water change twice a week, safer for shrimplets!

 

[captinplanett]

Having read back your thread it maybe best to do a 10% water change twice a week, safer for shrimplets!

gotcha, thanks! yeah im taking it slow, dripping the water in. my heart can't take any more deaths lol

 

[Coddy]

I've just spotted a dead shrimlet in my tank :-( I didn't expect them all to survive, but it makes you wonder if some just earn't strong enough:icon_conf