Remineralizer

Hi Salty Shrimp gh+ and Shrimp King Bee Salt. GH 5 with about 100 TDS

Wendy1B said:

Hi, can I get a recommendation or 2 for a tried & true brand to remineralizer my RO water? I want to keep Crystal Red Shrimp in my tank. I was told to try SL Aqua Blue Wizard, but that gives me a KH of 2 with TDS of 323!

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Are you sure your ro filter is not old? Blue wizard doesn't add kh. I get 130 tds and 5 GH, 0 KH. Sounds like you're just using too much.

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For GH I use Barr's GH booster available here Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Home

For KH I use potassium bicarbonate available here https://www.midwestsupplies.com/

I measure with the API KH/GH test kit

Check you TDS pen and see if it shows ppm or Microsiemens (μS). My pen gives me Microsiemens (μS) reading which show 300+, and scare me at the beginning. Find out that 300 μS is about 188 TDS which is still in acceptable range.

mheat said:

Check you TDS pen and see if it shows ppm or Microsiemens (μS). My pen gives me Microsiemens (μS) reading which show 300+, and scare me at the beginning. Find out that 300 μS is about 188 TDS which is still in acceptable range.

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Thank you for the suggestion. but my TDS pen is reading ppm and usually my tank reads at 98-190 ppm (I always test just before my weekly W/C), and my RO water reads at 1.

rzn7z7 said:

For GH I use Barr's GH booster available here Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Home

For KH I use potassium bicarbonate available here https://www.midwestsupplies.com/

I measure with the API KH/GH test kit

Click to expand...

I appreciate the recommendations! I'm also using API test kits, and I was worried that my kit may be bad, so I took a sample to a LFS and they got the same results.

bsantucci said:

Wendy1B said:

Hi, can I get a recommendation or 2 for a tried & true brand to remineralizer my RO water? I want to keep Crystal Red Shrimp in my tank. I was told to try SL Aqua Blue Wizard, but that gives me a KH of 2 with TDS of 323!

Click to expand...

Are you sure your ro filter is not old? Blue wizard doesn't add kh. I get 130 tds and 5 GH, 0 KH. Sounds like you're just using too much.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

my RO water is reading at 1 ppm, my tank water is always reading below 200 ppm right before my weekly 50% W/C, and I followed my Seller's instructions by starting with 7 squirts/ gallon. I never used that gallon in my W/C. How many squirts/ gallon do you use?

What is the GH of the remineralized RO water at 323 TDS?


Or........ What is the TDS of the water once the RO water has been remineralized to 5 GH?


Does the LFS have a TDS meter as well? Is the TDS pen calibrated?

TDS measures everything under the sun that is dissolved in the water. To measure GH and KH you need a test kit that will test for that specifically. XYZ number TDS doesn't translate into XYZ GH. In the case of RO water with nothing added but the remineralizer you would get a correlation I guess.

Zoidburg said:

What is the GH of the remineralized RO water at 323 TDS?


Or........ What is the TDS of the water once the RO water has been remineralized to 5 GH?


Does the LFS have a TDS meter as well? Is the TDS pen calibrated?

Click to expand...

The LFS used their TDS pen on my sample and theirs read it at 328 ppm. I don't think I even tested the GH as I was pretty disturbed by the KH being at 2 and the TDS so high. I'll have to mix another gallon to check the GH when I get home tonight.

jr125 said:

TDS measures everything under the sun that is dissolved in the water. To measure GH and KH you need a test kit that will test for that specifically. XYZ number TDS doesn't translate into XYZ GH. In the case of RO water with nothing added but the remineralizer you would get a correlation I guess.

Click to expand...

I do have the API GH & KH test kit.