TDS and fertilizer dosing

[CJz Fishes]

It’s almost been about 5 1/2 months since I have set my nano tank up and it’s been amazing. Although I’ve never really understood the calculating and all the scientific things that go on into a tank, I finally got a tds meter and shrimp minerals from saltyshrimp to start somewhere lol. I got the meter and shrimp minerals a few hours ago and I was shocked. I surely figured my tds was going to be over 300 since I’ve never tested it but check it out!😁 I haven’t even added the minerals nor do I use RO or distilled water. I do one water change a month of about 15% water. I don’t vacuum the substrate since shrimp are grazers and will eat just about anything. I add aquasafe to my tap water and stir the water for a few minutes and then let it sit for some hours. (Always test your water too)

I dose my plants with 1 pump of Easy Green on one day of each week. Sometimes I may do 1 1/2 pumps depending on if I’ve trimmed plants.

keep in mind, your tank could be different than mine so everything could be different. 
TDS / 173   Temp / 68-75    

 

[Fish Folk]

I think that with every gallon increase in tank size, my stress goes down proportionately when it comes to dialing in chemistry. Your tank looks absolutely beautiful. But I know that there is a lot of careful vigilance required. One thought it that TDS may not necessarily what is really good for shrimp or for plants unless you have a very accurate gauge -- for example, if you started with R. O. Water, and then mineralize and fertilize up from there.

[CJz Fishes]

Thank you! I am going to change the tank out to RO water soon so I can mineralize it for the shrimp. I’m just a little worried about stressing them out when I get ready to put them back in the tank when I change the water. Or will they tolerate it if I match the tds, and hardness?

[Fish Folk]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:23 AM, CJz Fishes said:

Thank you! I am going to change the tank out to RO water soon so I can mineralize it for the shrimp. I’m just a little worried about stressing them out when I get ready to put them back in the tank when I change the water. Or will they tolerate it if I match the tds, and hardness?

I really am out of my depth here. I'd point you to Chris Lukhaup, the Shrimp King for advice. I'll say that a guy in our fish club made an interesting video recommending an approach for setting up shrimp . . . let me see if I can find it . . .

Here you go:

 

[CJz Fishes]

I appreciate the kind help! It’s always nice to have a bit of guidance from different people in the hobby. I’ll give the video a watch👍🏼

[Fish Folk]

FYI... I’m selling some cherry shrimp to  my LFS today...

[Patrick_G]

Your tank looks super healthy and your parameters are good. I’m not sure I would change anything unless you’re losing shrimp. My shrimp seem to do best in a very stable tank. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/15/2021 at 10:23 PM, CJz Fishes said:

Thank you! I am going to change the tank out to RO water soon so I can mineralize it for the shrimp. I’m just a little worried about stressing them out when I get ready to put them back in the tank when I change the water. Or will they tolerate it if I match the tds, and hardness?

I would just mix your source water to the parameters that you want every water change. This will eventually cause the tank to match the source water. No reason to remove the shrimp.

[CJz Fishes]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:59 PM, Patrick_G said:

Your tank looks super healthy and your parameters are good. I’m not sure I would change anything unless you’re losing shrimp. My shrimp seem to do best in a very stable tank. 

The only shrimps I’ve lost was in the first month of the tank being set up and it was just 2. I keep a relatively close eye on them for parasites, or diseases and so far nothing. I feel like with how small the tank is, plus the good filtration system it has really makes a huge difference in overall wellness and stability as long as you maintain a regular filter change/cleaning

[Patrick_G]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:34 PM, CJz Fishes said:

The only shrimps I’ve lost was in the first month of the tank being set up and it was just 2. I keep a relatively close eye on them for parasites, or diseases and so far nothing. I feel like with how small the tank is, plus the good filtration system it has really makes a huge difference in overall wellness and stability as long as you maintain a regular filter change/cleaning

What size tank is it and what type of light are you using? 

[CJz Fishes]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:51 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would just mix your source water to the parameters that you want every water change. This will eventually cause the tank to match the source water. No reason to remove the shrimp.

You’re a genius🤘🏼

[CJz Fishes]

On 7/16/2021 at 3:40 PM, Patrick_G said:

What size tank is it and what type of light are you using? 

It’s a 3.7 gal. I use the light that came with the tank but I can’t really find any specific details on it 

[slim]

iv got a 5.5 gal plantes tank running a new aquasky light cuz i was havin algae issues with my other one so i needed something adjustable but as far as deaths i only had a few die when i added some (the normal) but seen to have luck for several months still dilaing in my light but my water is very hard and a 8.4 ph so i do a mix of drinking water with my tap to the paramaters i want and thats how i do everything waitin on my gh/kh test to show up becuase it’s impossible to find one locally but hoping to be breading ghost shrimp first them make the move to the others