Crs Help Please - Dying Every Couple Of Days

[Curiosity101]

Just done the maths, £200 a year with aquapura/ownbrand spring water.... Hmm

Are RO machines compact? That's the major problem I have really seeing as I need to move the tank + accessories twice a year. Once to the house near uni and then back to sheffield over summer. I could do without having extra equipment.

 

[RoMeO]

yeah its often used as the last chamber in an RO system to strip everything out but will work well with a small tank like yours and should last about 6 months. obviously just be careful with bottled water as i am sure you are aware.ive just ordered another 7 from shrimp king 6 of them are S-SS grade and 1 SSS. should be coming tomoz so when I get them I might post a few pics. shrimpking has told me he has some really nice stock in at the moment so now could be a good time to replace the CRS you lost.

 

[Curiosity101]

The only reason I'm hesitant to restock is because I don't have a definite cause for the shrimp deaths. I mean it could well be the tap water. But because it's nothing definite then I don't want to shell out ridiculous amounts just to watch them die again yah know... It's not just the money, I also feel responsible, like I should've done something to avoid it.

N when I say ridiculous amounts, it'll be nothing compared to how much you're paying! lol. I was thinking 6 x SS (prob no entry signs) as with the buy one get one free atm it's only be £90 ish.

Oh and with the inline thingy I'd need a bag of solutes wouldn't I to replace the correct minerals into the water... that's another thing that put me off RO

 

[RoMeO]

RO systems are fairly compact... easily go under your sink and they are a piece of cake to fit... just buy a self piercing tap off ebay connect so RO pipe to it and your away. I have had mine 2 years and the TDS meter shows water going in at 380ppm and filtered at 7ppm and with the DI resin attached it currently reads 0ppm. The money I have saved alone from not purchasing dreaded water conditioner has more than paid for my system. My system fits under my sink with 2 12lt barrels so it fills them up when I don't need it and when I do need the water its there straight away... ill take a pic in a min and show you if i can find my camera.

Don't forget if you buy bottled water at the supermarket everyone will think your a weirdo pushing 10 bottles around in your trolley.

 

[Curiosity101]

Lol once uni terms start I wont have my car and we're in a shared house to have agreed to order all food etc from tesco online. It'll be a tesco worker looking like a weirdo...not me

But hmm, yeah I get that an RO system works out cheaper... just that it's yet another thing to move around and store. My parents house is tiny, there's barely room for me and the tank, nevermind an RO system. I'll have a think. It's just so annoying though, particularly because my water is so damned soft in the first place.
KH - 1
GH - 2
pH - 6.4/6.5

Maybe my problem is the exact opposite... maybe it's not what's in my water thats the problem. Maybe it's more about what isn't.... do you know what your readings are in KH + GH before you send your water through the RO system?

 

[RoMeO]

here is my system, you dont need to have the barrels if your stuck for space. di-resin chamber might be the best way to go all round and will last a good while on a small tank plus you can move it out the way when not in use.

 

[Curiosity101]

I definitely will look into the di-resin chamber put it this way... if it's cheaper than £200 a year on bottled water then it's definitely worth it if it does a suitable job. Only problem then is... do you just stick the water in? Surely you need to replace some of the minerals via a powder or something?

 

[RoMeO]

yeah just use the montromilinite clay i was telling you about. Search for shirakura mineral powder and it will last ages as only a very small amount is needed

 

[Curiosity101]

Just to report, had no more deaths for almost a week now. However tonight will be a 20% water change with tap water... I'm going to use cold water only and heat it up to temp using boiled water... this may well be the last time I use tap water but I though it was worth a go if/when deaths stopped for a significant period of time...

 

[Shred]

Curiosity what do you normally do to heat up the water? Because it's generally regarded to be a bad idea to use hot water from the tap in shrimp tank due to the copper in the pipes.

 

[Curiosity101]

Normally just fill my bucket with the shower head, so technically from the hot tap. However the copper thing is a bit of a myth, or it isn't... but it's not a general statement. All the water comes into your house with the same pipes, it's just a case of whether when it splits and your hot water goes to be heated through/in copper pipes/water tank.

However just to be sure (and cause I don't have the money for a copper test kit just yet). That's why I'm doing my water change with boiled cold water. I know full well our house hasn't got much/any copper piping between the hot water tank and the showe. And the hot water tank isn't copper. And theres the fact the blue tigers weren't affected. But it is worth a shot.

 

[RoMeO]

ive been speaking to shrimpking and shrimps that are pregnant or coming of age often die and often you can be left with all males. ive removed almost all of my rocks, indian almond leaves, and anything else I can find that may upset the water to reduce any risk.I am also now doing 15% water changes every 2 days with ro water and so far so good. i have since purchased the ss and sss grades and they are doing great.... ill post some pics soon.

 

[Shred]

Well I always thought it was because the copper seeps from the pipes easier when the water is hot, hence water from the hot tap would contain more copper (if you have copper pipes). But you are right, I don't know of any sources to actually back that up, I think it's just something I read somewhere and have always believed.

By the way, comercial copper test kits are generally regarded to be completely useless, as they won't show copper readings until there is a very high amount in the water.

EDIT: Did a little bit of searching, and I found this on petshrimp.com:

"Many people use the hot water tank to regulate the temperature of the tap water when making water changes during the colder months of the year. Shortly after the water change your shrimp start dying one by one.

Suggestion: *Never* use the hot water tap. The hot water has increased levels of copper, lead and possibly other heavy metals toxic to shrimp. Due to certain chemicals added to the hot water, the copper pipes corrode more easily and release copper directly into the water. Other chemicals are also added to the boiler which, helped by the temperature of the water, release heavy metals into the water. Whereas fish will be fine (in the short term anyway), shrimp will react adversely immediately. "

 

[Curiosity101]

Well the last few days has been...fun. Wednesday I lost 1 CRS and 2 blue tigers. And then yesterday lost another blue tiger. Check water stats and they were perfect both days.

Also I HADN'T done the water change I'd been planning on cause I decided to wait a day and use bottled water instead.

Well... I've now done a 40% change with the bottle water. So far all remaining shrimp are intact. But I'm seriously starting to think that it's more about what isn't in my tap water than what is. I've barely seen any shedding and have had the shrimp a couple of weeks now...
I reckon that originally the CRS were probably dying due to something in the water (who knows what). But that now it's more that they're failing to molt properly...

I'm going to order 10 x yellow shrimp and 10 x snowballs and see how things go with the bottled water. If there are no more deaths of the original shrimp and I start seeing them shedding then I will presume all is well and restock some blues. Then maybe in the future restock some CRS.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Well I always thought it was because the copper seeps from the pipes easier when the water is hot, hence water from the hot tap would contain more copper (if you have copper pipes). But you are right, I don't know of any sources to actually back that up, I think it's just something I read somewhere and have always believed.

By the way, comercial copper test kits are generally regarded to be completely useless, as they won't show copper readings until there is a very high amount in the water.

EDIT: Did a little bit of searching, and I found this on petshrimp.com:

"Many people use the hot water tank to regulate the temperature of the tap water when making water changes during the colder months of the year. Shortly after the water change your shrimp start dying one by one.

Suggestion: *Never* use the hot water tap. The hot water has increased levels of copper, lead and possibly other heavy metals toxic to shrimp. Due to certain chemicals added to the hot water, the copper pipes corrode more easily and release copper directly into the water. Other chemicals are also added to the boiler which, helped by the temperature of the water, release heavy metals into the water. Whereas fish will be fine (in the short term anyway), shrimp will react adversely immediately. "

You say that lol (yes it's true but in my case; we don't have a water boiler or storge tank - everyone at the time suggested it was my boiler or storage tank which were the problems.