Help with Rainwater?

[aquamx]

Hi all

I recently moved house to a property that has no mains tap water. We are on tanks and collect rainwater.

Since the move, the shrimp have gone from breeding weekly to not at all. I believe it is the water.

Does anyone have experience in correct preperation of Rain water and advice on how to go about getting it right.

Currently the P.H is 6.5, K.H-0, G.H-0.

Help appreciated :huh:

[vejvar]

K.H-0, G.H-0
I think, that the problem is lack of minerals in the wather

[cobalt99]

Hi all

I recently moved house to a property that has no mains tap water. We are on tanks and collect rainwater.

Since the move, the shrimp have gone from breeding weekly to not at all. I believe it is the water.

Does anyone have experience in correct preperation of Rain water and advice on how to go about getting it right.

Currently the P.H is 6.5, K.H-0, G.H-0.

Help appreciated :huh:

I have the opposite problem (water very hard, and PH: 7.6!)

Anyway, just add some Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise PH. Add some Epsom salt (MgSO4) to add minerals and raise PH as well. Most importantly add Calcium, you can put crushed coral chips in the filter or substrate as a long term solution to low calcium levels. Some other forms of calcium are good too, but make sure there are no harmful metals which would kill your shrimp.

Maintaining a PH of 7.0 is good for most shrimp. Calcium is required for all shrimp!

Regards,
Mo

[aquamx]

Thank you for The replies.

I have some Seachem Meridian sand that is high in Calcium. I have a 5 tank shrimp rack, do you think if i do 1 tank with this as a substrate it would be enough? I also have a heap of coral sand which i could make up bags from and put in the sump?

I guess i will do this and see what happens. I just don't want to raise the P.H to much.

[retardo]

Take a look at this article (http://www.shrimpnow.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=73) before you do anything. Too much calcium could be a bad thing.

[cobalt99]

Thank you for The replies.

I have some Seachem Meridian sand that is high in Calcium. I have a 5 tank shrimp rack, do you think if i do 1 tank with this as a substrate it would be enough? I also have a heap of coral sand which i could make up bags from and put in the sump?

I guess i will do this and see what happens. I just don't want to raise the P.H to much.

I don't know how well sand would work in the filter, it may clog quickly. I was talking about the actual coral chips, which are like gravel or larger depending on where you get them. If you live near the beach, you can find them washed ashore in tropical /sub-tropical zones.

Just be careful about using crushed shells of ocean animals, since they may contain heavy metals. Freshwater snail shells should be fine though. You can also take some egg shells boil them to remove the protein layer on the inside. Then dry them and they are easy to crush. You can mix the crushed shells into the substrate for long term calcium availability.

Those PH:KH charts are nice if you need CO2 to grow plants. If you have plants in the tank, just check the PH/ KH when you add minerals to get it within optimum.

Most places recommend not to raise the PH more than 0.2 per day to avoid stress on the inhabitants.

You might want to see how much MgSO4 it will take to get the PH up to 7.0, I can't remember exactly how much to add per liter, but it will raise the PH. Just start with a liter of your rainwater and add a spoonful of MgSO4 at a time until the PH is 7, then multiply that by the liters in your tank. Like I said, this should be done gradually, don't want to kill the little shrimp. If you see the shrimp molt shortly after hardening the water, its time to take a break for a bit while they recover. Shrimp will molt when the water parameters change, don't want to stress them by making them molt more than once in a week (they might die).
My experience at least with softening the water a change of .5 PH down all at once (7.6-7.1), does not affect the shrimp badly. But allow them to recover by not changing any water for at least 1 week after this is done

Adding Calcium should be done ASAP, I am surprised those little ones are still alive with water so soft.:shocked:

Calcium will add to your GH (General/German Hardness), and does not change the PH directly. Also required for molting, and building a new shell.

MgSO4 (Epsom Salt) is classified as a "salt" but it is really just a mineral, also present in tap water and usable by plants in the form of Magnesium. It is also highly water soluble, which means no mixing required.

Since you have no hardness at all it is better to use a combo of MgSO4, and Calcium, don't bother with the Sodium Bicarb (just raises PH, without adding hardness).

Oh, also the coral chips are better in the filter if you have plants, since they can be removed easily.
They might increase the KH as well, but that should be a good thing since you need KH for CO2.
Just check weekly for the first month or so, to make sure things don't change too much. But from what I have heard from other people with the coral chips in the filter, it will stabilize quickly.


Regards,
Mo

[Ghanguss]

Seachem equalibrium is good for raising GH and KH. I use it on my shrimp tank for plant nutrients (K and mg) and calcium for the shrimp. It does raise PH slightly so you might have to test it abit.

I would be considering raising KH to 2-4 dH and GH to about the same. Trace elements would be a good idea too if you have plants. (eg. seachem trace or similar)

[Frank]

KH and GH should be balanced.
Many people recommend a GH of 6° so a KH of 3-4° is suitable.
These values are for normal tanks without any special soils.
----------------
Calciumchlorid-Dihydrat (CaCl2)
Natriumhydrogencarbonat (NaHCO3)
Depending on the product around 3 grams each 100 litres rise the value of 1°.

[aquamx]

Thank you soooo much guys.

Mo, what can i say other than thank you for your detailed reply.

I will go away and work on a couple of the ideas here. In my previous home, i simply used straight mains water as there was suitable P.H, G.H and K.H readings. I bred hundreds and hundreds over the last 4 years before i recently moved.

I was also considering buying a rainwater tank just for my fishroom, this way i could buy a truckload of mains water, fill the tank and not have to play with it as much.

A few options to consider now. Thank you.

[cobalt99]

I was also considering buying a rainwater tank just for my fishroom, this way i could buy a truckload of mains water, fill the tank and not have to play with it as much.

A few options to consider now. Thank you.

:D
I was thinking about storing rain water to mix with my Extremely hard tap water lol
It is really hard to get the CO2 levels high enough for growing my plants with such hard water.

Anyway, best of luck to you.

Regards,
Mo

[aquamx]

Hi guys and gals

I would just like to report back on how i am doing.

I took the excellent ideas presented and went away for some trials. I am happy to report success.

Due to the high concentration of Co2 in my rainwater i started at this point. I bought a small rainwater tank that i could use to treat the water before adding it to the system for water changes and top ups etc.

In this smaller tank I run 2 large air stones from an air pump that run 24/7.
I have found that the aeration is reducing the Co2 content and slightly raising the P.H. The shrimp have responded to their new water quality with hundreds of babies to date!

I move the water into the shrimp system sump as need. I check the water parameters and add GH booster as required.

Thank you all again for the help, much appreciated.

Brad

[wenger230]

Hey that's really true that installing a water tank in the house is going to enhance the property value as shortage of water is a coming problem and we have to solve this.

rainwater tank

[alecponting]

Grey water system is a good concept.It’s implementation will bring about reduction in wastage of good water.Let us take initiative and make a good beginning. Meanwhile, Let us stop use of good water in giving our vehicles a luxury wash.

rainwater filters