*LAKE MATANO SALT MIX AT LAST*

[Nelly]

ok it was just the question from a non chemist person...like me ^^^.

netherless I am not sure I got it right
Is your advise not to feed them at all ?
You only count on normal algae growing in the tank ?

[willw]

@ Nelly: oh gawd - what I wrote in response to you looks like it's been written by a grumpy old man! sorry about that

My advice is: if you can get them to eat commercial food, great! It should have lots of important nutrients in it! *give them ocean nutrition wafers* Let them eat the algae in the tank too. Make sure there's lots of algae in the tank though! You need a lot of algae in the tank. If you can't feed them commercial foods then the rocks and other surfaces needs to be covered in algae - otherwise they'll starve to death.

[willw]

OK guys, I've managed to make 7 sachets of the salt mix. I'll be be contacting those interested soon!

[yu390705]

Will,

Thanks a billion for this amazing information!
Many years we've misled by the shrimp exporter that we thought the correct water parameter is high GH and TDS
But the truth is that the high-TDS/GH treatment is to prevent molting so that the shrimp casualty during transportation will be minimized, but not the survivability!
That also explains why the rookies encounter molting problem and the shrimplets never grow up then disappear.

Here is my calculation of the ion density:
Mg2+: 24/40*26.4 + 24/246*3.7 = 16.21mg
Ca2+: 40/100*28.1 + 40/146*1.5 = 11.66mg
Na+: 46/142*2.5 = 0.8mg
K+: 39/74*0.3 = 0.16mg
SO4-: 96/246*3.7 + 96/142*2.5 = 3.18mg
Cl-: 70/146*1.5 + 35/74*0.3 = 0.87mg

Per general water parameter I found the most different thing is that the Mg/Ca ratio is more than 1, while general fresh water is 1/2 to 1/7.
This ratio is more similar to ocean, not general river or lake.
I wonder this difference is required for Caridina spinata, caekewalk aand red line bee, those most difficult to raise and multiply breeds.

Also the sulfate and chloride is so low (the tap water contains about 10 to 100 times quantity, I think, as my observation of tap water in Taiwan)
That also explains why the pH is so high with such low KH/GH
I wonder it is a key point, too.

[willw]

@ yu390705 - cheers! what a great thought about the exporters keeping the shrimp from moulting during transit to avoid fatalities

Whilst speaking on the phone to a shrimp fanatic at my LFS, I was told that Matano's high pH and low hardness was to do with the fact that Lake Matano is the remains of a volcano. I'm guessing that volcanic rock gives the water these qualities.

By the way, I have no idea what factors in the water parameters affect the shrimps shell / moulting: can you tell us anything you know about it?

[yu390705]

Will,

It is not only a thought, it is a "rumor"... I know several agencies so I can get some information of the shrimp treatment before exporting and breeding.
Also the breeding does not happen in "farm" or "green house", it is a small rear area in Lake Matano and Poso.
So they grow up in Lake, not tank, in some aspect they're still wild shrimps, although Indonesia breeders announce they're artificial rearing...

Generally speaking, hardness is the factor for new shell settle down. harder water makes shrimp recovers faster after molting
But high hardness water makes shrimp hard to drop their old molt. The molting activation is controlled by cholesterol and shrimp growth status.

easy reading:
soft water: easy to molt, hard to recover, shrimp die old easily
hard water: easy to recover, hard for molting, shrimp may die during molting
cholesterol: helping growing new shell and help molting. If you want to keep shrimp in high GH condition you may need to consider this nutrition.

But physiology of shrimp is no so simple, it is the fundamental part, we can start here at first

[imke_j]

If you are interested in Will's offer, use PM for any further informtion exchange. If you cannot PM, you must have more posts (20 or above), as you have newbie status. From now on, please stick to the topic, as offtopic will be deleted.

[willw]

Hi guys,

I can't stand all this waiting to get some cardinal shrimp to further test out the salt mix. I was wondering if anyone out there who I sent samples to could post some feedback up here (if there's any).

Cheers for now!

[Summit MicroFarm]

willw,
SO funny and ironic you posted this morning. My new batch of Sulawesi cardinals will be delivered in a few hours. They will go into my existing Sulawesi tank. I will have more to report in the new future. Thank you again Will!

[Radik]

Hi willw, what is holding you from getting them? Cold weather? By the way is this suppose to be similar mix as salty shrimp? You are in London right? I plan to get some mid June from Germany most likely 1 day trip trip London-Germany or next day delivery if weather allows.