How to lower TDS In An Aquarium - Shrimp Keeping

Hey, I’m Mark! I love helping people with shrimp-keeping issues. I’ve got a passion for shrimp like no other, and I use my experience to showcase my shrimp and help you out with any problems. If you’ve got a question, just drop a comment on one of my videos, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
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[@Mi55Tay]

Thank-you so much Mark! Excellent advice. I was told to mineralise the RO to 130 & then add to tank, & I always had deaths at water changes. By taking your advice doing 10% water change & putting the RO in without mineralising the tanks TDS is spot on & I’ve had great success with no deaths.

[@carbonrili2874]

Mark this is the reason way I like your videos. You make them nice and easy to teach everyone how easy shrimp keeping is. Thank you.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

did you get your food ? some people are telling me they prefer the thicker tabs to the thin stuff ?

[@carbonrili2874]

I did Mark thank you sir . I prefer the thin sticks my shrimp go crazy mad for it and eat everything. the thicker tabs I don't know. that's way I prefer the thin sticks.

[@ministrinity2830]

Thanks for doing this video! I just took the final plunge in lowering my tds from 180 to 140. Initially my tds was 350! With tap water. And I only got an ro unit later. Over the course of a month I’ve been lowering the tds with 140 tds water. And it’s a struggle to bring it down. Having that assurance of adding pure RO is really helpful!

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

good to hear :)

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

My tap water comes out at 450! Ordered an RO unit for filling up my small shrimp tank but my main tank seems to be doing ok in the very hard water so far (including the adult amano shrimp in it). I'll probably cut it with 3/4 tap water rather than risk a big drop.

[@dannycastaneda1974]

Congrats Ministrinity VFX! My TDS is 830! I am thinking of using this 10% water change on a weekly basis to drop it to something like 200 for my neo caradina shrimp. I don't have RO system, so I thought I could use bottled water of 30 ppm. I have a 6 gal tap water fish and shrimp tank. The shrimp have been berried and produced less than 10 shrimpletes at a time. I have just recently purchased TDS and PH meters after watching many of your videos @Marks Shrimp Tanks. Thank you very much!

[@Mr.Helper.]

600 tds for me …do you all have green algae problems ? I am thinking the high ppm might be a culprit

[@rmcreativehome7089]

My TDS is over 700 in my 100 gall planted, shrimp and fish are doing great, got my RO system so I’ll try to get it down :) thank you Mark

[@hermitguy102]

It is because they are used to rain in the natural habitat. When it rains it causes the same effect of lowering the tds and the temperature so I’m pretty sure they are naturally more used to that kind of change

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Excellent comment, that is what I think happens too :)

[@HelloJenni20]

I had to lower my tds and I lowered it by 100 in 1 day and the shrimp actually seemed happier. No loses! Glad I seen this video because it just confirms that what I'm doing is okay

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Yes its crazy that lowering the water tds this way doesn't effect them.. going up the way is a different story, I think thats how people force molting and kill shrimp. (white ring of death)

[@rubenrocha5450]

Nice need too know I look for 70 drop

[@catfish9539]

So interesting and useful thank you. I have been losing a lot of shrimps recently, and have been doing regular water changes. I checked my parameters which were all within normal limits but never thought to check my TDS. I’ve been filling it with well water.mWhen I checked it yesterday the TDS in the tank was a shocking 736. I have Well water and RO water. The well was 297 from the tap and the RO was 12. Needless to say i will be doing daily water changes till I get it down.

[@commonunicorn1176]

Bless you for that sneeze.

[@nesr8786]

Hi Mark ,heres a tip about calibration ,to make your own Calibration liquid ,put 1/8 gm table salt into 250 ml RO water , that gives you a reading of 125ppm to calibrate to.hope this helps .Stay Safe .Mac

[@terminalpsychosis8022]

Thank you for this Mr. Tanks. Now I won't be too scared about adding 000 tds water (in moderation!) to my tank

[@VadimArt]

Hi Mark ! Big thanks for video! How do you do regular water changes? How do you prepare water for changes? What are the parameters of this water?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Hello Vadim, I now do 10% water changes once every week or two to a tds of 150ppm , I use RO osmosis water buffered with a salt to reach that value I also let this mixture mix for 24hrs before I use it :)

[@philthytanks4952]

I’ve been doing the same with pure RO but I keep being paranoid I’m going to screw something up. Glad to see I’m not alone in having success. Tho I usually add a tiny tiny bit to make sure a little of the salts, etc is still there

[@tankfacts641]

I come from more of a reef background and the water we use we try to have at 0 TDS after going through a RO/DI system. I have never really used a TDS meter except for to see how my filter is doing. I have never checked the TDS level of the tank itself. Normally I would look for other elements to determine water changes such as Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Ammonia, etc.. Out of curiosity I think I am going to take a TDS reading and then do a water change to see how the reading changes.

[@philthytanks4952]

I’ve also been speaking w some breeders who solely use TDS to judge when to change water, since it tends to raise a lot before nitrates get high

[@mrbananaman8032]

Assuming their incoming kh, gh and other ferts come in the same exact way and ratio every water change, this is fine. However, that's not a good tip for everyone else until they understand their own parameters. TDS is just a dumb measurement of gh + kh + ferts + everything else.

[@FU2Max]

this is basically what I do, never had a death when water changing. Sometimes I do put a little salty in there.

[@johnfadds6089]

Just like in nature, the rain can come down heavy and dilute the water fast, but it takes a lot longer for it to evaporate and concentrate stuff again.

[@markbass7102]

i dont have ro water so should i just use almond leaves alder cones as i have an alder tree out side of my house

[@jakel.1724]

I feel gifted lol. My first thought to lower my tds was to just add rodi water. I’m new to the hobbie too lol!

[@DsouzaDrivingSchool]

Another informative video- thanks for uploading. Could I just check if TDS is all that matters? I add plant fertiliser and the TDS goes up. I was told GH is as important as well. Does fertiliser increase GH as well or just the TDS? Bit confusing for me ...sorry.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

ferts will increase tds but tds is only really useful if you are using Reverse Osmosis water, for water changes specificly dont use ferts do the waterchange to lower tds and then add ferts so you know what your adding back in.

[@lunasmile669]

Hi Mark, Thank you so much for creating this video! in this video you did a water change with pure RO water to lower the TDS of the shrimp tank. And my curious question is: When will you use salty shrimp GH+ when doing a water change?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I use it every week when I change water in the shrimp tanks , I do 10% water changes and what you see me do in theis video is only to correct the tds so it will be like a one a month treatment.

[@dgstanks7447]

Great video, I've been doing this with my Sulewasi's 50 TDS every other change, got them from a private keeper who's been breeding them for yrs, using tap but his TDS is 350, but my tap is much lower and I use R/O and SS Sulewasi remineralizer. Trying to get them down to 220 TDS, so far so good. 🤞

[@dgstanks7447]

Mitch Connor mine has varied from 220 -280 so your good, but the most important thing is ph with these guys, I switched to the sulewasi 8.5, as soon as I switched my females started getting berried more frequent.

[@wickedx2996]

Just wanted to say thank you Mark! Been following you for a while and always get great advice. Haven’t tested tds in crystal tank for a while(battery dead) and when I finally did they were at 395! Dropped them to 250 yesterday and everyone’s doing great!

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

its amazing how they are fine with such huge drops but thank god it works 👍

[@aylahanson866]

Love this vid!! this is a constant aggravating issue in my nano! Thank you, Mark!!

[@ShaneZettelmier]

I would guess that it depends on what those dissolved solids are. If it’s a bunch of poop and plant waste, it’s not going to affect them, I also think that a lot of the minerals in the water or not necessarily something that affects them immediately, it’s kind of like vitamins you take them and there’s not a dramatic it’s to change, is something that affects you over time.

[@OttoIpsen]

Hi and thank you for a amazing channel! I get a bit confused ... you use the tds as a firm !value" as if it´s a substance of it´s own.. Tds is a messure of ANYTHING in the water, in your tank it can be salt, mine ammonia and so on. What makes the tds number a constant that you can rise or lower? Ok with a known additive to a ro water then you know what you are adding but in a aquarium it can be a messure of anything. I might missunderstand the use and if so please explain it to me. All my best from your Swedish neighbor Otto

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Hello Otto , in the tanks is just a base because I make the tanks a certain tds to start with and then keep it at a constant level all the time, in aquariums in general if you have that base value and then it creeps up a lot it just means you need to do more water changes.

[@weezypeezy1725]

I had rocks in my tank which raised The TDS way too much. I’m doing a 10%, slow, drip-in water change every day to lower it back down. Is that safe? I dont want to cause excess molting. Each change lowers the TDS about 50-100 tds. (650tds with 320 tap).

[@jseagate84]

I do my water change like you do I learned from you

[@ShouldBeWiser]

I have distilled bottled water with a TDS of just 5, which is great for lowering my TDS like you do here. My only issue is the only way to match its temperature with my tank is to microwave small containers of it at a time (30 seconds at a time), which means, I can't do much of a change without a lot of temperature alterations on small bits at a time. A lot of work.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Yeah I have to do the same sometimes if I am in a rush.

[@Bkshrimpkeeping]

Too risky.. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a small heater in it.. I add the distilled water and wait about 30 mins for it to reach thr temperature of then tank then I add it

[@wiggiag]

Nice. Thanks

[@MsLinanator]

I have so been waiting on a video on this subject! Thank you SO much!

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

oh my bad I forgot I had said to you along time ago about this stuff !!

[@davidvuong752]

Hi Mark, if this is how you are now doing water changes with pure RO water, when would you add your gh+ remineraliser? Would you ever, if this is how you do water changes now?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

This isnt how i do a water change this is just to lower tds. for water changes you need to add minerals outside of the tank

[@davidvuong752]

@@MarksShrimpTanks thanks Mark for clarifying. I’m still new to shrimp keeping, just confused with tds and water changing. If your tds was up to 150 and due for a water change, would you remineralise at 10% water change?

[@codebuster3132]

thanks Mark for the demonstration... just curious, how do you keep your GH/KH at a certain level when adding only pure RO water to the tanks?

[@taylorschleusner]

The key idea is that he is replacing evaporative losses with RODI water. Since evaporation removes pure water, it should be replaced by pure water (just not large changes all at once.) If you were to replace evaporative losses with hard tap water, you would continually build higher GH/KH as he describes in the beginning of the video.

[@xxenoedgex]

Just saw this video while I was researching on lowering TDS for my shrimp tank. Great video. Currently my TDS sits at 250ppm. Would you recommend if I were to do 10% water change each week with just RO water to lower the TDS to my desire number (~150ppm) or should I still add in a bit of mineral each time to maintain the mineral in the tank.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

You could do mate but what I do is just set the tds of the new water and forget about the tank tds, if your doing regular water changes like once a week the tanks tds will eventually come down to met the new waters tds. 👍

[@pauual]

can I get the same results with distilled water from the shop?

[@AquaMayne]

So do you add salty shrimp on the initial water fill and never again just keep lowering with pure ro? Also do you use RO or RODI?

[@toddjackson7688]

What is the 'New' tank and what hardware is on it for filtering and the like when you made the shrimp dinner? Very interesting

[@oicnow6178]

Got my first tds meter. Let's go

[@bobfal]

Replicating mother nature I guess, great vid

[@lmaaquarium8842]

I am from japan i have a crs shrimp tank .i use tap water and i dont have any tds .. can you make a video ... i have no money ...

[@JZiemba1]

Hey Mark! Im starting some Neocardinia shrimps and I dont know what TDS to use. I have heard you say 200 is perfect for Neos but in this video you say 135. Is 135 for Cardinia or Neocardinia?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Caridina.

[@karidesdukkan1769]

i have yellow fire and bloody mary tanks. tds is 280ppm. i think little bit much. what is your advise for tds. can i put pure ro water into it?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yes you can, just remove some water and drip the pure RO back in slowly :)

[@annabethsyndullajaneway1424]

If one doesn't have a reverse osmosis filter, what would work as an alternative? I've heard either distilled or purified(I forget which) water will work just as well as RO water but have no idea if that is true.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yes distilled water will work but it probably cost more to buy than pure RO?

[@annabethsyndullajaneway1424]

@@MarksShrimpTanks Not sure where you are located but here in Wichita, Kansas USA, I can get a 1 gallon jug of distilled water for 2 bucks depending on the store whereas an RO filter would be like 60 bucks or more.

[@RevofOne]

Great video. I use RO water and treat with Equilibrium as well as Acid/Alkaline buffers. How fast should TDS rise on it's own? My RO will go from 0 to 200 ppm when I mix up 5 gallons for my water changes. I just set up a new 20 gallon and my TDS went from 200 to 270 in just 24 hours? Is that normal??

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

depends on whats in the tank my friend an acidic soil will drop your tds while certain hardscape like rocks will increase your tds.

[@RevofOne]

@@MarksShrimpTanks Thanks brother. I did add some Dragon Stone from an existing tank that has Anubias established. I did a 10% water change with pure RO. Dropped about 20 ppm TDS. My ph is rising as well so I did add some Almond Tree leaves. So gonna wait about 48 hours and test again. My KH is around 2-3 and GH was 4.

[@queebloo4346]

I would think dumping in RO water is equivalent to rainfall in a water system. Shrimp are probably adapted to deal with tds falls but tds increases would normally be gradual in a natural water source so a big jump up would be something they aren't adapted for.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

thats it in a nutshell. 👍

[@zaifulzainal9147]

Hello mark...my tds ro water is 3 ppm.. I want to do water change.. Should i add some mineral to increase gh into my ro water or no need mineral?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Yes for a normal water change you must add a buffer , to lower tds you can use straight RO

[@John-xn6sn]

Awesome video Mark! Question, the RO water that you have in your green bin. What motor are you using to transfer the water to your tank?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I dont use that anymore John, if I remember right the motor failed a few times so I wen overhead gravity feed system instead which is so much better.

[@stealthjoe]

Hi Mark. How to control TDS creep when topping off evaporated water with tap water? My Neo shrimp tank evaporates quite fast as I am using a cooling fan.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Your not meant to top off with tap water.

[@stealthjoe]

@@MarksShrimpTanks I tried different methods such as topping off with RO water/tap water. But in every case I am facing the death of a shrimp a few days after water change or top off. Mine is a 4 gallon tank with aquarium soil. TDS is 230 now, GH - 5, KH - 0, PH ~6. I tried increasing the KH/PH with regular water changes, but it looks like the soil is pulling the KH and PH down. Please let me know how to deal with this situation? Thanks.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

hello mate, your not going to want to hear this but you have to get the tank setup correctly before adding shrimp or you will run into issues like this. If its not to warm you can just add a lid to the tank and do water changes like normal without topic off, your tds isnt that high by the way so I wouldnt worry about it.

[@stealthjoe]

​@@MarksShrimpTanksHello Mark! The tank was setup 2 months ago with 8 shrimps - 6 female and 2 male. During the initial month or so, all were fine. About 3 females got berried and had babies. Things started going downhill during the last month or so. I started losing a shrimp every week or so. Since the last few days I have lost about 4 shrimps. All moulting failures. Still not able to figure out what is going wrong. Any suggestions to maintain TDS using tap water?

[@flipflopsneeded]

Do you use RO in all your waters? Do you have any shrimp tanks using tap and conditioner?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

All Ro tanks :)

[@BreezyBrickyard]

Great video. Do you have one on how you do a water change?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yeah I have a few they will be in a playlist

[@josemontalvo4532]

Can a person add very small amounts of Baking Soda to help drop the TDS?

[@TriplusTutorials]

How can we prevent this approach from lowering our GH in our tanks? Since most of my TDS comes from my gh+ isn't there a risk of lowering the GH a lot if we add pure RO water? Just wondering as I like the keep a stable PH :)

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Oh it will lower the gh a little as much as 10 % I would think, at the scale we are talking it would be less than 0.5 of a ph drop which is fine I think...I have done it this way for years and not had any problems, no shrimp deaths or anything like that.

[@MajesticAquatics]

I lost a red crystal shrimp. Wondering what is up. My TDS reads at 132. But, my API kit shows 7dgh, and 2dkh. Any advice on what to rely upon? Trying to determine what is raising my readings. RO water, aquasoil 20 gallon.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

dont worry about it if its one shrimp saying that for bee shrimp you want zero kH, Rocks can buffer this up, also old soil can also not work properly giving you bad readings.

[@dewayneshort3775]

great vid mark this is one ive been wanting to see !!

[@hogbong1651]

I have been doing changes with pure RO water for approximately 2 months and have seen my tds drop from around 800 to around the 500/450 and am not sure if I should start using Orchid fertiliser with the pure RO water or not any feedback would be appreciated

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I dont use any ferts at all now

[@blakescarlett9049]

Do you actually have to remove water from the tank for the TDS to be lowered? Say you had 10% of evaporation and added straight RO water would that lower the TDS?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

When the water evaporates it leaves everything behind and makes your water harder. when you add pure RO water back in it decreases that hardness.

[@letdoit]

My tap water is TDS 230 ppm, I can’t lower then tap water, mean I need to treat my tap water to DI water?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that removes impurities and dissolved solids from water by forcing it through a semi-permeable membrane. This process can remove a wide range of contaminants, including chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, heavy metals, and dissolved salts, making the water safe for shrimp. A buffer is a solution that can resist changes in pH when small amounts of an acidic or basic substance are added. In shrimp tanks, buffers are used to keep the pH levels stable, which is important for the health and well-being of the shrimp. When using tap water for shrimp tanks, it's possible for the water to contain high levels of chlorine or chloramines, which can be harmful to the shrimp. Additionally, tap water can also contain dissolved solids that can affect the pH levels in the tank and make it difficult to maintain a stable environment for the shrimp. By using RO water and a buffer, it's possible to create a stable, safe environment for the shrimp that is free from harmful contaminants and pH fluctuations.

[@elgreeco21]

I was always wandering about that!!! Thank you Mark now I have the answer.... you are the best!!

[@stevequick7986]

Great video. Im trying to lower my TDS but not my PH. How do I do this as my PH is under 6 already but my TDS is around 300?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I am not sure that can be done Steve unless you start of with a lower ph and you are trying to bring it back

[@stevequick7986]

Thanks Mark. I've now done what you did in one of your videos. Put in RO water after making TDS 130 and pH 6.5. Over night pH is back down to under 6 again. Not sure what to do

[@dougandersonza]

Do you keep both neocaridina and caridina at tds 130?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

no my neos are 150-200 and my bee shrimp are around 100 now

[@dougandersonza]

Thanks for the feedback 👍

[@dougandersonza]

@@MarksShrimpTanks what is your gh, kh and ph on neos?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

gh will be around 6 kh will be around a 2 and ph will be over 7. :)

[@josemontalvo4532]

By the way, I enjoyed watching! I subscribed and put notifications on!

[@debraricci6227]

Im having a heart attack. My general fishtank is a 55 gal w community fish n tons of plants...i feed every other day. My tds is 1600...yes i said 1600. I pulled out 5 gallons immediately n added pure not even declorinator 5 gal of distilled. It brought it down to 1300. Tomorrow im going to do ten gallons of pure distilled...am i doing it right? Are there any other concerns i should worry about. My ph is 7.8.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

If its just a community fish tank I would just do your normal water changes every week or two to bring down the tds.

[@glennnot5719]

Hi, Mark, ho do you clean the substrate ?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I never clean it

[@c8459]

Instead of lowering the TDS with RO water, could I use water that has been aged and softened with peat moss? I dont have access to an RO filter but I do have access to peat moss

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

but then you wouldnt be lowering the tds which is the point of the video ?

[@garethjagger5671]

Can I add RO water directly into my tank? I've always mixed with tap water previously.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I do just that, thats what this whole video is about , its a good safe way to lower tds.

[@galathiel5681]

I just started keeping dwarf shrimp about a month ago. I have weird tap water (0gh, high kh and ph and around 250TDS). It easily gets up to 400-600 in the aquarium after adding a gh booster. I also have dwarf guppies in both tanks. Do you have a suggestion for lowering the TDS safely when it's so high to begin with? I have found out that the seiryu stones in my aquariums are contributing to the high TDS and also adding to the GH/KH of my tanks.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Unfortunately, the only real ways to lower tds is to take water out and replace it with ether rainwater, RO water or distilled water.

[@qifry5367]

so the goal is remove 10% water and add ro water right? to reduce the tds

[@caewalker9276]

It's probably like a spring flush in a stream. Too much tds would be like a stagnant pool.

[@adalwolf8328]

Hi, I just checked by neocaridina tank's TDS and it read 1400! I'm guessing it's because it's a dirted tank, and there's something like tannins dissolving in the water. The shrimp are doing fine though. Should I try to lower it quickly or not?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

If the shrimp are fine dont do anything drastic, but for neos you can do water changes they are not the same as bee shrimp. I would do 25% water changes in neo tanks each week.

[@AdrianWilliams-g2z]

My question is I have neocaridina and I’ve taken 10% water out I’ve got berried shrimp and tiny babies I’m too scared to add water back as I fear deaths only thing in tank with them is diphina think they called excuse my spelling my tds is 430 and wanna get it way down but does tds affect all other parameters and how can I go about not killing anymore my numbers are low and I need these ones to stay alive to keep my numbers up I need this advise so can get water back in and I’ll even drip feed it back if you tell me what to do please

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Just put your water back in normally in the shrimp should be fine just make sure you use a declorinator 😬👍

[@LadyandtheScamp4Ever]

My tds is too high but I’m afraid to do much because they seem ok & I just got them (no one education me on KH or gh when I asked at the pet shop 😭) I just need to keep doing 10% water changes til it gets down? How often can you water change? & how much water can u safely change?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

dont worry about the tds in the tank just make your water change tds the same all the time.

[@LadyandtheScamp4Ever]

@@MarksShrimpTanks my shrimp just keep reproducing even though the tds is high! I must have 100+ now including babies & the first set of babies are all berried now as well 😳😵🤩🦐❤️🪴🐌🐠🐟

[@samb0slice]

Wow, I've always been really cautious when topping off with straight RO. I've always just dripped it in. This is also really good for preventing old tank syndrome in regular fish tanks. RO top offs should be done in almost any tank.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I was shocked they didnt die the first time I accidentally did a whole flush through and a little more shocked times after when nothing happened ether ..I am not even seeing the odd death.

[@bhillson]

135 tds for the cardinia what about for neos, what tds would you aim for here. Ive just stopped using Ro water as in North scotland we have a tap tds of 46 and the water is soft, so will see how I get on, I do run it through a pre filter used for ponds to remove any chlorine and add water conditioner to be safe.

[@philthytanks4952]

bhillson I tend to try n keep my neos around 200-300, preferably doing a wc before it gets much above 300. Though everyone’s different, though Neos like higher tds. I’ve seen people keep their neos at 400+ tho, it’s always what exactly the solids themselves are.

[@neilmunro7924]

Do you use drip system or just pour it in? My tap TDS is similar to yours.

[@bhillson]

Neil Munro I drip my water in, but that’s just me

[@mohdimtiyaz7749]

Hi sir..if for water change 10% can we use ro water mix with tap water?my tap water i keep so much in a big container...my ro water tds was 17 and my tap water is around 30...need your opinion

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I wouldnt mix them , the tap water could contain anything, if you already have ro go ro and a buffer

[@mohdimtiyaz7749]

@@MarksShrimpTanks is that ro water need to keep in container for a couple of days before use it? I using coway brand water ro made from korea..

[@saradrian]

I am brand new to shrimp keeping and I’m struggling with water parameters. I’ve had death after death. My water levels are much better and I’ve just found a newly berried mama, but I lost a shrimp yesterday and today. One was a red rili and the other a cherry, this one that’s berried is a yellow bee so I believe I’ve got a mix of neocaridina and caridina. I also have an Amano, a blue, and some green ones I got at petsmart that weren’t clearly labeled species wise not that I even understood there was a difference at the time that I got them. Anyhow my parameters were far worse than this and have improved, but based on this information what would you suggest to me? PH: 6.6ppm Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5.0ppm Kh: 3 drops Gh: 3 drops TDS: 474!!!! It’s a 29gallon/110liter aquarium.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yes if you can join my discord server, we have an emergency section that gets a lot more attention than you will here, this is the link discord.com/invite/GN5KTqK

[@DebiSunset]

do you recycle used water through the ro unit?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I dont but we are on a well and I live right beside a river

[@DebiSunset]

@@MarksShrimpTanks i grew up on well water... it was vlean spring water... i miss it. So then my question is then COULD one recycle tank water through a ro filter? I am just curious, i do not have a ro filter.

[@drazensmarkovic]

RO unit requires relatively high pressure to operate, so you would have to pump it to the unit - I recently saw some kind of such device - intended to rise the pressure if your tap isn't enough pressurised.

[@andyjokki]

Mark just wondering if you speak Norwagian ? And where in Norway are you from?

[@mikevhx5682]

Big volume so the increament was slower than a small/nano tank?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yes for sure

[@Mrscram86]

Thnx for the video Mark. Great start of my sunday. Although i can keep my tanks around 125/130ppm atm. I might use in tha future. Peaceee fellow shrimperss

[@xisotopex]

what makes up 'TDS'? isnt it mostly minerals?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

it's measuring the total concentration of all dissolved solids in the water. This includes minerals like calcium and magnesium, salts, and some organic compounds too. However, it won't tell you the specifics of what those solids are; it just gives you an overall number.

[@WaltPark]

If you add just ro, doesn't it drop the gh and kh?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

It does but it doesnt seem to affect the shrimp at all, going the other way does though as in increasing the hardness.

[@parkerbenz]

Mark, your videos are awesome! Also, what is your favorite shrimp?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Deep blue blue bolts :)

[@jaguaron_]

Hello can i get recipe the powder

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Yes you can

[@jaguaron_]

what materials do you use?

[@chriseverett1142]

Hi what do I use to higher my TDS for crystal red shrimp it’s on 45 .

[@maheshrenju]

Me too like to know that

[@didnthurt4077]

Interesting! Was in the store today and the guy said 130ppm is too low for caradinas. 200ppm min he said, but i guess that just personal preference.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

No its not to low, this is what's recommended by the most popular bees shrimp buffer manufacturer salty mineral, I know lots of professional breeders that sell shrimp for thousands of dollars each that go near 100 tds.

[@didnthurt4077]

@@MarksShrimpTanks Thanks for the confirmation. I guess the store guy needs to watch more guides cause the 130ppm range is what i see many people aiming for with caradinas.

[@aquasensio8045]

buenos videos mark, lastima que no tengan subtitulos en español

[@Charlie-ct5fd]

If my tab water is 160 is it alright?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I would say so. what shrimp do you have?

[@Charlie-ct5fd]

Right now I’m keeping fire red shrimp but I’m just researching how to keep caridina shrimp most likely I’ll be keeping crystal reds.

[@Andreas-yi6zf]

hello ! im new to shrimp keeping .can i ask some question ? 1. my tds 3 days ago was 200 and now it spiked to 380 . is it normal ? 2. what cause a shrimp molt ? 3. tds is always creeping ? cant stay at specific number like 100-120 and didnt do wc ?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

It must be something in your tank my friend ..rocks none inert subrate etc .. my email is [e-mail] if you can send me a picture I might see whats causing it :)

[@Andreas-yi6zf]

@@MarksShrimpTanksthanks for the answer ! i sent an email ([e-mail]) thank you marks !

[@BananerRepublic]

are you not wearing pants? 5:40 I dont wear pants when tending to my shrimp tanks either

[@MobileDecay]

His ding dong was flopping around. The fish love it.

[@jeffcarmichael5262]

Showed him wearing camo shorts just before this lol

[@assemelsayed5331]

neocaridina shrimp can tolerate a wider range of TDS but the caridina only lower range, so lowering the TDS would not affect the shrimp, increasing it would harm the caridina all within reason

[@Ragloves]

Hi Mark. Can I ask why does my TDS keep increasing? I have a tank of caridina and neocaridina. Cherries, crystals and blue bolts. I use bee mineral instead of shrimp mineral and set it at 140 to keep my caridinas comfortable. So far my neos are fine cause they are breeding. But I have to keep adding RO water to keep the TDS down cause even after a day the TDS in the tank will go up to 200. Is this normal? I understand that its evaporation that is increasing the tds of my tank. Should I keep topping up the water with RO water everyday to keep it within 140-200?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

If you have rocks in the tank thats whats making it go up, anything you add to the tank like food etc will also make it go up.

[@Ragloves]

@@MarksShrimpTanks Ouh so if I remove my coral rocks will the tds stabilise? And do I put in RO water to top up the evaporated water? Or remineralized RO?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

That is your problem although I wouldn't worry about it so much, coral is great for stabilizing a tank. You are better forgetting the tank tds and just concentrate on your water change tds. Remember to drip those water changes back in.

[@hardiksolanki4027]

hey mark hope u remember me...how r u? I had a question... 2wice I added ro water (20 percentage change)to my tank(13 gallons) tds raised from 109 to 860... before adding the ro water the tds of it was 34... did tried with diff tds meter... it shows the same... ph, kh, gh & temp is perfectly fine... any specific reason why its happening???

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Hello sir yes I remember you, I am doing great thanks, that is a very strange reading, can you test the tds of the ro water before you add it to the tank ? I think maybe you have the RO waste water mixed up with the good tds water.

[@hardiksolanki4027]

@@MarksShrimpTanks thank mark... ya the ro water tds count is between 25 to 35. Even b4 couple of week ago b4 adding ro tds was between 25 to 35. The only changes I made was added Myriophyllum tuberculatum - (2 Plants) If that helps you to identify the issue... apart from tds everything is normal, shrimps are perfectly fine as if there is nothing wrong behaviour of the tank is perfectly fine...but still concerned for the tds count...

[@Mathias_NB]

@@hardiksolanki4027 I k ow this is way late to chime in here, but did you solve this? I'd have suggested checking the GH/KH.

[@kangaro6655]

Hello sir.. Do you keep or breed sulawesi shrimp?? If you have, please share to us..

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

I dont, not yet anyway :)

[@08182075]

Hello sir, my cherry shrimp tank is around 480+ tds. My understanding is to take to take 20% out and put back just plain RO water without the salty shrimp reminerlize, correct? So, when do I do my salty shrimp remineralization? The reason I ask is because I always hear others say to remineralize RO water before adding to shrimp tank. Please clarify. Thank you sir.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

yes you are correct but use just 10%

[@OttoIpsen]

What i mean is that a tds rise in nitrite is not the same that a nitrate. Still a tds rise but oh what a differance in "damage"

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

oh I know what you mean, I actually dont get any nitrate readings because my tanks are in a good balance, I go as far as measuring the food per shrimp in a lot of my tanks to and adjusting by their response ..breeding shrimp means you have it right :)

[@dreamdigitalphotography620]

Fire red shrimp Tank tds ?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

that will have been 150ppm

[@jonwaller5430]

Mark why do you have cuttlefish bone in a jar please?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

calcium

[@AngeliqueCheskaAyad]

How can I lower my ro water from 70 to 45ppm

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

somethings not working right if your ro water is at that level? is it bought water? whatever the sourse they need to change their RO membrane in the filter.

[@sauravdey928]

Is salty Aquarium mineral Gh/Kh + Shrimp mineral Gh/Kh + Same? Everything is written same on the box

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

THEY WILL HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS OF MAKING THE SAME THING OPPS CAPS !!!

[@sauravdey928]

@@MarksShrimpTanks so i can get one? as i am under lockdown and ran out of minerals

[@sauravdey928]

And this only i am getting right now, otherwise the shrimp mineral is nowhere to be found. You are the right person i can think of asking www.saltyshrimp.de/english/aquarium_mineral_gh_kh_plus.html

[@daanvdw34]

Hi Mark, what TDS (KH/GH) do you keep your neocaridina tanks?

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

300 tds whish is roughly 6gh and 2 kh going by what the buffer says-

[@cobussaunderson4094]

My CRS tank currently has a TDS of 140 No females are becoming berried What TDS would you recommend, or what other action could you suggest so that they could start breed again ? I initially got 20, that was 6 months ago, many became berried, I have round 250 now, most sub adult and adult. I feed, SK Complete , SK Mineral , GG Snowflake , GENCHEM White Pellet , BacterAE

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

they need more protein I think, try get a food thats near 40% and feed it a few times a week

[@cobussaunderson4094]

Thanks for the reply :) I got some frozen bloodworm yesterday, will feed every second day and come give feedback I place in small container and add a squirt of tank water to it, then use a tweezers to grab some worms only and add to feeding dish

[@stealthjoe]

​@@MarksShrimpTanksSome people say that feeding high protein food causes molting issues. How far is this true?