you will see your ammonia and nitrite levels near-zero or zero, and nitrate will start to go up… please do yourself a favor and Google “nitrogen cycle” and “nitrifying bacteria”!
Is it time to start over
- Thread starter scaredmantisshrimp
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scaredmantisshrimp
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Ok I think I understand now. Buy salt water conditionin it make it the right temperature put it in the tank add everything back add beneficial bacteria pray x 10
Yes he did! I did as well! The livestock produce ammonia, the nitrifying bacteria consume that ammonia… right now you have minimal bacteria to consume it…
Switch the water in the tank out completely for properly mixed saltwater, drip acclimate your livestock to that (probably start here as it takes time), then rely on large, frequent water changes as your primary means of ammonia removal from the system until the nitrifying bacteria establish themselves!
I like the idea of adding live rock ASAP too, despite the risk of it bringing unwanted pests into the tank!
— live rock is calcium carbonate rock, usually old coral skeleton, often harvested direct from the ocean, kept wet so the nitrifying bacteria colony it houses is kept alive.
Adding 30-ish pounds of this to the system would probably rapidly expedite the cycling process!
RO/DI water has practically all impurities and chemicals removed; it’s one step below distilled water, essentially…
It does not need water conditioner, that is for de-chlorinating tap water, which isn’t being used in this case for a number of chemistry reasons!
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scaredmantisshrimp
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how do I get Rodi water
DrkNMighty
Active Member
You can make it using an RODI system or buy it at a fish store.
You can get it from many local fish store, or from water purification companies. Or, you can get your own filtration system like most long-term hobbyists do….
Please, do yourself a favor and spend some time doing some in-depth research on this hobby before getting any more livestock!
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scaredmantisshrimp
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So instead of buying salt, water, buy rodi water and put salt in that
And to specify; Reverse Osmosis, DeIonized (RODI, RO/DI) water is simply tap water filtered via mechanical, chemical, reverse osmosis, and deionization filtration.
You still need to mix this fresh water with aquarium salt to the correct salinity value, and preheat to tank temperature as a standard practice to do a salt water change.
You use only the RO/DI water with no salt added to top-off your aquarium as the water level slowly drops from natural evaporation occurring (this can be a gallon or two a week in some cases, and is actually distilled water escaping as water vapor)
check your tank’s salinity often as you’re getting this hobby figured out, don’t make drastic water chemistry changes once your tank’s established, you’ll start to get familiar with your system!
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scaredmantisshrimp
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Thank you so much, as soon as I get home I’ll buy RODI water, mixed with freshwater
And add salt, then I will make it the right temperature add beneficial bacteria and reintroduce the inhabitants
And add salt, then I will make it the right temperature add beneficial bacteria and reintroduce the inhabitants
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scaredmantisshrimp
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Also what’s the ratio of RODI water to freshwater
Do you have a salinity refractometer? If not, I seriously recommend getting one, as opposed to a hydrometer… you obviously need to mix the saltwater to a specific salinity… again… Google some stuff, watch some BRS YouTube videos, it all starts to make sense!
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scaredmantisshrimp
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I do have a refractometer
KGscv
Active Member
Clearly you dont understand. Return the animals to the fish store. Watch youtube videos on how to start a tank. It takes atleast 10 days with fritz turbo start with proper sand and rocks to cycle a tank. If you do on what they recommend your fish will just die cause you are inexperienced.
Remember, invertebrates like your shrimp are extremely sensitive to poor water quality, and sudden changes in water chemistry… revisit “drip acclimation”, and understand how to properly move your livestock back into your aquarium after you replace the water with saltwater of the correct salinity and temperature.
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scaredmantisshrimp
Active Member
I don’t know who to listen to
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scaredmantisshrimp
Active Member
Also, as I previously stated, I can’t return him as the fish store had him in prison. His stink was the size of someone’s face look like maximum 2 gallons on top of that there was nowhere to hide just him and water on top of that they didn’t let him eat live foods
I don’t understand this question… the RODI water IS freshwater… just filtered freshwater…
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scaredmantisshrimp
Active Member
If RODI water is just filtered water why wouldn’t I want everything filtered? (just asking kind of confused.)
KGscv
Active Member
And it will die in your hands. You choose
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