Hi all would like to listen to your views as above.
For me, the more sensitive shrimps like CRS I would never ever do a large water change. What I mean by a large water change here is like 50% and above.
A weekly change of 10% ill do for them, on raining days or on a hot day i will not do any change at all. I have bought some distilled water on standby from supermarkets and top it up if necessary.
Other hardy species like Sakuras, snowballs, ill do a max change of 20%, try sucking out dirt in the gravel to prevent toxic build up.
I found out that usually after direct water change coupled with dechlorinator- Prime, no matter what species, ill face few deaths after a day or two. Thus I ever wonder if the problem lies in the case of placing too much anti-chlorine or the case of our new muncipal water. To understand more, i did an experiment here by placing few shrimps in a small container filled with the tank water with a few drops of prime, guess what - 2 of 5 died after 3days. So is it antichlorine fault or our direct tap water fault? If its the Prime fault, and if i aged the tap water with no anti-chlorine, the chlormaine bond will still exist in the aged water accompany with some parts of heavy metals from tap. So they arent very clean after all... (anyone here used the carbon and sediment or even the DO/DI water treatment?)
With no water change may also prove harmful for our shrimps in the long run due to the build up of nitrates/nitrites. Though floating plants and other summersible plants may help in removing them, they may not help in fully eradicate them. I have tried denitrator in a no water change tank (only top up with distilled water) and have proved not so efficient after all as the denitrator tend to clog up very often. Nitrates still present in the tank after some time. If there is a population boom, well i guess the high nitrate level may not be very pleasant for ya shrimps.
Ops guess I have talked too much here.
So bros and sis, any comments about this water change saga or myth?
Hmm...on first thought, have you tried changing the dechlorinator-Prime to another brand and try the experiment again? It might have something to do with it.
I would do water change of between 10 - 20 % but not more. However the tricky part is finding out the actual factor that is the cause of the deaths. It may be the soil, wood, weak shrimps... etc. Are you able to isolate the various variable and down to a single factor which might solve your problem?
Hi Spid,
interesting topic and information... I do very regular water changes: at the moment twice a week with 30% tap water - but I have tiger shrimp and no CR.
In my opinion, the shrimp like water changes and are more active and vital than before. A positive effect is that harmful bacteria populations, nitrat and othe 'waste' is reduced. But it is important to not change water parameter (like GH, KH, pH, temperature) at all but only increase water quality!
I use a undergravel-air-filter with an extra canister filter for one tank and water quality is very good. I guess that a good filtration only extends the time intervalls of water changing but not fully replaces them. But one can have lifetimes up to one year for one tank if filtration and gravel cleaning is good.
Imke
Last edited by imke; 6th Aug 2009 at 19:15. Reason: ortho
Yep you remind me of that- I should go for other brands ad try it out. Im too relied on Prime because its one of the best dechlorinator I have used during my discus days.Originally Posted by Crfan
Other factors have being remain constant all this while. No other new objects or things have been added in. The only change in this case is water change.
Hi Imke thanks for the wonderful input here. Care to ask do you use any water treatment for you new water during water change?> Water treatment I mean here is water filtration like carbon, sediment, do/di, ro? What brand of anti chlorine do you use? And finally is there any chlormaine used in your area for water treatment?
Sorry Im a bit over zealous here. Hope you dont mind.
Last edited by Spid; 6th Aug 2009 at 21:05.
In Germany we have no additions like chlorine or flurid in the water. I know some friends using Reiser Block Filter (=carbon) to get better water and they say that they have more offspring.Care to ask do you use any water treatment for you new water during water change? Water treatment I mean here is water filtration like carbon, sediment, do/di, ro? What brand of anti chlorine do you use? And finally is there any chlormaine used in your area for water treatment?
My tap water is around pH 6,7 in summer and above 7 in winter. The water provider has additional, softer water sources in summer, when water is running low in our city. I does not use any water treatment even I have done so a while with amtra clean and amtra pro nature. My filter is running with standard filtration material and no extras.
Imke
P.S. Doing water changes or not is one of the most interesting questions in shrimp breeding. Happy you touched this subject
Seems like you have good soft water supply at your side. No need worry about chlorine nor chloramine. Unlike fish hobbyist here in Singapore.Tap water here lately seems not very suitable for aquatic activites. Thats a reason I set up this thread here asking for other opinions.
Last edited by Spid; 9th Aug 2009 at 18:30.
for me, im more kiasu..
when i change the water, i put the water in a pail before adding any dechlorinater..
in the pail then i add the dechlorinator.. only a few drops.. into the pail and mixed for a few minutes then add into the tank.. each time i only change about 20% of the water...
the shrimps dun seem to have any deaths but they will be more active right after the change of water..
as for the brand... im not sure because it was sold in a water bottle. =P
Or it could be the way water is treated here is changing. Think we need to come up with a more comprehensive test kit for testing water used for CRS.
I am using NutraFin aqua plus dechlorinator. And I think JBl also has one type also specially for shrimps.
Thanks Ning Ning for the input. Care to share in what way are they active?
OK might go and try other brands again. Cos from what Im aware, good dechlorinator do not come easy. It has to be able to hold and break the bond between chlorine and ammonia (chloramine). What Im afraid is the chemical that were used to break the bond or to remove ammonia as claimed by the PRIME proves to be quite deadly for our dear shrimps.
Last edited by Spid; 9th Aug 2009 at 18:31.
Right, Crfan: It is called JBL Biotopol C and should also remove chlorine (Biotopol plus is the standard JBL product for removing chlorine); personally I havn't tried any of them.
One question: Can chlorid be removed by zeolite (as filter medium in a canister filter)?
Imke
Hi guys I have just goggled and check out the links.
http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTreatment.aspx
Any comments on the given data on our tap water?
Hi Imke, zeolite only able to remove ammonia and it acts like carbon in which its has a limit to how much it can absorb. Once its fully utilised, it will discharge ammonia back to the tank.
i know they're more active because those that were actually hiding came out and were swimming around.. then start chasing each other the same as when they are "horny" and finding a mate.
or when u suddenly throw food in.
they'll swim from branch to branch, then swim to the bottom then swim everywhere la..
they'll do this for about 3 hours or so.. lol..
btw, my shrimps seems to be doing fine.. all of them berried.. so i guess, the dechlorinator is okie..
i asked my fren where it was from, he said it costs about 12dollars a bottle and bought in serrangoon north at a arowana shop..
i used to overdose it.. coz stupid la.. dunno how to read label properly.
but the shrimps were okie.
but i think if u put "treat" the water in a pail before u add in, it might be safer?
60liters maybe 10ml then if pail wise, 1 -2 liter, just add 2 drops or something lor. =)
btw, why do ppl add the water directly into the tank and then add dechlorinator? lazy?
NingNing,
How about reduce your water changes to 10% and see if they still be so active. Chances of being active after change shows that they are stressed. In the long run it do more harm than good for ya shrimps. For sensitive species, slow deaths may follow after a few days if this shrimps are real weak.
I guess the "pail" way and the method of straight into water with anti-chlorine works the same.
Do you agitate the substrate everytime you do a water change? If so you might be causing mini ammonia spikes everytime you change water and hence the deaths. I do 20% water changes straight from the tap to the tank and the shrimp are fine.
hi Spid,
may i ask wat dechlorinator do u use or suggest ?
Nah. Not an issue for the substrates. Different areas have different water parameters and even different days have different parameters. If one would seriously studied about the incoming water, you will find on a raining day, chlorine level in out tap water will be higher than normal days.
All along I have been using Seachem Prime- Good stuff but have to be careful how you use it. Im using sodium thio-sulphate crystal form for water change at the moment, reason being they are slow to dissolve in water. Still observing how shrimps react after certain amount of water change.
Last edited by Spid; 16th Aug 2009 at 02:53.
oh?! they are stressed? okie.. i thought they were mating.. because.. after that will have many berried shrimps.. haha! silly me.NingNing,
How about reduce your water changes to 10% and see if they still be so active. Chances of being active after change shows that they are stressed. In the long run it do more harm than good for ya shrimps. For sensitive species, slow deaths may follow after a few days if this shrimps are real weak.
I guess the "pail" way and the method of straight into water with anti-chlorine works the same.
could it be... your prime has some certain problem?
because.. i heard that prime is quite good.
Hi Spid, may i know what soil are you using? Is your tank a 2 feet?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks