Illness

[sfsam]

So, in the last week I've started having a die off in both my painted fire and my cull neo tanks. This may be a bit long winded but I'm not sure what all will be pertinent.
 
First I noticed two dead shrimp with what looked like a failure to molt issue atop my sponge filter in the cull tank. Strange, as I rarely see any bodies in there. I removed them and was out the door to work.
 
After work I'm looking and see a pile of pest snails eating one of the assassins in the tank that has apparently kicked off also. Removed the remains of the assassin and decided something must be off.
That afternoon (I work nights) I have two dead in the display tank. So I remove them and start researching. I've only been doing shrimp since May of last year and this is my first round of issues up until now I've been surprisingly successful and grown a very large number of shrimp.
 
Through this afternoon I've continued to remove 1-2 corpses from each tank morning and evening and I lost my other assassin in the cull tank. Then this afternoon I didn't see any but found something more disturbing. An Amano with what I think is a bacterial issue (photo #1)? Up until then I thought it was my water as I wasn't seeing anything out of sorts other than bodies. There's a normal Amano in the background (I have 7 amanos in the cull tank)
 
SOOOooo parameters for both tanks:
I use tap water, Prime and until the molt issue dosed a reduced EI fert schedule since the beginning of November plus Excel. All dosing of everything other than Prime stopped upon first weird deaths a week ago.
Ammonia 0, nitrIte 0, nitrAte has never hit 20
Temp 72-74
KH 10, gH 15, pH 8-8.2
Rock solid stable no changes in any of that in either tank since starting.
TDS according to water report is 460. I don't test it myself.
 
Cull tank is densely planted (photo #2 about a month ago), has a mix of small amounts of leftover substrates I had around all in fairly small amounts : fluval stratum, a Caribsea fine grain white sand, a Caribsea Cichlid Sand and possibly some flourite. Plants are Riccia, a couple very small swords, a variety of crypts and a huge amount of Christmas moss off a couple chunks of driftwood. Back in maybe September it was treated with Panacur at 1g/10 gallons for hydra, they were gone in one treatment, no shrimp fatalities. This tank was put together with trimmings and leftovers. Filtration is two sponge filters one 5 gallon and one 10 gallon. Nicrew light.
 
Painted fire tank (photos #3 & 4) has a huge Crypt, a piece of malaysian dw and a stone I can't recall the name of at the moment. Flourite black and a bit of stratum that I'd placed near the crypt to start. It had a planaria issue I treated again with Panacur about a month ago successfully at 3g/10 gallons, it took two dosings with an enormous (85%-90%) water change plus two small changes and 5 days between dosings with one fatality which I believe was me clutzing the syphon and landing on the shrimp. It's a fluval spec v tank using fluval lighting and filter, no carbon replaced with filter floss and extra rings.
 
Neither setup has changed except for maintenance since set up. Painted fires in May 2017, culls in early-mid July 2017. I've obviously moved culls but have not moved any since the beginning of December when I saw the first planaria. Weekly water changes of 50% on both.
 
I initially assumed water since I use tap and where I lived before I dealt with some fairly dramatic seasonal changes in water parameters. I've only been in this water for a couple years and still am sorting out different issues... Back to the water report and I have .392 ppm Cu at the tap, to my dismay that's about a top end for neos but I use Prime which can bind that out up to something like 2.5ppm so it should still be rendered harmless as I understand things anyway, I could be wrong. And lead which is less concerning but still 5ppb (photo #5)
 
Well yesterday I started a twice daily wc in both tanks, 1 gallon each, which is 10% on the culls and 20% on the painted fires. I waited as in fish keeping for the past 28 years I've learned not to jump to dramatic conclusions right off the bat, watch a couple days and if no improvement wc until you can diagnose...
 
Now timing really couldn't get a lot worse for supplies lol, I just rehomed several large fish from another setup and used all my IAL for the three hour one way transport. Then came home with a couple new fish and found I had no heater for my QT so I'm now dosing a 55 with my QT regime. I'm short on paraguard (more arriving in a day or two). I did add Mulberry and Guava leaves to both tanks and have alder cones already but will add more after work, I have IAL and Amaranth on the way also hopefully by the end of the week I ordered Saturday after using the IAL.
 
I've been reading two nights now at work and other than prescription type meds I'm seeing paraguard and h2o2 being dosed (separately of course) as potential solutions. I've not started either as h2o2 is going to convert to straight water in very short order (if I understand the chemistry correctly) and Paraguard is more parasitic and minimally effects external bacteria. So I'm not sure either is actually effective for an internal bacterial infection. I with fish would medicate food with Kanaplex but see that reaches a toxicity level quickly for shrimp so I wouldn't dare stress them more guessing a dose.
 
Any help or ideas are tremendously appreciated. I sincerely do not want to lose my entire colony and be relegated back to the 10-15 or so very low grade cherries that are in a grow out tank as clean up crew. I was so enormously successful up until this point I'm just crushed by what's happening right now.
 
Also worth noting is that I live in an extremely rural area I'm not exaggerating to say I quite literally drive 220 miles one way to the nearest pet store. So all meds must be available online, preferably Amazon Prime lol
 
If I failed to mention anything or anyone wants any additional info please ask I'll do what I can.
 
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Edited as I did snap a photo before removing this from the painted fire tank this morning as it was the first corpse that I got to see mostly uneaten and it struck me as off colored. So the last photo is of a dead neo that appears pinkish in body. At the same time I caught and euthanized a shrimp from that tank that was swimming sideways and couldn't right himself or leave the floor of the tank. He was still zipping along quickly enough but definitely wasn't healthy. I had another thought and lost it while typing I'll update again if I remember.

[wyzazz]

The first thing I think of is a drastic change in your source water.  Municipalities will often have large swings in water parameters when trying to combat one issue or another.  This is why I always recommend using remineralized RO.  

 

GH/KH and TDS are pretty high, do you know what minerals make up this TDS?  If your shrimp are dying during molting I might assume that the calcium is a bit low in your tank.  Again, I recommend remineralized RO.  

As far as an illness or infection; good, clean, fresh water (with very little shift in parameters) is the best medicine IMHO.  I'm not seeing the issue with the Amano, it may be due to the quality of the pic.  Can you describe what you are seeing there for me?  

 

 

[sfsam]

The first thing I think of is a drastic change in your source water.  Municipalities will often have large swings in water parameters when trying to combat one issue or another.  This is why I always recommend using remineralized RO.  
 
GH/KH and TDS are pretty high, do you know what minerals make up this TDS?  If your shrimp are dying during molting I might assume that the calcium is a bit low in your tank.  Again, I recommend remineralized RO.  

As far as an illness or infection; good, clean, fresh water (with very little shift in parameters) is the best medicine IMHO.  I'm not seeing the issue with the Amano, it may be due to the quality of the pic.  Can you describe what you are seeing there for me?  
 
 

The Amano has cloudy insides, like the meat that you'd eat if it were a prawn is cloudy rather than clear and it's definitely a new yesterday development.

As for calcium I have that in abundance lol I'd never had any issues with snails or shrimp and molting or growing since May last year until this past week, and I don't think they are dying from molting issues per se... It's either an illness or my water swinging and the molting is just too difficult with whatever they've got going on. I've dealt with severe swings where I lived previously but I'm not thinking it would be that severe as we have had exceptionally stable weather and no run off as we've had no snow pack. But I'm not ruling it out.
RODI and remineralizing, I understand the benefits but am not going to commit to the additional costs and time involved, a small RODI used in conjunction with tap is something I'm considering anyway but with 165 gallons a week in a very small house I don't have space even if I was willing too make the other commitments lol

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[ClownPlanted]

First off prime only binds for like the first 24-48 hours which is enough time to let your BB take care of Ammonia, etc.  However that will not help if you have high copper levels which may be the case and since you are using tap water you are at the mercy of your pipes and water company.  

 

Whether they are dying from too high GH/KH or water swings this can be prevented by using RO water which is what I would highly recommend in your case.  If not you are just almost guessing and at the mercy of your water company.  It is so cheap and easy to have to only do like 5-10 gallons of RO water a week and I tell you the peace of mind you will get is WELL worth it.  How many shrimp tanks and how many gallons of water would you need?  Because you would not need to do your non shrimp tanks just the shrimp tanks.

[ClownPlanted]

One thing to keep in mind is unless you are inside their recommended parameters you cannot rule that out.  And for Neo's its typically PH 6.4-7.6.  KH 2-5, GH 6-8 and TDS 150-250.  Now I know many keep them outside those parameters and have good success but outside those when you start to have issues the parameters could be the start of a parasite/disease that would of not happened had they been in more comfortable parameters.  Many times stress can cause issues and then its a domino effect.  Trust me I know.

 

 

 

[wyzazz]

34 minutes ago, sfsam said:

The Amano has cloudy insides, like the meat that you'd eat if it were a prawn is cloudy rather than clear and it's definitely a new yesterday development.

As for calcium I have that in abundance lol I'd never had any issues with snails or shrimp and molting or growing since May last year until this past week, and I don't think they are dying from molting issues per se... It's either an illness or my water swinging and the molting is just too difficult with whatever they've got going on. I've dealt with severe swings where I lived previously but I'm not thinking it would be that severe as we have had exceptionally stable weather and no run off as we've had no snow pack. But I'm not ruling it out.
RODI and remineralizing, I understand the benefits but am not going to commit to the additional costs and time involved, a small RODI used in conjunction with tap is something I'm considering anyway but with 165 gallons a week in a very small house I don't have space even if I was willing too make the other commitments lol

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Cloudy insides point to a muscular necrosis issue in shrimp, specifically if it's muscle tissue your looking at.  If it's organs turning cloudy it points to fungal/bacterial issues.  In either case, stress is usually the root cause.  

 

As for RO, here is a link for a system that is just under $62 (http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2018/02/reverse-osmosis-filter-system-brewing-water-61-06-free-shipping-2.html) I have something similar that I run at home.  I use a Float Valve in a 44gal brute trash can to store my RO water.  (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Float-Ball-Valve-RO-Water-Shut-off-1-4-Automatic-Fill-Feed-Fish-Tank-Aquarium/331983445039?hash=item4d4bc15c2f:g:WqkAAOSwxEpYxUvz)  My entire RO setup cost me around $110, and then you have the cost of remineralizer which is around $30 for 200G for Salty Shrimp GH/KH+.  Well worth the peace of mind IMHO.  

 

There are a lot of unknowns here without knowing the current state of your water...

 

 

[wyzazz]

Here is a great resource on shrimp diseases and possible causes/solutions that may help.  

 

https://skfaquatics.com/forum/topic/5052-shrimp-diseases-and-diagnosis/

[chappy6107]

my thoughts are also pointing towards the water parameters.  gh/kh/tds all are roughly double the "typical" range.  another thing to consider with molting issues is if you have too much in the way of minerals/nutrients/other then their shells grow too thick making it hard for them to bread free of their molts. 

 

I too recommend an RO water unit.  I tried keeping shrimp in a tap water invironment, but my municipality changed up what they use to flush the system during a season change and everything died.  You mentioned you are doing 50% water changes.  In my opinion that is too much.  switch to RO water and remineralize it with a shrimp remineralizer.  Then only change ~10% a week.

[sfsam]

There are a lot of unknowns here without knowing the current state of your water...

I have the current state of my water in everything other than TDS which is a rough guess (according to the water report)

 

Here is a great resource on shrimp diseases and possible causes/solutions that may help.

Yeah that's what steered me towards bacterial.

 

my thoughts are also pointing towards the water parameters.  gh/kh/tds all are roughly double the "typical" range.  another thing to consider with molting issues is if you have too much in the way of minerals/nutrients/other then their shells grow too thick making it hard for them to bread free of their molts. 

After 10 months and raising several generations now my kH, gH and TDS have become issues for them?

 

I guess... Yes... But the assassin snails also died. I tried to state above I don't believe that failed molting is necessarily the real issue but a symptom of the actual problem. Leads me back around to something changing in the water drastically and suddenly that doesn't affect my fish, fry, or any other tank in any fashion at all... Which brings back a shrimp disease of some sort.

 

I do have three other tanks that have shrimp as well on clean up crew and they are not at all affected, which again steers me away from the water and back to a disease.

 

And, no deaths yesterday afternoon before work and none this morning, that I can see.... I still have the Amano that is cloudy looking but yesterday I thought it looked a bit out of sorts as it climbed and walked everywhere it was going and didn't swim and would kinda just hang out with a handful of food not eating. Today it's zipping around knocking over RCS for bites like normal. I by no means believe all this past week just stopped....

 

I'll look for info in muscular necrosis after a nap and see if that looks more like the Amano, but is it contagious?

 

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[chappy6107]

 

5 minutes ago, sfsam said:

I guess... Yes... But the assassin snails also died. I tried to state above I don't believe that failed molting is necessarily the real issue but a symptom of the actual problem. Leads me back around to something changing in the water drastically and suddenly that doesn't affect my fish, fry, or any other tank in any fashion at all... Which brings back a shrimp disease of some sort.

 

I'll look for info in muscular necrosis after a nap and see if that looks more like the Amano, but is it contagious?

 

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The post below from ClownPlanted is right on par with how your specific illness could be caused by the water parameters you keep. 

Yes, others have kept and do keep shrimp in other than ideal parameters. 

But that would be the same as a human having to live on Mars where it is much colder and nutrients may be much different than ideal for us.  Over time you would likely see our bodies/immune systems start to break down from our living conditions.  Can we survive...Yes.  Would we be comfortable...Probably not.  Would our bodies react differently with possible death...Probably so.

 

1 hour ago, ClownPlanted said:

One thing to keep in mind is unless you are inside their recommended parameters you cannot rule that out.  And for Neo's its typically PH 6.4-7.6.  KH 2-5, GH 6-8 and TDS 150-250.  Now I know many keep them outside those parameters and have good success but outside those when you start to have issues the parameters could be the start of a parasite/disease that would of not happened had they been in more comfortable parameters.  Many times stress can cause issues and then its a domino effect.  Trust me I know.

 

 

 

[wyzazz]

17 minutes ago, sfsam said:

I have the current state of my water in everything other than TDS which is a rough guess (according to the water report)

- What you don't have is absolute certainty about what is currently in your water.  Water reports typically come out quarterly.  If they dosed copper or excess chlorine to clear out a bacterial or algae bloom you wouldn't know that.  

 

After 10 months and raising several generations now my kH, gH and TDS have become issues for them?

- Not sure, we're grasping at straws and attempting to eliminate some of the variables here.  The largest variable right now is your water.  

 

 

I'll look for info in muscular necrosis after a nap and see if that looks more like the Amano, but is it contagious?

-Necrosis itself isn't contagious but the cause may very well be.  

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

[sfsam]

@chappy6107 yes I know. I use a similar comparison in conversation about fish. I'm looking for a small RODI unit that can be managed through the washer hookup and workspace required can fit atop my dryer. But it's a plan to mix to reduce rather than replacing my tap as I cannot commit to time, expense and space required to do full RODI.

But for now... I have a problem that I'd like to prevent from wiping out my colony. A transition in parameters I imagine at this moment would be an additional stressor, takes quite some time to do properly and isn't exactly my best solution. So I'm hoping to get through this and get everything stable again and then I can decide how far I want to change things and build my plan to do so properly and bring things more in line.


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[sfsam]

@wyzazz I apologize I assumed you were referring to the same type canned responses for Ammonia, nitrIte, kH and gH. Been fish keeping to long and am tired. I misunderstood. You were speaking of all that is comprising my TDS this past couple weeks as well as a potential seasonal fluctuation and municipal response... You're correct I don't have that. In this area I'd be lucky to get someone on the phone that knew what a water report was, paying the bill can be interesting enough, I dare not request something else lol. But I do intend to pursue that avenue this afternoon and tomorrow and see what I can come up with if anything. Just because having anything is better than nothing and knowing is half the battle.

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[ClownPlanted]

19 minutes ago, sfsam said:

 

I ran into a similar issue with my water company.  My water company changes water sources three times a year causing flucuations in my water paramaters three times a year.  The easiest way to tell this happening is a cheap $10 tds meter.  I would notice that my tds would be 30 more.  This is a cheap and simple method to know when something has changed.  

 

As far as getting specifics of your water report this was actually quite easy for me and a simple phone call they provided the specifics I asked for in the matter of a few minutes.  And this is when I found out roughly what times of the year my water source changes.  You may be surprised at how easy it may be.

 

As far as using tap water you just never know what they may of added or changed.  Things like copper or contanimates you just will not see with your own testing and the only way to know this is not in your water is using RO.  This is why many/most shrimp keepers just use RO water.  

 

I will share with you an issue I had in my first 20 gallon CRS shrimp tank.  I originally was using all tap water as my tds was pretty low like 80 tds with a GH of 4 and KH 2.  This was well in the means of what they should be kept in so I just used tap water.  Then I noticed that the TAP water tds rose about 30 and noticed my GH/KH/PH were all different.  So I then got a RO unit and was using half tap with half RO.  This was good for a few months with no issues until once again my tap water tds rose again another 30.  I did not notice this for a few weeks and during that time I had some deaths.  I then decided to use all RO water so I could completely control the water parameters in my CRS tank.  Since then all has been good and assume that between the known GH/KH rise and who knows what else, possibly copper and or additives added were the culprit.  What I am getting at is you just do not know what all they have added other than the GH and KH being different that could be causing issues.  The only way to know what is in the water is to remineralize the RO water yourself.  If you are going to use tap water whether it be half, 1/4, or all then you are always going to be at the mercy of what your water company is doing.
 

 

[chappy6107]

54 minutes ago, sfsam said:

@chappy6107 yes I know. I use a similar comparison in conversation about fish. I'm looking for a small RODI unit that can be managed through the washer hookup and workspace required can fit atop my dryer. But it's a plan to mix to reduce rather than replacing my tap as I cannot commit to time, expense and space required to do full RODI.

But for now... I have a problem that I'd like to prevent from wiping out my colony. A transition in parameters I imagine at this moment would be an additional stressor, takes quite some time to do properly and isn't exactly my best solution. So I'm hoping to get through this and get everything stable again and then I can decide how far I want to change things and build my plan to do so properly and bring things more in line.


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I understand your shrimp are sick and you want to help them.  I am afraid what ever is causing the sickness/disease will continue if you do not get to the root of the cause.  If it is your water, then just diluting it with ro into your tap water is not going to help.  I do not want to sound like I am arguing or bashing you, but you will most likely continue to get the responses about your water seeing what the parameters are above.

 

you would get the same responses even if you said my parameters are perfect cuz I mix ro & tap water. 

 

it does not take any more time to mix your remineralizer & ro water than it would take to mix your ro & tap water together.  It will take time to make the ro water, but that can be done while you take your nap or watch tv.  The expense is not much different than buying prime for your fish vs buying remineralizer for your shrimp.  only the unit itself which can be had for ~$65 on amazon and the filters that need to be replaced every year or two.

 

all of us here are just trying to help you, so if I or any of us sound like a broken record or harsh it is not our intent.

[wyzazz]

31 minutes ago, chappy6107 said:

 

I understand your shrimp are sick and you want to help them.  I am afraid what ever is causing the sickness/disease will continue if you do not get to the root of the cause.  If it is your water, then just diluting it with ro into your tap water is not going to help.  I do not want to sound like I am arguing or bashing you, but you will most likely continue to get the responses about your water seeing what the parameters are above.

 

you would get the same responses even if you said my parameters are perfect cuz I mix ro & tap water. 

 

it does not take any more time to mix your remineralizer & ro water than it would take to mix your ro & tap water together.  It will take time to make the ro water, but that can be done while you take your nap or watch tv.  The expense is not much different than buying prime for your fish vs buying remineralizer for your shrimp.  only the unit itself which can be had for ~$65 on amazon and the filters that need to be replaced every year or two.

 

all of us here are just trying to help you, so if I or any of us sound like a broken record or harsh it is not our intent.

 

Agreed and well said!

[dbpelletier]

I had problems non stop using tap water for my shrimp. I live in NH and the well water comes out with a super high GH. The struggle to keep the shrimp alive was really a bummer. Found someone selling a RO unit on craigslist, replaced the membrane and filters and fixed every issue i have had. 

 

Lately I have been trying to mix RO/Tap for one of my tanks with only fish, have struggled with problems which were fixed when i went to only remineralized RO water. 

 

35g Brute setup with a Float and i fill 5g buckets for whichever shrimp i'm remineralizing for. Honestly not having to use the tap is a good feeling, you never have to question your water. Also you can pick up a TDS meter for like $14.

 

You can get Salty Shrimp on amazon for $28. Will last you for quite some time. Plus overall your tanks will thrive even more.

 

 

[wyzazz]

2 minutes ago, dbpelletier said:

I had problems non stop using tap water for my shrimp. I live in NH and the well water comes out with a super high GH. The struggle to keep the shrimp alive was really a bummer. Found someone selling a RO unit on craigslist, replaced the membrane and filters and fixed every issue i have had. 

 

Lately I have been trying to mix RO/Tap for one of my tanks with only fish, have struggled with problems which were fixed when i went to only remineralized RO water. 

 

35g Brute setup with a Float and i fill 5g buckets for whichever shrimp i'm remineralizing for. Honestly not having to use the tap is a good feeling, you never have to question your water. Also you can pick up a TDS meter for like $14.

 

You can get Salty Shrimp on amazon for $28. Will last you for quite some time. Plus overall your tanks will thrive even more.

 

 

Preach!

[sfsam]

OK so several more hours down on RODI research today here's where I'm at and why I never purchased to start with when I moved. Now though I've gotten a better with understanding of exactly why full RODI is not my personal best route and I'll explain. Maybe some of you guys have some insight or solutions that will help make this seem less failure prone for me.

My TDS averages around 460 (water report). A standard 4 stage RODI unit isn't recommended above 300. On to 5-6 stage units and their exceptionally steep price tag in comparison and I'll still be burning through DI resin at around 65 gallons of product water. Then there's the whole I have no water softener (and no space for one in the house) which brings my costs further in sediment filters and more so even in RO membranes. Couple the costs with the expanded size of a 6 stage unit and its not a realistic option for my personal circumstances. At least not that I can figure in any fashion I twist it. Plus the fact I don't even know if a 6 stage unit will fit in the only place I have to put it. I'm sure size would become a factor for me at that point as well even going with a 50-75gpd unit.

That said I'm far from knowledgeable, and realistically I'm not all that handy so I'm apt to have to find someone to do the initial plumbing in for me, so I really should have my ducks in a row to start. I understand how it works but not nearly well enough to be able to see ways to improve my situation, and although I'm completely confident that I can manage the RODI unit itself, modifications or additions may well be beyond my experience level. I could in theory reduce the cost by going with just RO and eliminating the deionization aspect but my water is high in silicates (think diotomite all around the area kind of high) so if I going to do this it's almost silly to leave that in the water. That is if I understand correctly, the silicates are removed during DI?

So to start... Where to start? I'm not even sure what to ask as it just seems to be one of those disinheartening situations where I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, and I'm not keen enough on RODI or the chemistry behind it to see a "best" or even realistic workable solution. Cost is a factor though my budget can accommodate some things (even the extra costs of 6 stage eventually) but putting out an extra $30-50 a month in RODI maintenance and remineralizer and not actually reducing my other expenses any doesn't make sense to me.

Someone mentioned above sounding harsh... No offense taken, I'm often seen myself as being abrasive I'm also not trying to be impossible but I am trying to work out a best solution for my personal circumstances as well as the shrimp which unfortunately my household and family will have a precedence in. And considering I paid like $40 shipped for the shrimp I'm just not that into paying that monthly in maintenence, it makes more sense to spend my $40 every 10-12 months replacing them (FYI not at all my intentions, I'm not that kind of jerk lol). Also to note, I'd really like to figure out how to make RODI work as I'm exceptionally interested in testing my hand on more difficult shrimp eventually. I even already have a couple in mind that would be worth their added expense anywhere else But if it isn't feasible, that dream can wait until I move back where I came from and much more reasonable water parameters

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[wyzazz]

How I see all this based on my experience.  My tap comes out at 460TDS on average after a sediment filter, before the sediment filter I get over 550TDS, I also have a water softener but this doesn't drop the TDS.  A water softener simply provides ion exchange, it swaps all of the minerals suspended in your water for NaCl (salt).  Here is the RODI unit I use, I purchased it in January of 2017 and just swapped out filters (not the RO Membrane).  When I purchased the unit it was $72.00 on sale.  It takes up about a 16"x8"x8" space if I'm overestimating.  

 

I'm a handy person, a DIYer for sure, and I enjoy putting things together.  So as you say, this may not be the route for you, but it was the route I took.  I plumbed in a garden hose spigot in the house for this unit and asked that they send me a garden hose adapter instead of their standard adapter, they did this without question or upcharge.  In your instance, I would certainly plumb in a whole house sediment filter, it will overall make your water more tolerable and certainly make your RO filters last longer.  For a few months all I did was turn on the garden hose spigot and make water when I needed it, eventually I put in a pressure bladder (so we could use the RO for drinking and cooking) and a Brute Trash Can with float valve so I could have large amounts of the RO water ready for water changes and brewing beer.  

 

I'm not sure where the $30-$50 per month is coming in for RO maintenance.  My filter replacements were $50.00, and with my usage (Drinking, Cooking, Brewing, Water changes on 15 tanks) it looks like I'll be replacing them every year.  My RO water TDS crept up over a year from 0 TDS to 15 TDS as the filters began to wear out.  If you're not doing all that with the RO I think you can safely assume $25/year for filters at that point.  200G of SS GH or GH\KH+ lasts me around a year and costs around $30.00.  

 

To be fair, if you want to replace your shrimp instead of giving them the proper care that's your prerogative.  But if you want to keep them you really should be providing them with the ideal environment to thrive.  To me, that means RO water remineralized with a proper balance of salts.  

 

How RO works (very simplified version).  Water is forced through a series of filters via the water pressure in your house.  The more pressure you have the better/more efficiently the system works.  The RO Membrane is where the magic happens, there are really little tiny holes in it, tiny enough that only water molecules can get through.  The pure water is forced through the membrane to be collected, the unpure is forced out the discharge.  A DI resin enhances this purity even further, pulling out things that the other filters and RO membrane won't.  

 

If you're looking at getting into more expensive/harder to keep shrimp I'd urge you to start planning and utilizing RO water now.  You could also look at selling shrimp to help offset the cost of keeping them.  At this point keeping shrimp costs me nothing but my time.  

[afeather]

I think you may be overthinking an RO filter. lol They're surely not going to cost you $30-40/month. I don't think myself along with others would keep shrimp if that were the case. 

 

My city tap water is horrific and cost me a whole neon yellow shrimp colony almost a year ago after my city altered the tap. They were dying off one by one similar to your scenario and I was confused. Thanks to advice here, I purchased an Aquatic Life RODI Buddie (4 stage) from Amazon for $48 free 2 day shipping. (I actually just checked and today it's $43) I started making my own RO water; I fill up 5 gallons once every other week for my needs which is very doable. Then I remineralize it and it's good to go for a water change. My DI cartridge is probably due for a change but it's gotten me well over a year of use and Amazon sells replacements for $19. Yes it's a little extra manual labor to carry a bucket around and use an air stone, but it's worth it to keep your shrimps alive and thriving!

 

This specific unit requires pretty much zero DIY experience other than just mounting it on a wall if you chose. (Which I never even did; I carry it outside/inside because it weighs like 4 pounds if even lol) 

 

I just consider it a part of the shrimp hobby I signed up for and countless others would say the same. You may of course do whatever you wish, but an RO unit of some capacity is the advice you asked for by starting this thread. Best of luck!

[chappy6107]

I obtained my ro/di filter when I started keeping saltwater tanks about 3-4 years ago when I moved into my current home and started keeping shrimp again.  The previous home had good enough tap water to keep neo shrimp in while the current house does not (different municipalities).  I have a 6 stage unit that I built myself for ~$70 + the filter media.  I have used it for ~4 years (replaced the media once) and my final TDS is still 0 so I get roughly 2 years life out of my filter media.  TDS at the tap is variable but no less than 350 and generally no more than 525.  I dont burn through DI resin any faster than sediment or carbon or the ro membrane.  My unit is ~18" x 18" x 6" (i think).  I can measure when I get home and post a pic if you would like. 

 

for me to replace my filter media I can get it all at one time for ~$50 or if I want to be price conscious I can get it cheaper piece by piece on amazon.  I bought a replacement kit in anticipation of only getting a year out of the filters since ramping up my production of water and am still pumping out 0 TDS water.

 

If this is still out of your budget, I would suggest picking up from the grocery store the distilled water and remineralizing that.  At my local grocer a gallon of distilled water is about $1.  When you only change out 10% of the tank water per week, this is a cheap alternative and maybe more feasable for your situation until you decide to buy your 1st ro unit.

[chappy6107]

6 hours ago, afeather said:

 Thanks to advice here, I purchased an Aquatic Life RODI Buddie (4 stage) from Amazon for $48 free 2 day shipping. (I actually just checked and today it's $43)

 

could buy 2 for this price and daisy chain them together to make a 8 stage unit. 

[sfsam]

@wyazz and@afeather that is actually very reassuring information, thank you!
Research can only take a person so far lol it's very very reassuring to hear that what I've been reading and understanding is off kilter from the reality of it all. I'd wanted shrimp when I was in better water and didn't as work required a huge amount of my time and RO seemed simply too time consuming. And since moving to this water I assumed the rate at which I'd go through filters would be atrocious and just never could quite pull the trigger on the purchase. Aerating a bucket or adding salts isn't anything. I already run EI and dry ferts in a couple tanks as well as raise some fry both of which take time every day, significantly more than what you are saying this will take, other than waiting for water of course lol.

I actually feel a whole lot better, thank you. I just need to dig up a way to run it off my washer. If I can figure that out I'm sold. Someone's done it I'm sure I can't be the only person trying to do this with that being the only space to put it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[chappy6107]

13 minutes ago, sfsam said:

I just need to dig up a way to run it off my washer. If I can figure that out I'm sold. Someone's done it I'm sure I can't be the only person trying to do this with that being the only space to put it.

 

Y valve before the washer connection.  just get the right size fittings or adapters for your ro unit.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018Q3AQ4W/ref=asc_df_B018Q3AQ4W5364141/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B018Q3AQ4W&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193139379506&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2003533673722304293&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028688&hvtargid=pla-311013955890