# Possibility of Using Bottled Water for CRS



## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

Hey guys, I've been keeping Red cherry shrimp, malawa, and snowball shrimp, all of which are easy to care for in comparison to red crystal shrimp. 

The school tap water pH and hardness are quite high though I never measured it. But I believe its high because I get severe calcification on my bowls and cups if not properly wiped down and dried in the townhouses I live in. I also remember my ecology teacher saying the pH was above 7.5 for our tap. 

However, I still want to keep crystal red shrimp if its possible and have a healthy population. I was thinking that if I could bypass the whole bad tap water with bottled water of any kind. I saw that these guys http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/pages/Shrimp-Care.html used bottled water and tap mix for water changes.

Can I possibly....
1. Use bottled water instead of tap?
2. If anyone has any experience, what kind of brand or type (i.e. mineral or regular)?
3. Should I mix tap with bottled water?
4. Should I get any supplements for the water?

Thanks.


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

For RCS that pH will work just fine. 

I have an infestation of RCS and my pH is 8.0-8.4


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

If you meant crs, you can use distilled water, or.buy RO from a machine


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

mordalphus said:


> If you meant crs, you can use distilled water, or.buy RO from a machine


I was gonna ask about this, would distilled be a decent option to tap water? Distilled from like the water vending machines.


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

eklikewhoa said:


> For RCS that pH will work just fine.
> 
> I have an infestation of RCS and my pH is 8.0-8.4


sorry i meant crystal red shrimp, >.>


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

mordalphus said:


> If you meant crs, you can use distilled water, or.buy RO from a machine


My college is in Olean ny I have no idea where I can get distilled water or RO. Would walmart possibly sell either?


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

Yeah walmart should sell them bottled, some supercenters have the water machine in the back where the waters are.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Yup Walmart has the cheapest distilled water.
I used it before waiting for my RO unit to come in.
It was like .88 cent a gallon.


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

my buddy got some Crystal Reds.. 
he water is Round Rock Texas City Tap Water.. its hard water with 7.6+ Ph..

they CRS are breeding like crazy.. he started off with like 10.. 

he has since given me 20+ juvies and i am going to take more off his hands.. he is only keeping the higher grades.. 

so he parents and F1's so far.. F1's are too young to breed at the moment..


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Walmart or grocery store. I've been refilling 2 5gallon jugs for about 2 years now at my local grocery store, one of those glacial/glacier water machines.


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

HolyAngel said:


> Walmart or grocery store. I've been refilling 2 5gallon jugs for about 2 years now at my local grocery store, one of those glacial/glacier water machines.


have you tested the water.. ?!

i have often wondered how consistent those machines are.. it seems like its worked will for your needs.. 
saltwater people mentioned they did not trust this and preferred LFS ro water..


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

tds is between 0 and 11 on average. they service them once a month so ya, 0 at the start, nearing 11 the couple days before they service it.


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

HolyAngel said:


> tds is between 0 and 11 on average. they service them once a month so ya, 0 at the start, nearing 11 the couple days before they service it.


great.. i will use it for my shrimp tanks for sure


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## SBPyro (Dec 15, 2009)

*Chemistry lab??*



Bananariot said:


> My college is in Olean ny I have no idea where I can get distilled water or RO. Would walmart possibly sell either?


Most chemistry labs have RO water on tap.


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## etbarry (Feb 22, 2009)

This water should still be remineralized with ro right or mineral plus. To get the tds where it should be at.


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

So I think I am going to use the water that you can fill the jugs with over at walmart, if they don't have it I'll probably buy some 2.5 gallons of bottled water or something. 

Should I add anything into the water to help with minerals or anything?
Should I mix tap or should I go straight walmart water?


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

The TDS will be too low if you go straight bottled water.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

As etbarry said, whatever you use, make sure to add something back to readjust the TDS to the desired level.


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

GeToChKn said:


> As etbarry said, whatever you use, make sure to add something back to readjust the TDS to the desired level.


So what would be some good things to increase the TDS? Like most recommended product & best cheap bang for the buck product xD.


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

wait.. so the WATER Machines are not OK .. or ARE ok.. 
as is...!?


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Find the chemistry department. They will have several kinds of water on tap. 
If you're taking chem, or know someone who is, ask the prof. if you can bring in a five gallon jug once in a while.


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> Find the chemistry department. They will have several kinds of water on tap.
> If you're taking chem, or know someone who is, ask the prof. if you can bring in a five gallon jug once in a while.


Haha I'm a chem major but the chem department is small and I don't want to overstep any boundaries and ask for R/O water or anything. I don't mind paying for water at walmart, but I'll see if I can bring it up in conversation in chem someday lol.

However even then I'm not sure if I need to supplement my water with minerals for the shrimp or not. I think that's the biggest issue for me.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Bananariot said:


> Haha I'm a chem major but the chem department is small and I don't want to overstep any boundaries and ask for R/O water or anything. I don't mind paying for water at walmart, but I'll see if I can bring it up in conversation in chem someday lol.
> 
> However even then I'm not sure if I need to supplement my water with minerals for the shrimp or not. I think that's the biggest issue for me.


You do. RO water is pure. almost 0TDS, 0gh/0kh. gH needs to be around 3-6 for crystal shrimp so they get enough calcium to be able to molt. With a 0gH, they can't molt and will die.

You can use Mosura mineral plus, Kent's RO right, Fluval shrimp mineral supplement to get the TDS and gH to a good range for crystals/bee shrimp.


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## Mpowley (Feb 24, 2012)

Peat moss. Lowers ph and softens water as well.


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## Mpowley (Feb 24, 2012)

But make sure there is no fertilizer or there will be a massive algae bloom.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

ive been told distilled water but i dont like messin water chemistry it is tricky biz and if not done right can mess up some awsome shrim and turn them into snacks for the angels and columbian tetras


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

I think I'm going to give the walmart glacial water jug filler thingy a try with kent's RO water if needed. Gonna get me some RO water from a LFS today though lol so my CRS can have some quality water for now before I head back to college. I'm gonna mix the RO with some tap for now.


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## splur (Nov 26, 2011)

I'm trying to test out if brita filtered water works. My tap water comes out with a pH of 8.2, GH 10 KH 9 and a TDS of 160-180. After it goes through the brita filter, the water has a pH of 6.5, GH of 4 and KH of 1 with a TDS of 70. It's pretty close to what I remineralize RO water to become, if anyhting a bit purer. Thing is I don't like not knowing what the brita filter does and if it is simply masking everything by binding with whatever is in the water.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

splur said:


> I'm trying to test out if brita filtered water works. My tap water comes out with a pH of 8.2, GH 10 KH 9 and a TDS of 160-180. After it goes through the brita filter, the water has a pH of 6.5, GH of 4 and KH of 1 with a TDS of 70. It's pretty close to what I remineralize RO water to become, if anyhting a bit purer. Thing is I don't like not knowing what the brita filter does and if it is simply masking everything by binding with whatever is in the water.


It's just going to be more costly than anything, those filters are expensive and using it is going to exhaust it quickly. It's probably not removing chloramine either, so unless you treat that water with prime, you could be doing damage to your filter bacteria.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Funny my brita filter water is 70 TDS also.


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## marksch (Jan 9, 2012)

Ive had my first planted tank a couple months now and have 6 CRS seemingly happy. 

Im using water from the Glacier vending machine doing weekly changes or close to it. I just read a post that it would be smart to add Seachem Equilibrium to the new water. I started adding 1 tsp per 5 gallons. The Seachem website says this:
_Equilibrium™ is ideally suited for use with RO (reverse osmosis) or DI (deionized) water or any mineral deficient water_

Any have thoughts on the amount of Equilibrium Im using?


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

marksch said:


> Ive had my first planted tank a couple months now and have 6 CRS seemingly happy.
> 
> Im using water from the Glacier vending machine doing weekly changes or close to it. I just read a post that it would be smart to add Seachem Equilibrium to the new water. I started adding 1 tsp per 5 gallons. The Seachem website says this:
> _Equilibrium™ is ideally suited for use with RO (reverse osmosis) or DI (deionized) water or any mineral deficient water_
> ...


I think a few people didn't like the extra stuff in Equilibrium or found it affect pH or something. I'm not sure but I remember someone talking about it before with regards to shrimp. The main thing is get it to a proper gH/TDS reading anyways. a gH of 3-6, TDS of 100-150 is usually good.


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