OK, I bought my "Baby Water"

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:26 pm

It's distilled water with minerals added back in. It says that the following have been added:

potassium bicaronate
calcium chloride
magnesium chloride
sodium floride

and that it contains up to 0.7 mg/L added flouride. So is this the right stuff?

I tested it and the tests were as follows:

Ph - 6.4

KH - not sure - I HATE that test. It never gets the right color. The closest was 3-4

GH - again not sure, but around 4

This is nearly identical to th results I got from the tank using Deer Park.

WetPets · Post by **WetPets** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:12 pm

not sure about the magnesium, but everything else is ok.. is the label mostly pink ?

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:48 pm

Its' pink, with a blue border and a big banner across the front that says NURSERY WATER. With a pic of a cute lil baby on it

Do you have a bottle of the stuff you use handy? Can you compare the minerals to what yours says?

I'm just not sure that it's any better than what I'm currently using, by looking at the test results.

Also, what would make my Ph go up in the tanks? Like, the Deer Park has a Ph of 6-6.2, and I've been using it exclusively the past month. So why is the Ph in both my tanks 6.6-6.8? There is nothing in either one of them other than some driftwood, plants and plain old gravel from Petco. And idea?

All this goes back to trying to make the best home for my RCS. I have added some of the cuttle bone already, and they will have a large natural rainbow rock decoration in there, a peice of driftwood, and some plants. But I'm still unsure about the water params.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:22 pm

This is not what you want to use for RCS.

Find a source of R/O water. Order some R/O right. Mix in ~1 tsp per each 10 gallons. Measure your pH before adding & let several hours pass before testing. Watch RCS the pH is more important than absolute hardness. RCS need pH >7 and they do best from 7.4 to close to 8.0

What I think you need to do is invest in a 3 part filter. You can get these from home depot and they don't cost a fortune. They have a charcoal filter, and 2 stages of filtration to remove particulates. If you cover your bases after that with Seachem Prime or Amquel+ you'll have water for pennies a gallon. Fine for any hard water shrimp.

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:43 pm

The problem I'm afraid of with the 3 part filter is that there may be copper in my pipes and I looked at the filters today - they say nothing about removing copper.

I have no convient source for R/O water - that is not an option.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:35 pm

I would not worry about copper from the pipes as long as cold water is used. REALY REALY TRULY. The pipes get coated with all sorts of minerals and the copper just can't get into the pipe. If you flush a few gallons out first, you are totally safe. Amquel+ and Seachem prime have additives (so the claim) that inert the copper. I've corrsponded with Kordon (maker of Amquel+) and they have asured me in no uncertin terms that this is not an issue. I've used it with hot water and have had no issues. Foolhardy, yes, but no problems.

An 30 gallon per day R/O unt is only around $200. If you are serious, you should consider it.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:47 pm

I'm not sure if this has already been awsnered, but why not just use Seachem Prime, or Amquel+?

I'm lucky because my LFS sells RO water by the gallon, but I am considering purchasing my own RO unit.

-John (AKA: The Puffer Ninja)

bjar · Post by **bjar** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:28 am

I had a similar problem as Wendyjo does ,not sure what caused the problem ,
my cherries where fine,but apple snails lookes very sick as son as I put them in the tank ,the same with rams horn snails .
What I have found that works well for me is keeping a well aged aquarium with lots of plants (after some time the biological activity neutralized what ever
caused the problem) and only doing smaller water changes .Of corse
doing it this way may not suite everybody as you have to wait for a couple of months for the water to age (with fish in it to keep up the biological proceses.)

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:16 am

I guess I am just really suspicious of my tap water cause of my ghost shrimp dying as soon as I switched from bottle water to tap water in that tank. I did use cold water and I did let it run for a while - I always do that whether the water is for birds, dogs, people, or fish. I had him about a month and he seemed just fine. He molted, I switched water sources, and he was dead in a day or two. The only tankmates were 2 otos and I know they didn't go after him. It just seems too coincidental.

Someone on another board has suggested baking soda for Ph and KH. Any thoughts on this?

Lady Friesian · Post by **Lady Friesian** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:45 am

Also, what would make my Ph go up in the tanks? Like, the Deer Park has a Ph of 6-6.2, and I've been using it exclusively the past month. So why is the Ph in both my tanks 6.6-6.8? There is nothing in either one of them other than some driftwood, plants and plain old gravel from Petco. And idea?

All this goes back to trying to make the best home for my RCS. I have added some of the cuttle bone already, and they will have a large natural rainbow rock decoration in there, a peice of driftwood, and some plants. But I'm still unsure about the water params.

So the pH is going up in the tank where you add cuttle bone? This is a base and increases pH. Sorry if you meant it was in a different tank.

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:24 am

No, sorry, it went up even before I added the cuttlebone (which I just added last night). The water I put in both tanks has a Ph of about 6.2-6.4. But when I test the tanks themselves the Ph is at 6.8 ish. There was nothing in the tanks but a small bit of well seasoned drift wood, plants and some regular gravel. So just wondering how the Ph goes up on it's own like that.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:31 am

Two things:

1. Get an electronic ph meter for better accuracy. I've been recommending hanna phep5 for a while now and many members have that unit. Everyone is happy.

Liquid tests are almost useless for our purposes as they tend to be extremely inaccurate.

2. There can be a lot of CO2 in bottled water, which forms carbonic acid driving down the ph. Once you but the water in your tank, the CO2 escapes from the water and the ph goes up. That is the most likely reason for your ph rise.

bulrush · Post by **bulrush** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:50 am

I have copper water supply pipes and my shrimp have been fine. I have had them since Mar 2006. Do not worry about the water from your pipes or the lead from the solder. The amounts are so small they will not affect FW shrimp. They might, however, affect saltwater inverts, like some polyps or corals, because they are more sensitive to that.

Also I use hot and cold water for my tanks, and still I have no problem.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:56 am

bulrush wrote:Do not worry about the water from your pipes or the lead from the solder. The amounts are so small they will not affect FW shrimp.

Also I use hot and cold water for my tanks, and still I have no problem.

You can't generalize that to everyone. There are some older buildings out there with very corrosive pipes. Mine is one of them. If you use hot water for temperature control during water changes in such buildings your shrimp will die (although your fish don't mind). I've tried it with disastrous and almost instant results.

WetPets · Post by **WetPets** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:02 pm

OKAY, yes, worry about pipes, you don't know whats in OLD pipes. Secondly, just buy ph up or ph down..its only a couple of bucks.