thedarkstar Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I dosed my tank with .4ml of excel and iron. Now one shrimp is doing the funky chicken. I think I may have made a mistake. I've never seen a shrimp affected by excel/ferts for me lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) When I used my net to scoop up plants from the top of the water I also scooped up a whole bunch of skim/slime coating. What the heck? I think the shrimp died because it's laying on it's back now. damn Time to do a 50% water change. Edited February 18, 2009 by bignose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Can I use the waste water from my RO unit for my planted tank? The waste water from the R/O unit is super concentrated with all the stuff that got removed from your tap water, so I wouldn't recommend it. Mixing your tap water with your good R/O water would be fine- maybe start with 1/3 R/O : 2/3 tap. The surface scum is normal, see here: Surface Scum. Since your tank is new and still trying to establish a balance in its ecology, it may be a bit more scummy for another week or two. It should diminish after that unless you're over feeding, etc. A little more surface movement will break it up too. Did you add the iron and Excel at the same time? Any chance you got the dosages wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I did dose both at the same time. I calculated the amount to 0.5mL and decreased the dose by 0.1mL. The shrimp stopped twitching now so I hope it pulls through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 It's possible that there's some chemical reaction between the two- who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) I've been having temp problems ever since I started the tank. I put a heater in the back of the tank behind the plants and set temp to 78f. I'm monitoring where the temp will stabalize. I'm guessing this is the problem with the shrimp. Edited February 19, 2009 by bignose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleshgear Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 i have a planted 5 gallon tank with shrimp and an algae problem. i dosed it with 1ml of excel a few days ago and all the shrimp seem to be fine. there is still an algae problem! i do not add iron though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I lost one shrimp and the rest are fine now. Now I'm showing signs of algae on my anubias and it looks brown in color. This normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I lost one shrimp and the rest are fine now. Now I'm showing signs of algae on my anubias and it looks brown in color. This normal? The brown algae is normal in newer set ups. Once your plants establish themselves that algae should go away. It is very easy to remove though, just take your finger and wipe it off. I don't know if excel affects shrimp, I was reading an article in Tom Barrs forum and he was saying that the ferts have never been bad for his shrimp, or at least he never saw any signs that it affected them in a bad way. I have found that shrimp do better in well established tanks, which is one reason I lost so many crystals to begin with, they were put in a new set up. Hopefully the rest pull through for you. I also have dosed with iron and excel about the same time, never had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Does the waste water have all the removed elements or does it obsorb into the filters? I didn't know R/O systems contained waste water. Normally the filters pick up all the stuff in the water to make it pure. And I don't think you want to be using it in any tank, it might be too high of a concentration of minerals. I do 1/4 R/O to 3/4 tap for my shrimp tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I didn't know R/O systems contained waste water. Normally the filters pick up all the stuff in the water to make it pure. Reverse osmosis is different than other filters. Pressure is used to force water molecules through the R/O membrane, retaining the impurities on one side and allowing the pure water to pass to the other side. The impurities are then flushed away with a quantity of rejected waste water. R/O units usually contain sediment filters and carbon filters for pre- and post- membrane filtering as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I would say only a quarter (possibly less) of the water is coming out the clean line. Most of the water goes down the drain which is a total waste of water. I wonder why they make it that way? there is alot more usable water coming out the waste line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkstar Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Not sure exactly how it might work, but I'd like to see that waste water diverted back into the R/O unit to see if any more water would come out clean lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I would say only a quarter (possibly less) of the water is coming out the clean line. Most of the water goes down the drain which is a total waste of water. I wonder why they make it that way? there is alot more usable water coming out the waste line. Yeah, that rate sounds about right. It does vary a bit with the feed line pressure, temperature, amount of solute in the source water, etc. But that's the one big drawback with R/O- you get a lot of waste water. I guess you could use it to water the lawn or something where high mineral/ion content wouldn't matter. Of course, if that doesn't matter to you for your aquarium needs, you don't need to be using an R/O unit in the first place... Not sure exactly how it might work, but I'd like to see that waste water diverted back into the R/O unit to see if any more water would come out clean lol Since the whole process is based on water pressure, you'd need some kind of booster pump to send the waste water through again. However, then you have a higher initial TDS (total dissolved solids) and therefore less efficient rejection and even less pure water production... If you never disposed of any waste water, it would get to the point where the process didn't function at all. There are some large scale commercial/industrial "double-pass" units, but not for home use, AFAIK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I live in a apartment so my water doesn't cost me. If I lived in my own house I would definately be collecting the water and using it for watering plants/lawn...... I have stopped using my RO water for my FW tank. I of course still use it for my SW tank, don't feel like a GHA forest in my tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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