# Beginner CRS Questions!



## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

Hello,

I'm planning to start a low grade CRS tank as I am a beginner. I have a few questions:
1. Where would I be able to source RO water? I'm looking to fill a 17 gallon Starfire tank with aquasoil
2. How much would 17 gallons of RO water cost? I have a RO filter at home, but it would not be able to pump out 17 gallons all at once, so I'm planning to buy the initial 17 gallons and use my RO filter for water changes
3. Does anybody know where they sell clear filter tubing (12/16mm) tubing for the Eheim 2213? I want to replace my old dirty green OEM tubes
4. Any tricks on getting a siphon started for the canister filter (priming it)? This will be my first time starting a canister filter and am not quite sure how to start it

Thank you!


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

First, I wouldn't use canister filters. They're just too much work to maintain.

You can just use an HOB and put a sponge pre-filter on it. I've found that Aqueons to be the best for this. You can also use a sponge filter, but those can be a bit ugly.

The purpose of aquasoil is to buffer pH, and it does this quite well initially. It's only when you keep topping up with tap water that this buffer capacity goes away.

So what I did was to initially fill the tank with regular tap water, and then just do top ups with RO water. I think I didn't even bother with RO during the cycling, and just used tap to top up. I only started using RO once the shrimps were in. I rarely do any water changes, I think I've done one 15% wc since the tank was setup 6 months ago.

Just make sure you use enough aquasoil. I would aim for 2-3 inches.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Welcome to the world of shrimp keeping  It can be pretty fun as long as you start out right and stay patient with the cycling process so you're on the right track already.

1.) 2.) If you want, you can buy the 5 gallon jugs of RO from Canadian Tire, Walmart, Water Depot etc. Not entirely sure what that would cost anymore, but some stores allow you to buy the initial container and refill it for a reduced cost later on. Don't get the Ultra Pure Plus water from Canadian Tire because it has coral calcium in it and the pH is more alkaline I've heard.

Alternatively, you can get a 5 gallon bucket of water and fill that up with your RO tap over time and dump it into your tank as you get it. If you're trying not to disturb the soil, you can drip the water into the tank and you'll have no problems with cloudy water afterwards. It's a slow process, but if you have to wait for your RO tap to recharge anyway you may as well  Saves the trouble of really cloudy water due to disturbed soil.

I've read different things about cycling initially with tap water vs. using RO all the way. Most recently I saw that you should use RO water if you're using active substrate to cycle.

Filters:

Most people use sponge filters for shrimp and do quite well with them. You can either run them by air or if you get the large cylindrical sponges, you can hook it up to a powerhead. Here's an example of this:









Other people use undergravel filters, HOBS, hamburg matten filters, etc.


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

Wow thanks for the help guys! I'm using a canister filter at the moment because I'm going for an iwagumi look, forgot to mention that (I already bought the lily pipes)

I plan on buying a single 5 gallon RO jug from Big Al's and just using that for my startup along with my own RO filter

I've been thinking about doing a corner hamburg matten filter, for my second tank!


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

vtyou said:


> Wow thanks for the help guys! I'm using a canister filter at the moment because I'm going for an iwagumi look, forgot to mention that (I already bought the lily pipes)
> 
> I plan on buying a single 5 gallon RO jug from Big Al's and just using that for my startup along with my own RO filter
> 
> I've been thinking about doing a corner hamburg matten filter, for my second tank!


Sounds like a plan 

If you have a TDS meter, take it with you when you buy the RO water. Someone recently went to Big Al's and got saltwater instead of RO and he added it to his tank without knowing. Needless to say, his shrimp started dying off and I think he had to redo the tank. I guess you could just taste a bit of the water to tell, but sometimes stores don't replace their RO filter membranes often enough and the water ends up being mostly tap.


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

Atom said:


> Sounds like a plan
> 
> If you have a TDS meter, take it with you when you buy the RO water. Someone recently went to Big Al's and got saltwater instead of RO and he added it to his tank without knowing. Needless to say, his shrimp started dying off and I think he had to redo the tank. I guess you could just taste a bit of the water to tell, but sometimes stores don't replace their RO filter membranes often enough and the water ends up being mostly tap.


Oh wow, I'll definitely bring my TDS meter then! Thanks a lot for your help


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I think it would be cheaper to get RO water from a water store. I get mine from a Canadian Tire dispenser. 3$ for 5 gallons, tds of ~16.

I used to get RODI water, tds ~2, from a water store, 1$ per gallon.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Best of luck  keep us updated!


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

solarz said:


> I think it would be cheaper to get RO water from a water store. I get mine from a Canadian Tire dispenser. 3$ for 5 gallons, tds of ~16.
> 
> I used to get RODI water, tds ~2, from a water store, 1$ per gallon.


For 5 gallons of RO + the jug, it's 11.99+tax at Big Als

As I don't have the jug and doing some basic math, if refills were $3 for 5 gallons on average, that would make the jug equal to $9

This seemed pretty reasonable to me. Do you know of any places that sell these 5 gallon jugs?


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## willijack (Nov 7, 2015)

vtyou said:


> For 5 gallons of RO + the jug, it's 11.99+tax at Big Als
> 
> As I don't have the jug and doing some basic math, if refills were $3 for 5 gallons on average, that would make the jug equal to $9
> 
> This seemed pretty reasonable to me. Do you know of any places that sell these 5 gallon jugs?


I've bought the 5 gal pails at Canadian Tire, Walmart and Home & Hardware. Last time I bought was last week and the pail was like $3.50+tax. The cover was almost as much, but I didn't need one.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

vtyou said:


> For 5 gallons of RO + the jug, it's 11.99+tax at Big Als
> 
> As I don't have the jug and doing some basic math, if refills were $3 for 5 gallons on average, that would make the jug equal to $9
> 
> This seemed pretty reasonable to me. Do you know of any places that sell these 5 gallon jugs?


What I did was to buy these 10L jugs of distilled water from Wal-Mart. I think they were around 5$. It might take some searching though as they don't always carry the distilled water. You want to make sure it's distilled water and not spring water.


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