Dosage:
20 ml in 10 liters of demineralized water provide 6.0 dGH and 6.2 dKH and a conductivity of 203 microSiemens/cm (± 20 µS/cm).

The pH will depend on the CO₂ concentration present in the tank.
For example, with CO₂ concentration in equilibrium with the atmosphere (about 0.55 mg/l), the pH will be about 8.6
With a CO₂ concentration in the tank of 2 mg/l, the pH will be 8.0

In this regard, it is advisable not to exceed a CO₂ concentration in the tank of about 5 mg/l and, consequently, not to go with pH lower than 7.6
Rather, keep pH in the range [7.8 - 8.3]

A 10% water change per week is recommended.

ATTENTION: SHAKE WELL BEFORE USE.

Below you can find a dosage calculator, which can also be used on mobile phones.
Just select the relevant product (Community, Amazonas, Davidi, Cantonensis, Matano, Towuti) from the tabs above, enter the required data and the program will calculate the quantity of product to be dosed.

Sulawesi (also known as Celebes) is an Indonesian island (in Southeast Asia, in the China Sea) known for many decades in aquarists for some interesting endemic fish species.

Such as, for example, the beautiful Aterinidae of the genera Telmaterina and Marosatherina (eg M. ladigesi) and the genera Dermogenys and Nomorhamphus (eg N. celebensis).

In recent years, however, Sulawesi is being rediscovered and known among aquarists for some species of gastropods (snails of the genus Tylomelania) and, above all, of crustaceans (shrimps of the genus Caridina) that populate its lakes;

Such as Lake Poso and, above all, the lakes that are part of the Malili lake system;

In particular the lakes: Matano and Towuti

The extraordinary beauty of the Sulawesi shrimp has therefore prompted many enthusiasts for some years to attempt the breeding and reproduction of various species, as they were discovered and described.

However, facing many failures and often insurmountable difficulties.

Difficulties that generally occur with high deaths and difficulties in reproduction.

And that have so far limited the spread of these animals in our hobby.

In search of more detailed information and the best methodology to breed these species, several scholars went to the site to analyze the various biotopes and ecosystems and try to understand the vital needs of these species.

And this led to the first interesting results.

So let's look at these ecosystems and their characteristics in more detail, so as to understand how to best keep these beautiful animals.

The Malili lacustrine basin

The Malili is a lake complex consisting of five interconnected lakes, which have as their emissary the Larona River, which flows west towards Bone Bay.

These five lakes are:
- Lake Matano
- Lake Mahalona
- Lake Towuti
- Lake Lontoa
- Lake Masapi


Lake Matano is the northernmost and flows into Lake Mahalona via the Petea River.

Lake Mahalona is a relatively small lake, which receives from Lake Matano via the Petea River and, in turn, flows into Lake Towuti via the Mahalona River (also called Tominanga)

Lake Towuti is the largest and southernmost of the Malili complex and most of the species of our interest come from it.

The Lontoa and Masapi lakes are small satellite lakes and are not directly connected to the three major lakes, although they are still part of the same lake basin.

There is a great variability between surface and depth in these five lakes and also a fair variability in the chemical composition of the water between one and the other.

Geophysical characteristics of the Malili lacustrine basin

The climate in the region is tropical-humid and lacks marked seasonal fluctuations in temperature or annual variability (Hope 2001).
Temperatures in the area of ​​the Malili basin vary within the year between about 23 ° C and about 31 ° C, but those of the lakes remain much more stable, having excursions of a few degrees and generally remaining between 28.5 and 30.5 degrees Celsius.

The surface geology of the Malili lake basin is dominated by lateritic nickel-ferrous sediments (with ferric oxide content up to 60%) developed from ultrafemic rocks (iron-magnesian content> 90%) of ophiolitic * origin (Golightly 1981).

* Ophiolites are sections of oceanic crust and the underlying mantle that have been raised or superimposed on the continental crust until they emerge.

Lateritic soils (very rich in iron and other metal oxides) in the tributary systems, supply an important quantity of ferric oxide-hydroxides particulate matter to the lakes.

As a result, the sediments of the lakes of the Malili lake complex are rich in iron and contain more than 20% by weight of ferric oxyhydroxides (Crowe et al. 2004).
As a direct consequence of this introduction and richness of ferric oxides in the lake waters, the quantity of phosphorus (phosphates) dissolved in the surface waters of the Malili lakes is extremely low (ferric oxides adsorb phosphates) and, generally, below the instrumental detection limits.

This strong lack of dissolved phosphorus, combined with the particular composition of the water (bicarbonate-magnesium water with a high amount of metals) has meant that a very special ecosystem was created in the Malili lake basin; characterized by very high endemism and very low productivity, resulting from the combination of nutrient limitation and metal toxicity (Sabo 2006).

For all this, the Malili lake complex was considered a real natural laboratory; a sort of aquatic equivalent of the Galapagos Islands.

The lack of Phosphorus, in particular, means that these lakes (as well as Lake Poso) are considered ultra-oligotrophic lakes; with very low level of nutrients available for plant and animal life and, therefore, with extremely low Phytoplankton biomass (Lehmusluoto 1997; Haffner et al. 2001; Sabo et al. 2008) and simple nutrient chains.

The greatest impact on the ionic composition of the water is given by the erosion of the aforementioned ultrafemic rock and is therefore revealed by the high content of magnesium and the ratio of sodium and calcium.

Most of the elements, with the exception of Magnesium, Silica and Bicarbonates, are present in low quantities compared to the average present in typical river or lake waters.

So let's see in more detail the characteristics of the two main lakes: Matano and Towuti.

Lake Matano

It is a lake of tectonic origin, located 396 meters above sea level and housed in a vast depression more than 590 meters deep, making it the eighth deepest lake on earth.
The lake is about 28 km long, about 8 km wide, with an area of ​​about 164 km2.

The lake's pH is highly alkaline, with measurements ranging from about 8.23 ​​to about 9.61 [5, 8].
Conductivity fluctuates between about 134 and about 177 uS / cm [8].
Total hardness (expressed in dGH) and Alkalinity (expressed in dKH) vary on average between 4 and 5
The lake temperature is quite stable between 28.5 and 29.5 degrees Centigrade.

The lake is located within a ferrous basin which gives it the highest concentration of Iron of any other freshwater lake on earth, with 2 µmol/l (0.11169 mg/l) in the epilimnion (waters surface) and up to 140 µmol l – 1 (7.82 mg / l) in deep water (Crowe et al. 2008a, 2008b).
Furthermore, Lake Matano is characterized by very low and limiting levels of dissolved phosphorus (soluble reactive phosphate - SRP<0.2 µmol/liter) and Nitrogen (< 5 µmol/litro) (Sabo et al. 2008) and of potentially toxic concentrations of chromium (180-236 nmol/liter = 0,0094-0,0123 mg/l; Crowe et al. 2008b; Sabo 2006) and of Nickel (61.4 nM = 0,0036 mg/l) in surface waters.

The SRP instead increases moving towards the depths of the lake, as the iron present in the ferric oxide is reduced from ferric iron (oxidized / trivalent) to ferrous (reduced / bivalent) with consequent release of the previously adsorbed phosphate.



This indicates that the geochemistry of Lake Matano is intimately linked to the Iron cycle and that the concentration of Phosphorus in the epilimnion is limited by the adsorption on the particulate matter or the colloids of ferric oxyhydroxides.

As a consequence of the very low concentrations of Phosphorus and Nitrogen and the relatively toxic values ​​of Iron, Chromium and Nickel, it is therefore not surprising that Lake Matano has one of the lowest phytoplankton productivity among all ancient tropical and temperate lakes, with a peak of biomass at about 0.013 mg l – 1; very low even in comparison with ultra-oligotrophic lakes, such as Great Bear Lake (0.06-0.09 mg / l) in the Canadian Arctic (Sabo 2006, Sabo et al. 2008).

Lake Matano is therefore categorized as an ultra-oligotrophic lake, on the basis of the trophic state of the individual parameters and their complex [5], as well as on the basis of low levels of photosynthesis (carbon fixation rates) [6].

In addition to the ultrafemic rock, along the southern shores of Lake Matano, limestone and siliceous banks are found.
Which contribute to changing the chemistry of the lakes downstream.
The few species of aquatic plants adapted to live in this environment belong to the genus Ottelia, Eriocaulon and Lymnocharus.

The Caridina species residing in Lake Matano are:
- Caridina Dennerli
- Caridina holthuisi
- Lanceolate caridina
- Caridina loehae
- Caridina mahalona
- Caridina masapi
- Caridina parvula

Lake Towuti

It is the largest lake in the Malili complex, located 293 meters above sea level and with a maximum length and width of almost 45 km and 25 km respectively, for an area of ​​560 km2 and a maximum depth of 205 m (Russell et al ., 2014).

It too, like Matano, is an ultra-oligotrophic and unproductive lake (Tierney and Russell 2009) mainly due to the adsorbing effect of Ferric Oxy-Hydroxide on Phosphates and, consequently, their scarcity.

However it is less so than Lake Matano and manages to maintain a higher biomass than Lake Matano and contains the largest number of total species, with at least 13 species of shrimp, 10 species of molluscs, 10 species of fish and 154 diatom taxa. , 39 of which are endemic (Brooks 1950; Kottelat 1990b; Bramburger et al. 2004; Herder et al. 2006b; von Rintelen et al., In press).

The lake's pH is alkaline, with measurements ranging from about 7.5 to about 8.4.
Conductivity fluctuates on average between about 150 and about 210 uS / cm.
Total hardness (expressed in dGH) and Alkalinity (expressed in dKH) vary on average between 5 and 7

The lake temperature is quite stable between 29 and 30.5 degrees Centigrade.
The chemistry of Lake Towuti is dominated by bicarbonates (HCO3-) and Magnesium (Mg ++) of which it is enriched in particular through its tributaries south of Lake Mahalona, ​​in particular through the Mahalona River (Lehmusluoto et al., 1995; Haffner et al., 2001; Vuillemin et al., 2016).

The Caridina species residing in Lake Towuti are:

- Caridina glaubrechti
- Caridina holthuisi
- Lanceolate caridina
- Caridina lingkonae
- Caridina loehae
- Caridina masapi
- Caridina parvula
- Caridina profundicola
- Caridina spinata
- Caridina spongicola
- Caridina striata
- Caridina tenuirostris

Breeding the shrimps from Malili catchment area (laghi Matano, Mahalona, Towuti).

The breeding of these animals strongly depends on what we have said about the characteristics of the waters of origin.

First of all, they need extremely clean water, with a very low amount of organic substance and free of nitrogenous substances (amino acids, ammonium-ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, urea, etc.) and soluble phosphorus (dissolved phosphates).

They also need low conductivity (about 130 - 250; also depending on the place of origin) and high pH (about 8.0 - 8.5; also depending on the place of origin.

They also need water with characteristics (ionic balance) as close as possible to the water from which their species comes.

In general they are waters with a very low content of Sulphates, Chlorides, Sodium and Potassium; medium-low calcium content; medium-high content of Magnesium and Bicarbonates.

There are also medium-high levels of Iron and Silicates.

Lake Matano and Lake Towuti then differ in some chemical-physical characteristics (conductivity and ionic balance) so it is highly advisable to breed individual animals in water with characteristics more similar to the place of origin of their species.

These shrimp are excellent algae eaters and essentially feed on algae and biofilm that grows on stones and sand.
However, it is difficult to obtain good algal growth in the aquarium and, at the same time, maintain the characteristics of the water necessary for the well-being of the shrimp (absence of phosphates and nitrogen compounds).
It is therefore good to provide for the growth of algae on stones housed in other tanks (richer in nutrients) and then move them to shrimp farming tanks.
That is to feed the shrimps with artificial feed, rich in plant substances.

Always being careful to maintain the cleanliness and healthiness of the water (by checking the aforementioned parameters)

Under suitable conditions, these shrimps reproduce spontaneously, but the population grows quite slowly, because they do not produce many eggs at a time and the reproduction rate is not high.
The females produce about fifteen eggs, which the female keeps throughout the incubation process (about 3-4 weeks), until the eggs hatch and the young are released already formed into the surrounding environment.

Indeed, the shrimps of Sulawesi are among the most interesting shrimp species for their beauty and the particularity of their natural habitat.

Being able to recreate a biotope tank of a Sulawesi lake and succeeding in the breeding of endemic organisms (fish, plants, shrimps, snails) is therefore undoubtedly a project of great interest, which can reserve great satisfaction to the enthusiast.

BUT...

At the same time, however, maintaining an aquarium dedicated to the lakes of Sulawesi and its inhabitants and the breeding of the latter, can be very challenging and, if not well done, also very frustrating.

This was quickly realized by the first enthusiasts who tried to keep and breed the first shrimps imported from Sulawesi.
Which soon found themselves faced with high deaths.

This is due to the peculiar characteristics of the natural habitats in which these animals have evolved and adapted.
Features that it is absolutely essential to replicate to keep them in perfect health even in a confined environment such as an aquarium.
These characteristics essentially concern the chemical-physical ones of the water (pH, temperature and conductivity) and its chemical composition (concentration and ratio of ions).

The reconstruction and maintenance of these physico-chemical characteristics initially represented a big problem for the first enthusiasts.

SOLUTION

However, the ecosystems of origin of these shrimps soon began to be studied more in depth, arriving at the first formulations of reintegration salts that would allow the reconstruction of demineralized water in the manner most suited to farmed animals.

Unfortunately, even in this there is a limitation / problem:
The waters of the Sulawesi lakes (eg Matano and Towuti) are essentially carbonate waters and the salts necessary to reproduce them must necessarily be rich in carbonates, which are hardly soluble.

Hence the mineral reintegration of demineralized water in these tanks is extremely difficult.

To be able to dissolve them in the demineralized water it is therefore necessary to recirculate the water in the container used for a long time (even a week), or to diffuse the CO2 in the container, to allow the dissolution of the (insoluble) Carbonates through their transformation into Bicarbonates (soluble).

It should be noted that, after the dissolution of the carbonates (which have become bicarbonates), the dissolved CO2 MUST be eliminated from the water to re-raise the pH towards the alkaline values ​​necessary for these animals and avoid a very dangerous shock.

A procedure therefore neither simple nor rapid.

ALXYON SOLUTION

Addressing the issue of breeding these animals, alxyon set out to develop an effective and simple solution, solving the latter problem as well.

And this is done by formulating mineral supplements that faithfully reproduce the very particular chemical composition of the water of Matano and Towuti lakes and presenting them in the form of fluid mixtures, in which part of the carbonates are already present as bicarbonates.

Therefore, they do not require long and difficult dissolution operations, nor the supply (and subsequent elimination) of CO2.They can be mixed directly with demineralized water and this can be introduced approximately immediately into the tank.

The small amount of carbonates not yet dissolved will help to keep the pH in the tank on the alkaline values ​​so important for these species.

Recommendations:

1) Tank not too high, so as to have an excellent presence of oxygen and a large surface in contact with the atmosphere; with a filtration system that moves the water entering the tank very well, so as to allow rapid oxygenation and simultaneous dispersion of the CO2 produced and consequent maintenance of the high pH necessary for these organisms.

2) Very porous substrate and furnishings (ideally lava rocks) in order to provide a large surface available for bacterial and algal colonization (biofilm)

3) Demineralized water reconstructed with specially formulated salts to faithfully reproduce the particular chemical composition of these lakes => alxyon Specialized Matano & alxyon Specialized Towuti

4) ALWAYS use activated carbon in the filter to break down the dissolved organic substance (DOM = Dissolved Organic Matter; DOC = Dissolved Organic Carbon; DON = Dissolved Organic Nitrogen)

5) Perform a weekly water change, with removal of any organic substance accumulated inside the filter and at the substrate level in order to keep DOM, DON and SRP in the tank at the lowest possible level

6) Provide adequate food (algae grown in other tanks or algae-based food)