Seamaiden
Living dead girl
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I don't think it's the salt, I think it's the stuff IN the milk-based products, at least, that's what gives me pause, ya dig? I would feed them eggs all day long, chicken, veggies, fruits, even garlic for sick or immune-depressed fish, but nothing milk-based.
Preacher, if the algae eater looks like this, then it's a Chinese algae eater and the fish shop guy was wrong (not uncommon, I've worked a few shops, too in my day).
But, if it looks more like this, then you're fine with it (though it may be a more delicate fish in terms of husbandry).
Now, as for those eggshells, honestly, they just don't comprise enough CaCO3 *or* surface area to do much of anything for you. Use that tap water (you discovered yours has temporary hardness, test before and after boiling to see what I mean), but I would NOT use distilled! It cannot buffer (called alkalinity, aka resistance to pH shift), whereas your tap water can and will buffer. A mix of RO and tap would probably be best here for you, otherwise I must suggest again using something like dolomite, crushed coral (less desirable, IMO, for ecological reasons) or coral sand. Hell, you could use sand bought at Home de Pot if it's calcareous. An easy way to tell is to take a small container of vinegar and pour it on the sand. If it bubbles and fizzles, it's calcareous, if not, it's likely silicate-based (bad for sharks, skates and rays!)(but you're not growing sharks, skates or rays :D ). Alternatively, I bet garden variety dolomite lime, prilled or otherwise, would work just fine here and I know factually that it does indeed raise both pH and alkalinity within a relatively short period of time (minutes to hours, depending on water parameters).
