6.6 gallon for CRS

[stevenjohn21]

I have some CRS in a 10 gallon at the moment but the conditions (Ph) is not ideal for them to breed. The tank is already scaped and i dont want to tear it down, id rather use it for something else. My option is is start another tank so i can add peat moss/sand stone to lower the Ph but the tank im thinking about is the Petco 6.6 gallon. Since the footpring is longer than the 10 gallon would this be acceptable to keep CRS in ? The tank will be going on top of a metal/glass TV stand so i cant go any bigger than 10 gallon for fear of the stand not holding the weight.

[somewhatshocked]

It'd be fine for Crystals as long as you don't let the population get out of control.

Though, pH is not the most important factor with sensitive shrimp. KH and GH are more important. Ideally, you'd have a KH of 0 and a GH of about 5.

What kind of water will you be using? Tap or RO? If tap, what are your tap water parameters?

[stevenjohn21]

Straight from the tap my water is as follows:
PH 7.4
KH 2-3
GH 4-5

The tank has pool filter sand carpeted by HC, i dose DIY C02 so the Ph drops to 7.2, i also place a cuttlebone in the tank.

These are not high quality CRS but obviously i want to keep them happy and breeding.

[stevenjohn21]

With your recommended water params i decided to place 1 drop of KH and 5 drops of GH in the test tubes and took a picture, this is what the colors are..... the camera actually took a pretty true to life still. This might sound silly , but how can you measure your KH as 0 with the API test kit?

*EDIT* After going back to the test tubes 5 mins later, i noticed the KH (On the right side) was clear in color, the GH was the same color.

[Merth]

Lol been wondering the same Steve, I assume it might be the intensity in color one drop produces gives the presumption

[somewhatshocked]

To measure hardness, you add however many drops it takes to change to the appropriate color, depending upon the kit you're using.

I don't use API, so I can't help you there. They're not too reliable, in my opinion, and I prefer Sera or other branded kits.

KH is generally measured as 0-1. If you add a drop of KH reagent and the water in the tube immediately turns the color it's supposed to? Then you've got 0-1 KH. If it takes two drops? It's 2KH. Same for GH.

[stevenjohn21]

So with these params:
PH 7.4
KH 2-3
GH 4-5

what should i be trying to change to keep my shrimp happy and breeding ?

[somewhatshocked]

If they're breeding and happy, then change nothing.

Though, if you want parameters that are considered ideal by most? You'll need to start with RO/DI water and remineralize it to about 5 GH and use a buffering substrate like ADA Aquasoil, Azoo Plant Grower Bed, UP Aqua Shrimp Sand or something similar.

[Rob in Puyallup]

CRS=Crystal Red Shrimp? If so I'm thinking lower pH is better. 6.0 to 6.5.

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[wicca27]

my crs are happy and breed pretty well in kh 2 gh7 ph of between 6-7 depending on the tank ( i have 2 diff tanks with the same shrimp i split them up)

[stevenjohn21]

Originally Posted by somewhatshocked

Though, pH is not the most important factor with sensitive shrimp.

Originally Posted by Rob in Puyallup

CRS=Crystal Red Shrimp? If so I'm thinking lower pH is better. 6.0 to 6.5.

And this is exactly why i get confused !

I only got my shrimp 2 weeks ago , so ive not had the chance to see if they are breeding or not.

And again im confused why i would get RO water and adjust it to GH 5 when my tap water reads 5 already....sorry to sound stupid but i got to ask the questions if im going to learn ;-)

[82nd_Airborne]

The point you need to take away from this is not to worry about ph. If your gh and kh are within acceptable ranges, you are good. I don't remember the exact reason that Ph is secondary, but that's what all the shrimp big wigs on here say, so I just listen.

Your tap water is fine for low grade crs, but to get to IDEAL parameters, you would need ro water to lower your gh.

[somewhatshocked]

pH matters, though is not the most important factor in keeping shrimp. Use the search feature if you doubt it. Or fire up your googler.

KH and GH (hardness) are much more important when it comes to keeping dwarf freshwater shrimp. Water not hard enough? Molting and other shell-related issues occur. Water too hard? Lots of other issues occur.

A note about pH/KH - KH allows pH to be somewhat set. In tanks where you have 0 KH? It can fluctuate unless you're using something to buffer (like substrate) or are monitoring parameters on a regular basis.

[MABJ]

The point of RO water is it is a clean slate. It gives you 0 TDS to start with, no GH and no KH. You control what parameters it becomes.

On the other side of this discussion, listen to what Jake is telling you. He's bred these shrimp successfully, he know's his stuff.

[somewhatshocked]

It's not so much that I know my stuff but what is general consensus about what works.

As mentioned above, if your shrimp are fine in your current parameters? Don't change a thing. Maintain that stability. But if you want more ideal parameters? Start with RO water and remineralize to about a GH of 5.