Don't really understand...

have you decided on a type of shrimp(s) you wish to keep?

+1 depends on the type of shrimp you plan on keeping.

Those are nice things to do to help set up bacteria but they are not absolute necessities

ravensgate said:

Those are nice things to do to help set up bacteria but they are not absolute necessities

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Can't agreed with you more.

whiles yes i somewhat agree they are not necessities they do aid in having success with keeping shrimp. And for beginners at this hobby who end up moving to fast products help ensure tanks are established and able to support shrimp.

there are a million options for bacteria.

I always recommend an old sea mud and bacteria as the basic starting products.

I have used a lot and in my experience they make no difference. The tanks I've used them on I actually had less success with so I have torn them all down and restarted. I Use bt-9 but no sea mud or other stuff under the substrate anymore. Just a different experience with the products. To each his own . I have great luck with tetra safe start and some people don't. Everybody is different

ive had really good luck with all my tanks and when i had a rack i have something like 9 or 10 types of shrimp from neo's, crs &cbs, and 2 types of tigers (red and oebt) never used any of those products. the only thing i used was fluval shrimp stratum for my crs. i am taking a bit more care with the tb's im about to get and ordered ada amazonia, and using ro water with ssGH+ but thats it. the items are out there to help but not a must.

I am planning on getting Tiger Shrimp and will be housing them in a 5.5 gallon aquarium. Likely RCS in the tank next to it. In time, with more experiences, want to get CRS and some of the Sulawesi shrimp (Harlequin in particular).

I am planning on getting Tiger Shrimp

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If you're open to OEBT's, PM garfieldnfish, she's local. Ask her what her parameter's are and what she uses to adjust her water. I think she uses tap to start with.

i found with mine they did better in a 7-7.2 ph i always used tap with mine and tigers seem to like a bit more protein than neo's and crs. if i didnt feed mine a bit more protein they would whipe out all my small to medium sized ramshorn snails in the tank. i was always finding shells