[32Bit_Fish]

Hi All,

I'm new here as well as new to shrimp keeping.

My tap water here has a PH of 6.8 and soft. The TDS reading is at 40. I'm in NYC.

What type of shrimp can I keep? I bought a 4.7G rimless cube tank and planning to set it up as a shrimp tank.

I know ghost shrimp and red cherry shrimp are beginner's shrimp. Is my tap water good enough to keep red cherry shrimp? Do I need to buy minerals to add into my water for the shrimp?

Thanks

 

[DluxeShrimps]

Your tap water is fine. they are very hardy shrimp. anywhere from 6.0-7.7 ph will be fine. TDS I find its not a big deal for RCS. I started with RCS with just dealing with 8ph and to be honest they are molting and breeding just fine.
like stated they are very hardy shrimp.

 

[Matuva]

If you are new to shrimp keeping, I suggest you start with the neocaridina species: red cherry, yellow, orange, chocolate,, blue diamond, etc... They are very hardy ones, especially the red cherry.

Then, once trained, you can go the caridina route: Red or Black crystal, white/golden bees, etc... The tangerine tiger is almost hardy too.

Cycle well yur tank before you introduce the shrimps. Good quality and stability are the keys of success.

Welcome to the hobby

 

[newbieshrimpkeeper]

Tap water is just fime, and as Matuva said red cherry shrimps are a good starter. they are also easy to breed.

 

[roostertech]

I find that cherry shrimp actually prefer higher PH. My yellow neos stopped breeding when I brought PH from 7.5->7 to accomodate crystal shrimp.

Your tap water PH is good for a lot of shrimps. You just need to raise your GH by adding Seachem Equilibrium or Salty Shrimp GH+.

Here is a good shrimp parameter reference
Dwarf Shrimp Water Parameters ? DiscoBee

The "harder" shrimp usually just need the tank to be more established to have lots of biofilms and stable parameters.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Thanks for your replies. Do I need GH/KH test kits? I see the article lists GH and KH requirements for each shrimp.

Does a low TDS reading mean low level of minerals in my tap water? Hence I need to add salty shrimp GH++?

 

[miataisalwaystheanswer]

The test kits will be help but i had a thriving RCS colony without testing anything when i first started and didn't know what i was doing.instead of re min your water you can get CSF mineral sticks. The shrimp will eat it amd it add needed minerals to the tank. TDS will slowly rise anyways so i won't worry too much.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Thanks, I will look into CSF mineral sticks.

In terms of water change. Do you guys mix hot and cold tap for the water change? There is a possibility that the hot water contains copper and it may harm the shrimp?

Or is it the best to use cold tap water and let it sit at least 24 hours for the w/c?

Also, do you guys purchase shrimps online or LFS? I would assume online breeder has healthy and higher grade shrimps?

 

[bsherwood]

RCS are easy to keep but would like ph a bit higher.

once you get a bit more comfortable you can branch out.

I just set up a 55 planted tank and I am trying RCS (which I have done before) and CRS. The CRS are a bit more demanding. They are living and seem to be happy. They are not currently breeding. Meanwhile the RCS are "getting busy"

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Another question about the set up of my shrimp tank.

Do I need Cholla wood and one those black tubing for shrimp to hide? I also saw those dried leaves which will create biofilm for shrimps to eat. Do I need the dried leaves as well?

I appreciate all comments.

 

[miataisalwaystheanswer]

None of that is needed. RCS can survive in a bucket with water lol. But the more places to hide and the more places for bio film to grow the better. But for my CRS i find that hiding places are necessary even in my shrimp only tank. They are much more aggressive when breeding than my RCS. I treat all new water with prime and let it sit for a few hours to adjust to room temp. Have you tested your tap water after letting it sit for 24 hours?

 

[32Bit_Fish]

None of that is needed. RCS can survive in a bucket with water lol. But the more places to hide and the more places for bio film to grow the better. But for my CRS i find that hiding places are necessary even in my shrimp only tank. They are much more aggressive when breeding than my RCS. I treat all new water with prime and let it sit for a few hours to adjust to room temp. Have you tested your tap water after letting it sit for 24 hours?

I have a 75G discus only tank and I have been mixing hot and cold tap water for every water change on my discus tank. I add a little bit of SAFE powder and dump the water directly into the fish tank.

Now I am afraid I need to change this w/c practice because shrimps are more sensitive to water parameter change than discus? I have never store the water and let it sit for 24 hours before a w/c. Maybe I should do it now for the shrimps?

My tap water PH 6.8, TDS 40, Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate are all zero. The tap water here is soft, I tested GH/KH many years ago. But I don't have the test kit to test it now.

 

[miataisalwaystheanswer]

From what i remember its not recommend to use hot water for shrimp tanks. Room temp is fine, most are kept at 68-74. Some people drip their new water in as well. As long as you treat the new water you don't have tl wait 24 hours just male sure the temps are similar.

 

[roostertech]

For crystal shrimp tank when doing water change I either drip or add a little bit every 10mins so temperature remain stable. I use RO water for crystal since my tap water is ph 8+.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

How much water change do you guys do and how often?

I am setting up a 4.7G tank for shrimps, so it will only be a little new water add to the tank if I do 10% weekly.

However, I'm planning to add ADA aquasoil as a substrate and I would think that substrate will reduce the PH of the water. So there will be different PH level between the water in the tank and the new water.

Dripping w/c seems to be very time consuming. But I guess I would have to do it if a normal w/c practice creates a problem for the shrimp.

I have been keeping the new tank running with a small HOB and the water temp is at 77F constant. Could this be too high for shrimp? I see the max temp for shrimp is at 73F per the article.

 

[roostertech]

I change water may be 10% every two weeks (with top offs in between). I have lots of plants in there so nitrate is would be minimal.

 

[shloken38]

Make sure you test your tank water before putting any shrimp in there if you are using aquasoil. Aquasoil leeches ammonia to help cycle a tank.

Stick with the red cherries to start. They are super easy to keep. Don't overthink....You'll be surprised at how easy they are. Everyone gave good advice here. For water changes in a 4.7g, just change like half a gallon or even less once a week. You don't have to be precise with matching temperature, just make sure it's close. You'll do fine.

 

[miataisalwaystheanswer]

The higher the temperature the higher the risk of bacterial infections. I'd bring the temp back down to 72. Or depending where you live i won't even use a heater. My oebt/yellow neo tank drops to around 62-64 at night right now and they're all doing well. Breeding seem to have slowed down but I'm sure it'll pick back up once it warms up. Aquasoil will lower Ph too much for neos. If it was me, I'd get some black sand and PFR or play sand and chocolate diamond shrimp some moss ties to cholla wood and call it a day.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

It's so odd that water temp is constantly at 78F. I am now wondering whether that cheap HOB I bought is overheating the water. I have an empty 20G tank sitting on the floor and its water temp is constantly at 70F. I just turned off that little HOB on the 4.7G this morning and will see if any water temp changes when I go home tonight.

I will the substrate black. How low of PH that Aquasoil will yield?

 

[miataisalwaystheanswer]

Iirc aquasoil keeps the PH at or around 6.