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+1 on the neocaridinia shrimp. Specifically the common "Cherry".
They are as beginner friendly as they get. In my experience even more so than the ghost/glass types. I suspect because the Neos are expected to last past the next feeding unlike the glass/ghost.
They can handle about any water conditions and when they are young, they adapt pretty well. I would suggest looking around to get some from a local breeder or hobbyist. Almost anybody who keeps cherries can part with 10, and thats more than enough to get a colony going. If they need convincing, $20 would likely do the trick as its hard for anybody but the LFS to get more than $1 for a common cherry. But with them being local, you will save on shipping and they are more likely to be comfortable with your water params.
Set them up in a tank all their own and add some moss. Any moss. Then its largely just leave them alone to do their thing. Feed periodically (1-2 times a week, not daily) May take a bit, but you should start seeing tiny shrimp. In 3-4 months you should be able to get the colony off the ground.
As for copper, I wouldn't be concerned unless the shrimp were actually dying. I've never had any problems, and I have kept them for years in a old house with copper pipes, never changing water (just topping it off), and adding periodic ferts. I'm sure that my copper after 3 years of no water changes was far above anything Seachem will add.
TDS in a couple of my shrimp tanks (aka kiddie pools with airstones or sponge filters) was 3-400 higher than it was in my other tanks because I never changed their water -- because I couldn't siphon out of a kiddie pool on the floor and I wasn't about to spend $ on a water pump or time bailing it out with a bucket. Just kept adding 5 gallon pails of tap whenever it got low enough that the whistling of the air stones or sponges annoyed me. No substrate, just piles of moss.
Bottomline, common cherries are cheap, easy keepers, and an excellent place to start your shrimping. You can make plenty of mistakes and even if you really screw up it, it prolly wont result in a tank wipe. Even if it does, another $20 and you can try again with a better understanding on what not to do.
They are as beginner friendly as they get. In my experience even more so than the ghost/glass types. I suspect because the Neos are expected to last past the next feeding unlike the glass/ghost.
They can handle about any water conditions and when they are young, they adapt pretty well. I would suggest looking around to get some from a local breeder or hobbyist. Almost anybody who keeps cherries can part with 10, and thats more than enough to get a colony going. If they need convincing, $20 would likely do the trick as its hard for anybody but the LFS to get more than $1 for a common cherry. But with them being local, you will save on shipping and they are more likely to be comfortable with your water params.
Set them up in a tank all their own and add some moss. Any moss. Then its largely just leave them alone to do their thing. Feed periodically (1-2 times a week, not daily) May take a bit, but you should start seeing tiny shrimp. In 3-4 months you should be able to get the colony off the ground.
As for copper, I wouldn't be concerned unless the shrimp were actually dying. I've never had any problems, and I have kept them for years in a old house with copper pipes, never changing water (just topping it off), and adding periodic ferts. I'm sure that my copper after 3 years of no water changes was far above anything Seachem will add.
TDS in a couple of my shrimp tanks (aka kiddie pools with airstones or sponge filters) was 3-400 higher than it was in my other tanks because I never changed their water -- because I couldn't siphon out of a kiddie pool on the floor and I wasn't about to spend $ on a water pump or time bailing it out with a bucket. Just kept adding 5 gallon pails of tap whenever it got low enough that the whistling of the air stones or sponges annoyed me. No substrate, just piles of moss.
Bottomline, common cherries are cheap, easy keepers, and an excellent place to start your shrimping. You can make plenty of mistakes and even if you really screw up it, it prolly wont result in a tank wipe. Even if it does, another $20 and you can try again with a better understanding on what not to do.
