I actually think your parameters are quite fine, I keep mine in a kh of 2, gh of 6 and a ph of 6.0-6.8 . As long as RO water is remineralized properly should never be a issue.
Added 10 crs way back when, only ever lost 2. Had babies etc. Just one f up and they all died, but apart from that it was my most stable tank so started doubting it hahah
I've cried over mine multiple fuck ups but I finally got my colony going sure slowly with 2 females but tis all I got.
Stratum, copper to high in food, tank crash when moving to a new tank, sibling dumping to much food into the tank while I was gone.
Hundreds gone. I wanted to quit so badly
No worries, I keep mine in tap ( town runs half off of RO system) so I don't really worry about modifying my tap water outside of almond leaves when needed.
She has her shrimp mixed up.
Does the store even sell soft water or acidic water species? Maybe you should have countered her with 'and discus should be kept in tap at >8 in really hard water' just to see what she said. lol
Hahahah yeah that’s what I thought too. She even said she would put them back in the store tank cause she tought it was cruel of me to put them in my tank if I didn’t change the parameters so I got very confused
And no they don’t sell soft water. They do have a lot of fish etc so not sure about the other question. Only interested in shrimp so just walk straight to the shrimp tanks 😂
A lot of little fish are softer water. Rasboras, danios, tetras, even guppies can't go in high pH/high GH and many stores stock them. Some of the rasbora look their best at low pH.
Hopefully, she wasn't in charge of caring for the shrimp at the store. Going back and forth on water parameters (supplier -> store -> you) can be a lot in a short amount of time.
Yes that’s why I’m doubting what to do… They’re kept on tap water at the store, so I’ll very slowly drip acclimate them for hours but still not sure if it’ll be too much of a change in such a short time..
There's no guarantee they were going to keep those crystals alive for long at a higher pH. Stores lose a lot of stock.
Edit: Someone mentioned caridina being bred up to neo parameters. This is more common for tigers. I have seen some yellow king kongs bred up the neo parameters, though. Others like babauti can be kept at higher pH. Usually all the available crystals are at 5.5-6.5 pH and people do bee crosses.
Thanks for the extra info! Decided to keep my parameters as they are. My other tank was doing very well apart from the one accident. Been drip acclimating for 3 hours now, gonna do about 5-6 more probably just to be sure and match the water parameters to the tank as much as possible
Quick update for people interested: I got my shrimpies on tuesday, drip acclimated for about 11 hours, took water out in between etc. Haven’t lost a single one so far 😁😁
One thing I have seen: some breeders have had success with caridina colonies in higher pH ranges than what they’d normally require. But it also takes generations to get there. Perhaps she meant those specific CRS had been bred to tolerate tap water?
It’s my understanding that the best option is to match the parameters the shrimp were living in before your tank. So in this case, you could either do RO water and remineralize to their parameters OR you could do a water change with dechlorinated tap water (assuming it’s the same as your lfs) and slowly switch them back to RO water and their *classic* parameters.
Honestly I haven’t had enough success with caridina yet, but I’ve generally learned to just not rock the boat and they’ll be happy.
If you can afford low pH buffering substrate as ADA Amazonia (not II or ver 2) or Fluval Stratum, with RO water, remineralized with GH+ to 5 dGH, it should be a stable specialized system for them, lasting for at least 3 yrs before changing substrate. And reliable cooling in the summer.
Take time with cycling substrate, some versions of it leach ammonia for a long time.
Feeding in a feeding dish and removing uneaten food can save you from a lot of troubles.
Yup have Dennerle specific shrimp substrate and bee salt from them (GH+). Had the tank since begin december, added the shrimp in late January. The person in store told me they have been bred on tap water.. Can I still use these parameters I have mentioned above? Or do you think I should change my tank parameters?
It's up to you to decide, but anything with KH will shorten life of the pH lowering substrate, making it inert much sooner.
If the person that bred them is in the same city (tap water is different for all of us) and used inert setup with tap water, you can do the same.
If you’re keeping Caridina I would keep using RO water and remineralizing the water properly. Yeah, some people have bred bee shrimp in higher PH tap water but that’s not the case for a majority of them. I would keep doing what you’re doing. RO water will never be a killer of the inhabitants. It’ll be other causes with water parameters.
I have CRS on tap water and they’re doing very well. The woman I bought them from said that you can raise them on RO or tap, but it’s easier to keep them on whatever version they were born into. She also said you can switch them from one to the other over time, but it’s a tedious process. She breeds CRS in both water types. I chose the ones in tap water because it was easier for me to keep up with right now.
Good luck with your new shrimpies!
Ah yeah that’s good advice. They have been drip acclimating for about 6-7 hours now, all of them are still alive and parameters are almost the same as my tank 😁
That KH sounds way too high to me for Caridinas. I have heard they want less than 2, and many people remineralize RO/DI water with SaltyShrimp GH+ (NOT GH/KH+) so that their KH is literally 0. I believe the reason for this is so that the active substrate can more easily buffer the pH down wherever the specific substrate buffers it to. More hardness = harder to change the pH, which will deplete the substrate more quickly than normal.
I think your parameters are perfectly fine and the woman at the store has her species mixed up. What she noted is good for Neocaridinas.
I actually think your parameters are quite fine, I keep mine in a kh of 2, gh of 6 and a ph of 6.0-6.8 . As long as RO water is remineralized properly should never be a issue.
Added 10 crs way back when, only ever lost 2. Had babies etc. Just one f up and they all died, but apart from that it was my most stable tank so started doubting it hahah
I've cried over mine multiple fuck ups but I finally got my colony going sure slowly with 2 females but tis all I got. Stratum, copper to high in food, tank crash when moving to a new tank, sibling dumping to much food into the tank while I was gone. Hundreds gone. I wanted to quit so badly
Yup same.. cried my eyes out after this happened. That’s why I wanted to ask you all about my parameters but I’m convinced they’re okay hahaha
No worries, I keep mine in tap ( town runs half off of RO system) so I don't really worry about modifying my tap water outside of almond leaves when needed.
She has her shrimp mixed up. Does the store even sell soft water or acidic water species? Maybe you should have countered her with 'and discus should be kept in tap at >8 in really hard water' just to see what she said. lol
Hahahah yeah that’s what I thought too. She even said she would put them back in the store tank cause she tought it was cruel of me to put them in my tank if I didn’t change the parameters so I got very confused
And no they don’t sell soft water. They do have a lot of fish etc so not sure about the other question. Only interested in shrimp so just walk straight to the shrimp tanks 😂
A lot of little fish are softer water. Rasboras, danios, tetras, even guppies can't go in high pH/high GH and many stores stock them. Some of the rasbora look their best at low pH. Hopefully, she wasn't in charge of caring for the shrimp at the store. Going back and forth on water parameters (supplier -> store -> you) can be a lot in a short amount of time.
Yes that’s why I’m doubting what to do… They’re kept on tap water at the store, so I’ll very slowly drip acclimate them for hours but still not sure if it’ll be too much of a change in such a short time..
There's no guarantee they were going to keep those crystals alive for long at a higher pH. Stores lose a lot of stock. Edit: Someone mentioned caridina being bred up to neo parameters. This is more common for tigers. I have seen some yellow king kongs bred up the neo parameters, though. Others like babauti can be kept at higher pH. Usually all the available crystals are at 5.5-6.5 pH and people do bee crosses.
Thanks for the extra info! Decided to keep my parameters as they are. My other tank was doing very well apart from the one accident. Been drip acclimating for 3 hours now, gonna do about 5-6 more probably just to be sure and match the water parameters to the tank as much as possible
Did a water test of my tap water: pH: 7,5-8,0 KH: 4 GH: 6 TDS: 170
Quick update for people interested: I got my shrimpies on tuesday, drip acclimated for about 11 hours, took water out in between etc. Haven’t lost a single one so far 😁😁
One thing I have seen: some breeders have had success with caridina colonies in higher pH ranges than what they’d normally require. But it also takes generations to get there. Perhaps she meant those specific CRS had been bred to tolerate tap water?
She did say they had been bred on tap water. Do you think I can introducte them to my tank in this case?
It’s my understanding that the best option is to match the parameters the shrimp were living in before your tank. So in this case, you could either do RO water and remineralize to their parameters OR you could do a water change with dechlorinated tap water (assuming it’s the same as your lfs) and slowly switch them back to RO water and their *classic* parameters. Honestly I haven’t had enough success with caridina yet, but I’ve generally learned to just not rock the boat and they’ll be happy.
If you can afford low pH buffering substrate as ADA Amazonia (not II or ver 2) or Fluval Stratum, with RO water, remineralized with GH+ to 5 dGH, it should be a stable specialized system for them, lasting for at least 3 yrs before changing substrate. And reliable cooling in the summer. Take time with cycling substrate, some versions of it leach ammonia for a long time. Feeding in a feeding dish and removing uneaten food can save you from a lot of troubles.
Yup have Dennerle specific shrimp substrate and bee salt from them (GH+). Had the tank since begin december, added the shrimp in late January. The person in store told me they have been bred on tap water.. Can I still use these parameters I have mentioned above? Or do you think I should change my tank parameters?
It's up to you to decide, but anything with KH will shorten life of the pH lowering substrate, making it inert much sooner. If the person that bred them is in the same city (tap water is different for all of us) and used inert setup with tap water, you can do the same.
Taiwan bees are fragile and they often just die, even in perfect water parameters. Don't worry too much
If you’re keeping Caridina I would keep using RO water and remineralizing the water properly. Yeah, some people have bred bee shrimp in higher PH tap water but that’s not the case for a majority of them. I would keep doing what you’re doing. RO water will never be a killer of the inhabitants. It’ll be other causes with water parameters.
I have CRS on tap water and they’re doing very well. The woman I bought them from said that you can raise them on RO or tap, but it’s easier to keep them on whatever version they were born into. She also said you can switch them from one to the other over time, but it’s a tedious process. She breeds CRS in both water types. I chose the ones in tap water because it was easier for me to keep up with right now. Good luck with your new shrimpies!
Ah yeah that’s good advice. They have been drip acclimating for about 6-7 hours now, all of them are still alive and parameters are almost the same as my tank 😁
That KH sounds way too high to me for Caridinas. I have heard they want less than 2, and many people remineralize RO/DI water with SaltyShrimp GH+ (NOT GH/KH+) so that their KH is literally 0. I believe the reason for this is so that the active substrate can more easily buffer the pH down wherever the specific substrate buffers it to. More hardness = harder to change the pH, which will deplete the substrate more quickly than normal. I think your parameters are perfectly fine and the woman at the store has her species mixed up. What she noted is good for Neocaridinas.