I've got a spare 10G, and, I'm just crazy for shrimp. I want a colony, a giant colony, that won't have to dodge any of my bettas, so I've decided to set up my empty tank.
Would I be able to do a NPT with shrimp? Or should I just stick to a sand based planted tank? I'm planning on keeping different kinds, cherries, cherries, and more cherries. And a few crystals. The LFS had some in stock today for the first time.
My main concern is that until now, the Ph in my other tanks has been low, I mean super low. It's dipped under 6.0 before.
I know shrimp are sensitive to ammonia and nitrate (trites?), but with enough plants I know the readings should be good for them (aside from the Ph).
Any advice? I'm thinking lots of cabomba, and moss for an ample food supply. I haven't decided on the rest of the plants, and unfortunately my choices are limited locally. I only plan on having shrimp, and some trumpet snails for aeration duty.
First i would recommend getting your ph stabilized. I know crystals like a ph on the lower side say 6.5-7.0. As far as cherries, i have had them in ph from 6.5-8.0 with no problems. I think you could get a bit of a raise from your ph if you add some crushed coral to the substrate. Not a lot. It will raise the ph a bit and also buffer it by adding some hardness to it. All the while benefitting your shrimp from the extra minerals that they can snack on if they want. But that is my experience and two sense. If somebody knows different please teach me the right was as well.
Cherry shrimp would be fine in a pH of 6-8, soft or hard water, warm or cool.. they are very adaptable.
Crystal reds actually prefer soft acidic water, 6.2-6.8. GH of around 5..
Maybe you are best not messing with it, as to me this sounds like fine water for shrimp to live in.
When you say it's dipped under 6 though, are you saying that it changes? Because shrimp are pretty sensitive to a changing pH.
Crystal reds are the ones that are pretty sensitive to nitrate, you are right in that the planted tank will keep this down though.
I would probably keep it sand based. I've been reading up on some not so good things about soil tanks. I've talked to Byron and he says sand based is fine for heavily planted tanks, as they will usually restock on minerals from water changes, however you may want to fertilize if you have soft water.
What I was thinking Olympia. Our citys Ph water is about 6.0 out of the tap.
I've added crushed coral before, but it doesn't boost it as much as I'd like to. The water is very soft, Kh and Gh took about 1 drop and 6 drops respectively (if I remember correctly). I've got a 10 planted with silica sand. The levels are 0, 0, and about 10 (I can't remember which is nitrate/trite but of course ammonia is 0). I'll try crushed coral again, I'm thinking 1tsp in nylon in the HOB filter.
I won't be starting my actual shrimp only tank until after I move in 2 weeks. Thankfully they'll be getting in cherries frequently. I'm hoping they will have more of the crystals left.
Just curious, would an aquaclear filter with a sponge filter over the intake be my best option? It's what I'm using on my current two tanks.
Lucky. I've found tying mine to a perfectly smooth stone doesn't give it much ground to hold onto. :lol:
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