How to change distilled water for use on shrimp

I am thinking of starting a shrimp tank. Probably ghost shrimp or amano shrimp.
I am wondering how I should set up my 20 gal tank.
Do I first put in distilled water that is fixed with chemicals (Please tell me what products to use to fix distilled water (or it was reverse osmosis, I can't remember which. All I know is that it is pure water) , I have no idea) first, or do I just keep the tank with distilled water and plants and then let it cycle and then fix the water?
I want to use pure sand as substrate, but I am not sure how that will work. Any substrate recommendations?
Sorry, as you can probably see I am a total beginner in shrimp keeping.

 

Welcome to fishlore!

I’ve never kept shrimp but I think most would advise adding them to a tank that is at least a few months old so it is biologically mature and contains enough food for them to survive on. Also, is there any reason why you want to use remineralised distilled/RO water rather than your tap water?

 

Welcome to fishlore!

I’ve never kept shrimp but I think most would advise adding them to a tank that is at least a few months old so it is biologically mature and contains enough food for them to survive on. Also, is there any reason why you want to use remineralised distilled/RO water rather than your tap water?

It might save the step of dechlorinating?
I'll have to wait to get a test kit first though.
Also, how should I test my tap water?
Are there any less expensive water testing kits?
thanks.

 

It might save the step of dechlorinating?
I'll have to wait to get a test kit first though.
Also, how should I test my tap water?
Are there any less expensive water testing kits?
thanks.

I’d recommend the api master test kit but if you are keeping shrimp, you will also need a kh and gh test too which don’t come with the master kit.

If your tap water is fine to use, I’d just get a good dechlorinator like seachem prime.

 

Before you buy distilled water and a bunch of chemicals, find out what your source water is like (especially pH, GH, and KH). It may be perfectly fine.

In fact, since different kinds of shrimp need different water parameters it's almost certain that one will work with your water. For example, I have hard water at 8.2 pH, so I keep neocaridina shrimp (red cherry shrimp and other colors), along with amano shrimp in one tank. If I had water that was softer, with lower pH, I'd be keeping caridina shrimp.

With fish or shrimp, in most cases it's best to stock what does best in your water as-is instead of trying to alter it.

 

Definitly test your water source. I assumed my work water source would be the same as my home water source. Which it wasn't and my work actually found a big problem with the water they get..
When I first tested my water it was 43 dGh, wish I was kidding. So with advice from this site, I was able to slowly bring that down to the right levels for cherry shrimp using distilled water. So now when I do a water change I use salty shrimp shrimp minerals. The tap water here is still 32dGh so I dont even try to use it in any form.

I only have a 10 gallon tank so buying distilled water is just a $1 every other week. ( do 10% water changes every other week). So using RO water isn't really cost effective for such a small tank. I sourced all the drinking water places around me and most are doing that 9.0Ph water thing which is no good to me.

I'd suggest getting the distilled water or RO water (you can buy RO water or Distilled water at walmart for 98c) $20 and your tank will be filled up. Get some salty shrimp shrimp minerals to add in, and cycle the tank. You'll need to let it sit for 3 months (I had guppies in mine during that time without an issue). Then add the shrimp. API master kit for freshwater, and Gh/Kh testing kit are required. I got a bunch of skittle shrimp to start with with Htownguppy on ebay. These are cull shrimp and good for just hobby keepers.