Neocaridina Vs Caridina Shrimp

Hello,
As some know I recently started my shrimp tank with neos. It was bumpy at the beginning with some random deaths but stable for a few days (haha I know not much time at all) which makes me so excited because I love shrimp. It is one of my favorite tanks to watch. I’m going to stick to neos for a few more months to really understand shrimp care but I also am interested in caridina shrimp in the future. I understand that some of the man made variations of caridina shrimp like blue bolt or pinto, the Taitibee shrimps, are very hard to care for. My water parameters are as follows-
With buffer I’ve been using forever: (water is stable at these parameters and always has been, I use it in all my tanks no issues)
pH 6.8-7
GH 270 ppm (15 dGH)
KH 72 ppm(4 dKH)
Without buffer straight from the tap:
pH 8.2
GH 270 ppm
KH 0 or 1
Should I use RO water for mischling shrimp like pinto and blue bolt, and remineralize with salty shrimp? Or is my normal water with buffer above ok? I want to give them the best chance of survival. Again, waiting a few months before I attempt this anyway just want to know what I should prepare for thanks for your help

 

I have no idea but I am cycling a shrimp tank so I’m following! Don’t mind me

 

I have no idea but I am cycling a shrimp tank so I’m following! Don’t mind me

Some tips I have personally learned: I had my tank set up for a long time before adding shrimp to let a biofilm and algae form but you can add Bacteria AE to help with that and I do think neos are the easiest so I would start with those personally, I’m still figuring them out too

 

As with all tap water parameters can fluctuate leading to the death of expensive shrimp.
So to do it right use Ro water with something like salty bee,
my preference on tank size is 40ltr
Run for at least 3 months without shrimp, you can put a few fish in to keep the cycle going but have an outlet for the fish when you're ready to add shrimp,
Like all shrimp I believe there's a starting point and with Caradina go for Black bee Or Crystal reds the are easy to keep and sell well

 

At least in my climate neo ‘s are difficult without a chiller. I forget exactly how cool they need to be but think it’s cooler than a marine tank?

richiep would know the maximum temperature?

 

As with all tap water parameters can fluctuate leading to the death of expensive shrimp.
So to do it right use Ro water with something like salty bee,
my preference on tank size is 40ltr
Run for at least 3 months without shrimp, you can put a few fish in to keep the cycle going but have an outlet for the fish when you're ready to add shrimp,
Like all shrimp I believe there's a starting point and with Caradina go for Black bee Or Crystal reds the are easy to keep and sell well

Yeah tank is going to run for a while with some larger snails which usually works pretty well for me to maintain a cycled tank. The sponge filter is going to run for a month in my established tank before I switch it to the new tank so the snails will be sufficient for a month or two to keep the tank cycled while it builds biofilm. My LFS has RO water for 50 cents a gallon and I’ll remineralize with SS. Should I get a tds meter? I only have gh kH liquid tests right now. I also read that caridina like slightly acidic pH what pH should I aim for?

At least in my climate neo ‘s are difficult without a chiller. I forget exactly how cool they need to be but think it’s cooler than a marine tank?

richiep would know the maximum temperature?

Curious on this too, I read that mid to low 70s is ok for them

 

At least in my climate neo ‘s are difficult without a chiller. I forget exactly how cool they need to be but think it’s cooler than a marine tank?

richiep would know the maximum temperature?

All mine are kept at 22.5c but this in the summer over the past few years as gone to 28-30c so I use fans blowing over the surface to stabilise at 25c

 

I would add RO water to make that pH a little lower for Caridina Shrimp. Caridina Shrimp in general do much better with a pH of 5.5-6.5 pH. They're also less tolerant of heat than Neocaradina shrimp are. High 70s is probably a bit too warm for Caridina, although Neocaradina can tolerate that alright. I hear Tiger Shrimp are one of the hardiest of the Caridina Shrimp, and make a good first attempt at keeping Caradina. Just standard Tigers. Blue Tigers or Orange Eyed Blue Tigers are a bit more inbred, and so less hardy.

 

I would add RO water to make that pH a little lower for Caridina Shrimp. Caridina Shrimp in general do much better with a pH of 5.5-6.5 pH. They're also less tolerant of heat than Neocaradina shrimp are. High 70s is probably a bit too warm for Caridina, although Neocaradina can tolerate that alright. I hear Tiger Shrimp are one of the hardiest of the Caridina Shrimp, and make a good first attempt at keeping Caradina. Just standard Tigers. Blue Tigers or Orange Eyed Blue Tigers are a bit more inbred, and so less hardy.

Do I need to buy a buffer to lower my pH? Salty shrimp and RO have neutral pH right?

 

At my local club I listen to a presentation on the needs of these shrimp from a member who has a temperature controlled room .

In short
The difference in what they can tolerate is extreme.
One is a horse and cart that drives itself the other is a Formula one car that needs a team of men to start it.

As I have recommended many times on this site join your local aquarium society. If your “ local “ is 200 kilometres away then that IS your local.

 

This is my take on caradina
Ro water is a must! Why?? Simply, you have full control over your water by adding minerals,
Test Kits: (GH/KH,PH, TDS Meter)
The single most important kit you need is the GH/KH test kit. Yes, I know GH can be guessed from the TDS, but first of all, when it comes to CRS, guessing does not bring any good, Crystals have a wide range of acceptibility for TDS (90-150, even 200) GH (4-6). Keeping a TDS of 120 does not ensure your water has the perfect GH for shrimps to molt properly. You should mineralize your RO water to have a GH between 4-6 not for a certain TDS. Then whatever the TDS the mixture reaches, thats the TDS you should aim for always, this is where a tds meter comes into its own, remember a tds meter is a guide only to help get your gh readings correct and that's the important one. KH also plays an important role in keeping the water parameters stable, especially the pH. Internet says its okay to have KH 0 but in fact its not. Having a KH 0 means your water is prone to sudden pH swings. Having a KH value of 1-2 is equally important this stops pH swings, You should also aim for a pH below 7.0 but this is not the end of the world, slightly above 7.0 is okay too as long as it always remains that way.

 

This is my take on caradina
Ro water is a must! Why?? Simply, you have full control over your water by adding minerals,
Test Kits: (GH/KH,PH, TDS Meter)
The single most important kit you need is the GH/KH test kit. Yes, I know GH can be guessed from the TDS, but first of all, when it comes to CRS, guessing does not bring any good, Crystals have a wide range of acceptibility for TDS (90-150, even 200) GH (4-6). Keeping a TDS of 120 does not ensure your water has the perfect GH for shrimps to molt properly. You should mineralize your RO water to have a GH between 4-6 not for a certain TDS. Then whatever the TDS the mixture reaches, thats the TDS you should aim for always, this is where a tds meter comes into its own, remember a tds meter is a guide only to help get your gh readings correct and that's the important one. KH also plays an important role in keeping the water parameters stable, especially the pH. Internet says its okay to have KH 0 but in fact its not. Having a KH 0 means your water is prone to sudden pH swings. Having a KH value of 1-2 is equally important this stops pH swings, You should also aim for a pH below 7.0 but this is not the end of the world, slightly above 7.0 is okay too as long as it always remains that way.

Do you suggest salty shrimp or is there a different remineralizer you recommend? I just read that RO water actually has a pH between 6-6.5 for some reason I thought it was neutral so I should not have to change pH then, right? Just make sure Gh and KH are good

 

Most people I know who keep Caridina shrimp keep the pH lower by using ADA Amazonia Aquasoil as their substrate. It's excellent for live plants, plus it naturally lowers the pH levels to ideal levels for Caridina shrimp.

 

Miss information on ro water, the reading should be ph7 which is neutral
A lot in the states can keep caradina in tap or well water due to the parameters, we don't have that luxury in the UK
Once you've taken readings you can take it from there.
There's a load of soils & chemicals to buffer your water ,just pick one that suits your shrimp. Soils do need changing every year or two & chemicals need adding every water change.
If your lucky to have a constant pH under ph7 then you're ond of the luck ones but it still needs testing on a regular basis
This is the soil I use

 

Miss information on ro water, the reading should be ph7 which is neutral
A lot in the states can keep caradina in tap or well water due to the parameters, we don't have that luxury in the UK
Once you've taken readings you can take it from there.
There's a load of soils & chemicals to buffer your water ,just pick one that suits your shrimp. Soils do need changing every year or two & chemicals need adding every water change.
If your lucky to have a constant pH under ph7 then you're ond of the luck ones but it still needs testing on a regular basis
This is the soil I use

Ok thank you! My current tanks all sit at a pH of 6.8-7 but have very high hardness which is why I want to do RO.