Two Tanks: Caridina Shrimp

Hello!
I want to start keeping Caridina shrimps. I currently have between all of my tanks- breeding blue velvet neos, vampire shrimp, bamboo shrimp, amano shrimp, and ghost shrimp. I have two tanks I can use: a 3 gallon and a 10 gallon. I will be using RO water. I’ve never used RO water before so I have some questions-
1. Can I use the 3 gallon for Caridina shrimp? This won’t be the smallest tank I’ve kept so I don’t think I’ll have an issue keeping parameters stable
2. Is salty shrimp the only product I will need for remineralizing or should I also use a Seachem buffer product?
3. Do I add the remineralizing powder or drops to each gallon of water and does it say on the bottle how many drops to add to get my desired kH and gh or will I need to experiment?
3. Any tips or tricks with caridinas will be much appreciated!

 

1. Can I use the 3 gallon for Caridina shrimp? This won’t be the smallest tank I’ve kept so I don’t think I’ll have an issue keeping parameters stable

Should be doable.

2. Is salty shrimp the only product I will need for remineralizing or should I also use a Seachem buffer product?

Salty is the only one. And a proper diet of course.

3. Do I add the remineralizing powder or drops to each gallon of water and does it say on the bottle how many drops to add to get my desired kH and gh or will I need to experiment?

Get a TDS meter and a bucket. Fill the bucket with RO water and add the powder or liquid. Use the TDS meter to get a reading of about 90-100 ppm. This should give you the right amount for caridina's.

You can use the TDS for other tanks too as a very crude, but reliable, check in your tanks. You don't know what makes up a TDS of 160, but for a caridina tank, you might need to do a water change. I use the TDS for all my tanks and interpret different things, depending on the tank.

3. Any tips or tricks with caridinas will be much appreciated!

Are you familiar with old school corner filter; the air powder ones? Instead of a sponge, you have a container which you can fill with anything, including aquasoil. You could go bare bottom and add these corner filters filled with aquasoil.

 

1. Can I use the 3 gallon for Caridina shrimp? This won’t be the smallest tank I’ve kept so I don’t think I’ll have an issue keeping parameters stable

Should be doable.

2. Is salty shrimp the only product I will need for remineralizing or should I also use a Seachem buffer product?

Salty is the only one. And a proper diet of course.

3. Do I add the remineralizing powder or drops to each gallon of water and does it say on the bottle how many drops to add to get my desired kH and gh or will I need to experiment?

Get a TDS meter and a bucket. Fill the bucket with RO water and add the powder or liquid. Use the TDS meter to get a reading of about 90-100 ppm. This should give you the right amount for caridina's.

You can use the TDS for other tanks too as a very crude, but reliable, check in your tanks. You don't know what makes up a TDS of 160, but for a caridina tank, you might need to do a water change. I use the TDS for all my tanks and interpret different things, depending on the tank.

3. Any tips or tricks with caridinas will be much appreciated!

Are you familiar with old school corner filter; the air powder ones? Instead of a sponge, you have a container which you can fill with anything, including aquasoil. You could go bare bottom and add these corner filters filled with aquasoil.

Thank you so much for all the information you answered all the questions! I have seen those filters before I’ll look into them, I’m deciding on what type of substrate I want to do with this tank. I’m thinking I would like to use some pond soil mixed with flourite and capped with gravel.

 

1. Can I use the 3 gallon for Caridina shrimp? This won’t be the smallest tank I’ve kept so I don’t think I’ll have an issue keeping parameters stable

Should be doable.

2. Is salty shrimp the only product I will need for remineralizing or should I also use a Seachem buffer product?

Salty is the only one. And a proper diet of course.

3. Do I add the remineralizing powder or drops to each gallon of water and does it say on the bottle how many drops to add to get my desired kH and gh or will I need to experiment?

Get a TDS meter and a bucket. Fill the bucket with RO water and add the powder or liquid. Use the TDS meter to get a reading of about 90-100 ppm. This should give you the right amount for caridina's.

You can use the TDS for other tanks too as a very crude, but reliable, check in your tanks. You don't know what makes up a TDS of 160, but for a caridina tank, you might need to do a water change. I use the TDS for all my tanks and interpret different things, depending on the tank.

3. Any tips or tricks with caridinas will be much appreciated!

Are you familiar with old school corner filter; the air powder ones? Instead of a sponge, you have a container which you can fill with anything, including aquasoil. You could go bare bottom and add these corner filters filled with aquasoil.

Hey! I realized I have one more question about the logistics- for water changes and top offs. For top offs (which I obviously do way more often than water changes in shrimp tanks), do I top off with plain RO water or do I remineralize the top of water to the desired tds? Or is this like saltwater where I just top-off with plain RO?

 

I don't mind topping off with pure RO. But I almost always stick the TDS pen in and check what the TDS is. If it is above 100, you could use pure RO.

That said. If you keep temp at 73.4 F, which gives a 1:1 male: female sex ratio offspring, depending on your room temperature, you might not suffer that much evaporation.

Conducting regular water changes might be all you need.

 

I don't mind topping off with pure RO. But I almost always stick the TDS pen in and check what the TDS is. If it is above 100, you could use pure RO.

That said. If you keep temp at 73.4 F, which gives a 1:1 male: female sex ratio offspring, depending on your room temperature, you might not suffer that much evaporation.

Conducting regular water changes might be all you need.

Thanks!!