# Crystal Red Shrimp Questions



## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

1) Can I keep 10 or so CRS in this environment? I really don't want them to breed, I don't want to deal with the excess.

Yes, you can, shrimp don't need a lot of room. I don't think they would breed in a tank like this though unless you really have your water params down. I like to keep CRS in 10 gallons but a lot of people like 20 gallons as well. 


2) If so, is there something that could be better? Like covering the filter vents in the top left back of the tank?


Most of the time when you buy shrimp from a breeder, he/she will send you little shrimplets because they survive shipping easier. The littlest ones (or if any of your shrimp do breed) would probably get sucked into that. I'd cover it with a sponge.


3) I have read that all dwarf shrimp need a well established tank environment. At what magic point with my Spec be "well established"?


Well, a well established tank is one that doesn't have any ammonia or nitrite readings for three days. Your tank is probably cycled all ready but I'd give it another few days to be cautious.

4) I have also read that fish waste is bad for dwarf shrimp. If I don't cycle the filter with the danios how will it cycle for the shrimp?


The fish won't be in the tank at the same time as the shrimp, so it's not a problem. Fish waste decomposes to make ammonia. It's not even that bad for shrimp but ammonia is; if your tank is cycled, plants and bacteria will eat up that ammonia before it becomes a problem to your shrimp.

5) Actually I think that is all for now.

Cool! I just have a few things to mention;

I'm pretty sure that your gH and kH are around 3-4, if I remember right. gH for a shrimp tank should be around 4-5 (yours is all right) and kH should be low, like 0-1. Higher kH is bad.

Your pH is high for these shrimp; they like an acidic-ish pH of 6.3-6.7 really.

Also, why are you using Aquafina? It's not the same as RO water. If it's giving you 3-4 gH/kH than it isn't helping much. I recommend you check your tap water's gH or pH. 

If you're using aquafina bottled water, you don't need to dechlorify it. But if you're using tap water, just keep it out all night and the chlorine will break up. 

I recommend you start with hardier grades (A or B) or red cherry shrimp. The lower the grade of CRS the hardier it is. Cherries are also very hardy. If you used a soil like aquasoil amazonia, it'd solve your pH problem.

Good luck!


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## MPschenck (Mar 22, 2011)

Senior Shrimpo said:


> I'm pretty sure that your gH and kH are around 3-4, if I remember right. gH for a shrimp tank should be around 4-5 (yours is all right) and kH should be low, like 0-1. Higher kH is bad.
> 
> Your pH is high for these shrimp; they like an acidic-ish pH of 6.3-6.7 really.
> 
> ...


I tested my tap water twice this morning. Once through a PUR filter and once straight out of the pipes. The only difference was there was no Chlorine out of the PUR. 

Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Hardness (GH): 75 ppm (Soft)
Alkalinity (KH): 40 ppm or less (I'm color blind so reading the test strip is a PITA. I had my wife check me.) 
pH: 6.8 ppm

That should be a little better, correct?


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## MPschenck (Mar 22, 2011)

Senior Shrimpo said:


> I'm pretty sure that your gH and kH are around 3-4, if I remember right. gH for a shrimp tank should be around 4-5 (yours is all right) and kH should be low, like 0-1. Higher kH is bad.
> 
> Your pH is high for these shrimp; they like an acidic-ish pH of 6.3-6.7 really.
> 
> ...


I finally found basically the same answers from... http://www.planetinverts.com/Crystal Red Shrimp.html

"..._Temperature should be lower than 80F and the pH should range from 6.2 to 6.8, gH should be between 4-6 and kH should be between 1-2. It is very important that the Crystal Red Shrimp be housed in specific conditions_...."

Thanks again! It is good to have to 2 matching (pretty close) answers. 

Can I ask how everyone tests their parameters? Especially to get whole numbers ie "gH 4-6"? My Jungle 6-n-1 tests strips only show ppm.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

MPschenck said:


> Can I ask how everyone tests their parameters? Especially to get whole numbers ie "gH 4-6"? My Jungle 6-n-1 tests strips only show ppm.


Most people here use the combined API GH/KH test kits. It gives values in degree of hardness (dGH and dKH) which translates roughly into a range of ppm.

Those Jungle test strips are atrociously unreliable (pretty much the same case with all Jungle products and all test strips).


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## MPschenck (Mar 22, 2011)

TLE041 said:


> Most people here use the combined API GH/KH test kits. It gives values in degree of hardness (dGH and dKH) which translates roughly into a range of ppm.
> 
> Those Jungle test strips are atrociously unreliable (pretty much the same case with all Jungle products and all test strips).


Thanks
I have, actually just last night, ordered a whole slew of API tests...
FRESHWATER GH & KH TEST KIT
FRESHWATER/SALTWATER AMMONIA TEST KIT
FRESHWATER/SALTWATER NITRATE TEST KIT
FRESHWATER /SALTWATER NITRITE TEST KIT
FRESHWATER DELUXE PH TEST KIT

Are there other test kits I might need?


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

You really don't need an ammonia test kit, if you don't have nitrate then you don't have ammonia (99% of the time, unless your tank is still cycling) and if you do it's a red flag in itself, not just because it's produced by an excess of ammonia.

TDS test is probably not needed but it does impact shrimp slightly. TDS=total dissolved solids, it's best to have them from about 135-260 (only based on readings I've found online, shrimp get adjusted to them)


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## MPschenck (Mar 22, 2011)

I have had my tests for a awhile and have been playing around with different mixes of my filtered and unfiltered tap water and distilled water. 

This is what I have come up with. 

Filtered Tap results...
pH: 7.0
kH: 2
gH: 4 

Distilled results...
pH: 6.0
kH: 0
gH: 0 

And a 50%/50% looks like this...
ph: 6.6 - 6.7
kH: 1-2 (really it was mostly a 1)
gH: 2-3 (really it was a 3)

So I know my gH needs to go up a bit (to reach the recommended levels of 4-5 or 4-6 depending on what you read) without raising the pH or kH. 

*How is this achieved? * 

I'm assuming a product like Seachem Replenish is not recommended?


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## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

The best way to increase the gH of a shrimp tank without affecting the other parameters is by using a product known as Mosura Mineral Plus. You can order it on the internet.

A kH of zero is really only necessary for breeding. 2-4 should be fine if you just want to keep them.

You can convert gH in ppm to degrees by dividing by 17.5. Hence, a gH of 75 in ppm is roughly 4.2 in degrees.


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## torsp (Dec 19, 2010)

I use Replenish to raise my Gh on my tanks. I use a 3:1 RO/Tap mix to get Ph & Kh where I want them and add the Replenish to get my Gh where I want it. Works great for me. I see no point in spending the premium for "shrimp" additives, waste of money IMO. I also have Equilibrium but I try to limit that because it bumps my TDS higher than I want it. My moss and floating plants do not suffer from the Replenish, I cannot say if "higher tech" plants will though.



MPschenck said:


> I have had my tests for a awhile and have been playing around with different mixes of my filtered and unfiltered tap water and distilled water.
> 
> This is what I have come up with.
> 
> ...


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