# Hard water shrimp



## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

Just curious about shrimp "native" or a strain of any shrimp that favors hard water.

I live on well water and it is extremely hard. I have read some german shrimp are hard water.

Just curious. :biggrin:

Thanks!


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

Some species can do okay in hard water such as cherry or any variation, however, I'm not sure how hard your water is, you might have to soften it a bit for most shrimp. 

My tap water is ph 7.6-8.0, TDS 160-190, GH 8, KH 5. With some really cheap and nature and lazy way I can get it down to PH 6.5 or lower, TDS < 100, GH 3, KH ~0 in about 24 hrs (cost is about, I say, 20 cents + cost of water lol), if your water is much harder, I think it will just take a bit longer. 

Research and experiment (I am lazy, but I experimented a few ways to get what I'm doing now), you'll find what's right for your water. That's part of the fun in shrimp keeping


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

randyl said:


> That's part of the fun in shrimp keeping


I will! I will look into it later when school is out.


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## cookymonster760 (Apr 30, 2011)

any type of sulawesi shrimp thrive in hard water they cant survive with out it


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

Sulawesi are so hard to keep though.

Malawa and any type of neocaridina should be OK unless your water is ridiculously hard.


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

I'll test my water tomorrow and let you know the kh and gh! I bought RO for my OEBT's. 
I mixes half RO and half well water still to hard... Just to give you an idea. Y


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

moosenart said:


> I'll test my water tomorrow and let you know the kh and gh! I bought RO for my OEBT's.
> I mixes half RO and half well water still to hard... Just to give you an idea. Y


I grew up on a farm out north of Thornton (in Brighton) on well water. In terms of staining, showering, etc. I know just how hard the well water around here can be. I never tested it for fish keeping though so I don't know the actual readings.

With the OEBT RO is definitely the way to go.

I am keeping all of my neos on city tap water just fine but it is not soft enough or clean enough for stuff like CRS or tigers.


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

My water is extremely hard. Good thing a fish store is close!


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

i am going to get a 10 gallon shrimp low tech or a 20L with cory cats and _______. 

I haven't had any luck finding anything on sulawesi.


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I have my RCS in the wet/dry-sump of my Tropheus(tanganyikan cichlid) tank and it has aragonite for substrate and the tap down here in Texas is like liquid stone. 

Think the pH is 8.2 and everything else that goes along with hard water.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Did you test your GH/KH? There's hard water and then there's hard water, after all... The two values aren't necessarily tied together either (though they often are.) For instance, my water is unbelievably soft (GH < 1) and has an incredibly high alkalinity (KH = 15.) (My cherry shrimp have done very well in this water without any RO.)

In terms of shrimp that are native to Colorado, I don't think there are any, just crayfish. Ghost shrimp are native to the US though, and are likely to be happy with your water conditions, as they are widely adaptable and tend to do better in more basic conditions (in my experience anyway.)

There are a number of other species that do well in a wide range of water conditions, most neocaridina, amano shrimp, sunkist shrimp, malawa, and Hawaiian red shrimp. Some of those won't breed in fresh water or their larvae won't survive, but the adults do well. 

Sulawesi shrimp are the shrimp that come from Sulawesi, one of the islands of Indonesia. A wide variety of non-interbreeding shrimp species were discovered in lakes on the island. They are insanely colorful for wild, freshwater shrimp and generally require warm, hard water with a high pH to survive. They are very attractive, but hard to keep, generally speaking. That combination of frailty, location of the wild population, and water requirements that are so different from the strains of shrimp that are already popular in the hobby, has caused them to not catch on in the way that other dwarf shrimp have. Many people keep them, but nothing like the numbers that keep even the more expensive varieties of neocaridina or bee shrimp species. Malawa shrimp actually are a species of Sulawesi shrimp. On one hand, they are the easiest to keep by far, but on the other hand, they are also the plainest in terms of coloration.


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## inka4041 (Jul 27, 2008)

Baubalti complex has a reputation for doing well in hard water. My iwb tank has aragonite sand, and they're doing really well, so they might be worth looking into for you.


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

My gh is 14 kh 7


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

moosenart said:


> My gh is 14 kh 7


F Y L!!

LOL!

My tap is similar if not worse. Best tap to keep most cichlids though, killer on any RO system if not.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

Forget about the Sulawesi - they are very sensitive and hard to keep. They live in hard water but it isn't just hard 'tap water' - it is very specific water that people tend to replicate using RO and just bringing the hardness back up with.

Neos, babaultis, Malawa - there are some options that can probably do OK with your well water. 14gH is definitely high when talking about keeping caridina cantonensis (bee shrimp, tiger shrimp, etc.) but I don't know what the upper range of gH is for the more tolerant shrimp like neos, babaultis and malawa.


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

Links? What do you think would be the best?


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

If you google "cherry shrimp water parameters" or "amano shrimp water parameters" you can find info on any given species/variety. Cherry/yellow shrimp would work in your water, amanos and sunkist would be happy.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I just did some quick googling - it looks like green babaultis (and probably some of the other babaulti shrimp), neocaridina shrimp (red cherry shrimp, yellows, rilis, etc.) and probably Malawa would all be fine using your well water.


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

I like rili's thanks! I shall inquire! I know amanos work, I have had some In the past.

What about sakuras?


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