# Shrimp to Fit My Tank



## BJRuttenberg (Sep 25, 2005)

I do a 50% water change every few Days with 50% Tap and 50% RO

10 Gal Tank

Current Tank Water: 
KH:2-3
PH: 6.5-6.8
Temp: 26
Light for 12 Hrs Daily.

Tap:
KH: 5 
GH: 11
PH: 7.5-8

I want some shrimp that are easy to maintain (Im a beginner) and for algae control.

Suggestions?


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## JohnPaul (Aug 28, 2006)

Is there any reason you do so much water changing so often? 50% every few days seems like overkill, and I would be worried about all the water changing constantly stressing the shrimp.

Are there fish in this tank? Or is this going to be a shrimp-only tank? Is the tank planted with live plants? What is your substrate?

Presuming this is going to be a shrimp-only tank, if you can keep the pH stable at around 6.5 or just above, it would make a nice set-up for a _Caridina_ tank, something like:


CRS (Crystal Red Shrimp)
Bee (sometimes called Black Bee, or Crystal Black)
Tiger (including any of the varieties like Super Tiger, Blue Tiger, or Red Tiger)
Bumblebee

There would be some others as well, but those are the most commonly seen acidic pH loving shrimp in the hobby. None of those are necessarily beginner shrimp, though, as they are a little on the sensitive side.

Your other option would be to forget using any RO water at all and set up a tank for hardwater/alkaline shrimp. That would be less work on your part, it would probably be easier to keep the water paramenters stable, and would allow you to set up conditions perfect for the easiest of the easiest shrimp in the hobby, the _Neocaridina_ shrimps:


Red Cherry Shrimp
Yellow Shrimp
Snowball Shrimp
Blue Pearl Shrimp

Any of those would thrive in harder water with a pH in the upper 7's. My tap water is almost exactly the same as yours (pH = 7.8, GH = 11, KH = 5) and I've recently set up a tank for Blue Pearls and the ones I got are thriving and two of the females are already berried (carrying eggs), so in the next couple of weeks I should have my first two batches of shrimplets in the tank.

Oh and just as a note, in both of my lists above, all of the species listed are known (or presumed) to hybridize/crossbreed with each other. So that means you want to pick ONE of the species in the list, not a bunch of them.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

you could have one of the species on the bottom list though and one from the top as neocaridinas and caridinas do not interbreed with each other.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

The hardiest shrimp that eat good amounts of algea are: Amano, Tiger & Cherry.


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## BJRuttenberg (Sep 25, 2005)

ADA Aquasoil for Substrate
There Will Be Live Plants but not heavily planted (iwagumi style)

Where do Amano SHrimp fall in that category? (Hard or Soft Water) 
Also, is it the hardness that matters or is it the PH. I wanted shrimp which would suite my tanks parameters and not have to go the other way around (parameters to fit the livestock) 

Additionally, what would a ph of 7.0 and KH of around 8 be suitable for?

I just started a new tank with ADA Aquasoil and was/am having major algae issues - hence the water cahnges... But I used some cycling bacteria so the filter is mature. I want to put in some shrimp to assist with the algae. 

I have very little experience with shrimp but know a few things. I am currently dosing Excel and I know it is toxic to shrimp which is also a reason for the water changes (to keep levels down so fewer water changes are needed when shrimp arrive)


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## BJRuttenberg (Sep 25, 2005)

Also Amanos dont breed in Fresh so their at bottom of my list...How do cherries/tigers Compare as far as algae eradication/ease of care?


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## BJRuttenberg (Sep 25, 2005)

Bump


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