Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I was wondering if there were many invertebrates that are suitable for a soft water (<40ppm) aquarium. I've heard of a couple of shrimp species (amano and wood shrimp?) that seem suitable, but from what i've read basically all snails are off the table, so to speak, due to the need for minerals for their shells. I was origianlly hoping to keep several snails in a community aquarium, but of course if none are suitable for water of this type then I will definitely skip them. Please let me know as well if i am incorrect about the shrimp species i mentioned as well, as I would hate to make a mistake. Thank you.
Any Invertebrates suitable for a soft water tank?
- Thread starter Derigriff
- Start date
Originally I was only after decorative snails, but as i seem to be having a bit of an algae problem at present, either would be great. MTS seem like a great choice if that's the case, thanks for the advice!
The primary minerals of concern is calcium and magnesium. The GH (General Hardness) test detects only these iminerals IF your GH is 40ppm you should have enough minerals. The other issue you need to look into is your PHif the pH is less than 7 the acidic water can etch holes in snail shells Preferably you want a PH close to or over 7 to avoid shell erosion.
You mention shrimps - crystal shrimps need soft acidic water unlike other species. You can see their care needs here https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/25-crystal-bee-shrimp The reason they are 'out of stock' is because they won't post them while there are still Covid-19 restrictions which could mean they won't arrive overnight but you can read up on them.
There is another profile of them here though it will take some time to load as the page no longer exists and it has to go via Wayback Machine.
There is another profile of them here though it will take some time to load as the page no longer exists and it has to go via Wayback Machine.
Those Crystal shrimp are beautiful! It seems they don't grow very large however, and i worry about them being eaten in a community tank. I may have to set up a separate shrimp tank at some point though, as they really are stunning!
Depends, what sort of fish do you have in the community tank? And how densely planted? If it's a densely planted tank with nano fish, otos, guppies, or cories etc, shrimp will most likely continue to thrive and breed, even if the odd shrimplet gets picked off. Tank full of barbs and botia, probably not
Densely planted, but I was hoping to put a pair of Apistos in so... maybe notDepends, what sort of fish do you have in the community tank? And how densely planted? If it's a densely planted tank with nano fish, otos, guppies, or cories etc, shrimp will most likely continue to thrive and breed, even if the odd shrimplet gets picked off. Tank full of barbs and botia, probably not
Haha that would be a very expensive live food!Densely planted, but I was hoping to put a pair of Apistos in so... maybe not
A shrimp only tank sounds like a better plan... lol!
I'd love some apistos, but don't have the right set up for them, please share photos if you do get some so I can live vicariously!
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