R. O. Water And Salty Shrimp For Blueberry Neocaridina Heteropoda

[Mamashack]

Some of you may know that I recently bought some Blueberry Neocaridina heteropoda (cherry shrimp)
As their name suggests they are blue rather than red.
The guy I bought them from at Kesgrave Tropicals has said something very strange and unexpected - having an email conversation over 2 weeks about their care and feeding, when I suggested buying some more, out of the blue (pun intended!) he declared that they are a specialist shrimp and need R.O water and Salty Shrimp which I understand is a water conditioner with minerals especially for shrimp to remineralise R.O water. He suggested the 7.5 one. My tap water and hence tank water is 7.8pH and I'm wary of messing about with it if it's not necessary.
At first he'd said they were easy to keep just to keep an eye on the water quality and now this.
Has anyone else heard of this requirement?
Is it really necessary to do all this to keep the shrimp healthy or is it just a marketing ploy?
 

 

[DrRob]

Some of the more sensitive shrimp are quite picky about water conditions. TDS or conductivity are what I've encountered being talked about, along with kH and GH due to issues with failed moults with the wrong levels, rather than being all that worried about pH.
 
Generally though it's been a big issue for things like the CRS's rather than the cherries, but it does depend a little on whether the particular line is sensitive. It's also more important for shrimplets, as they tend to be more sensitive.
 
As you quite rightly point out, messing with water isn't a simple affair and requires both a fair amount of work, but also some dedication, but may be worth it if you want really good stocks of shrimplets from a more sensitive batch.
 
Now the Sulawesi shrimp, they're entirely different beasties for sensitivity, but they are pretty.

 

[Mamashack]

To be honest I haven't  a clue what the KH and GH are as I haven't got those test kits. Perhaps I should invest in some.
I also have some amano shrimp which seem to be able to moult properly in the water I have. I appreciate that the Blueberries are probably not as hardy since they more than likely have been selectively bred to achieve the colour.
Of the original 3 I bought only 1 survives to my knowledge. 1 hasn't been seen since the day it was put in the tank, the 2nd disappeared down the throat of an assassin snail (now removed from the blueberry shrimp tank!) presumably found dead and the 3rd one seems to be growing - originally 1cm and now 1.5 cm (ish) as near as I can measure it. Maybe the other one is just good at hiding, but I'm thinking it may have been another expensive protein boost for an assassin snail.
Have been looking up the Salty Shrimp products - how do I decide which one to chose? There are so many!

 

[DrRob]

I'm not the person to ask. I cheat and use this.
 
http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/RO.htm

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks Dr Rob - I'll go and have a look!

 

[Mamashack]

That link seems to be about R.O and plants, Dr Rob altho I may be too tired to take it in.
Thanks for your suggestions - I'll follow up on it when I am less tired!

 

[DrRob]

It was mainly the ingredient list for the remineralising mix I use. Plus a few hints on how to mess with GH and kH if you need to.

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks - I'll have another look tomorrow when my brain is hopefully refreshed!

 

[daizeUK]

Well that's a shock to me 

and concerning as I was planning to buy some, hopefully from my LFS when they get them in stock.
 
The listing stated this:
 
"Cherry shrimp are easy to care for in the home freshwater aquarium and breed well. They will adapt to a wide range of water conditions, and will thrive in the same conditions as many common aquarium fish."
 
He says nothing about this colour strain having special requirements...

 

[Mamashack]

Exactly what I was thinking, daize! I'm glad you think so too. Am I right in now thinking that the 2 shrimp that have either gone missing or disappeared down the snail's throat could have died due to the change in water? Do you think it would be reasonable for me to ask for him to replace those 2 at his expense if that's the case? (Who knows I might even suggest he should throw in a tub of Salty Shrimp too! lol)
That's what I wanted to do last night, but think I would have made a hash of it. I wanted to sleep on it as I was tired and going round in circles and getting a bit confused with all the different Salty Shrimp products. As luck would have it I do have access to R.O water at work and I'm sure my boss would let me have some on a weekly basis if I asked.
I've got nerite zebra snails and 1 unknown hitch-hiker snail who is quite pretty so is allowed to stay since he's earned his keep by eating all of the brown algae (diatoms?) off the anubia in the micro tank. I'm waiting til the 1 remaining shrimp is bigger before putting it in there. My question now is - will R.O. water with Salty Shrimp added be ok for the snails? I'm guessing they also need hardish water too for the health of their shells.

 

[fm1978]

I've heard this before as well. The guy I get my shrimpy bits from also told me this is the way he kept his more prized specimens - starting with RO (TDS 0) and then using a mineral like Salty Shrimp Bee Shrimp Mineral GH+ to get the TDS just right.
 
In this case I don't think it was a marketing ploy as he sent me some GH+ samples and they've lasted for ages. I told him I was from Scotland and my water is very soft (TDS 60) so he recommended using this mineral salt stuff to get it up to around 180-200.
 
I'd agree with Dr Rob not to worry too much about pH, cherries in general should be fine between about 6.5 - 8.0.  

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks fm! I think I got side-tracked by the Sulawesi shrimp pack from Salty Shrimp which is available in 7.5 or 8.5 strengths.
Which one are you using? And what do you use to test your water for TDS if you don't mind my asking? I've never done water hardness tests (except as a newbie years ago when I used those silly water test strips - I know better now!) What's the difference between GH, KH and TDS and which is it better to check?

 

[fm1978]

I do not mind in the slightest!
 
I just use a TDS meter I got from here - http/easishrimp.co.uk/33-digital-tds-meter.html. I don't want to seem to be favouring any one particular supplier but that is where I get all of my shrimp paraphernalia and whenever I have a question the chap is usually very quick to answer, which is nice!
 
The mineral salts I'm using is this one - http/easishrimp.co.uk/52-bee-shrimp-mineral-gh-90g.html. And if you look at the description below the product itself it describes a bit more about what it does with gH.
 
As far as I can understand, kH is the measure of dissolved Carbonate and Bicarbonate and is determined by a couple of factors. You'd first have to check your tap water level to see where your starting point is, but, for cherry shrimp, a wide range between 0 - 10 is fine. You can increase kH by adding household Bicarbonate Soda, but you'll also affect the pH - I wouldn't do this and you probably won't have to. Also the kH will naturally start to fall in a planted tank as will pH as nitrifying bacteria use up kH as well - this can be a good thing if you want your pH a bit lower. A bit under 7 is good for most shrimp, I believe. If your natural kH level is high, which I suspect it's not, you can add RO water to reduce it or just add some cooled down boiled water.
 
gH is just General Hardness and refers to the amount of minerals dissolved, Magnesium, Calcium etc and isn't connected to kH. This is what the Salty Shrimp GH+ stuff is for if you have either naturally low gH or you use RO and remineralise. For cherries a gH of 4 - 14 is the guide. This is the one that I tend to keep an eye on more than kH. My water is already quite soft so I need to use this stuff (I'm sure it's the level of dissolved solids/minerals that help with healthy moulting and so on). 
 
You probably know as well that cooler temp are preferred by most shrimp. 18 - 23 degrees for cherries - sorry if you already knew that...

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks fm that's been very helpful! I don't mind in the least your reminder about the temperature.
My little blueberry is in a tank running at 25-25.5°C (I'd checked with planetinverts.com which said they were ok between 22 and 29°C) so I'd better nudge it down a bit at a time if you think they are better around 23°.
I'll check those links you mentioned whne I get back from work this evening.

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks everyone - I've just heard back from Kesgrave Tropicals and he thought I was talking about the Blueberry Bee shrimp they also have which are indeed Sulawesi, Dr Rob.
The one I have is the Blue Phantom "Blueberry" which is where the confusion arose - and he has confirmed it is one of the easier ones to care for.
Panic over!