Red Cherry Shrimp - TDS help

[JPW003]

Hi all

I have a second planted tank (10g) ready and waiting for red cherry shrimp. 8 weeks left to sit and do its stuff re biofilm etc, and it'll be a shrimp only tank. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0-5ppm and pH is 6.8. The TDS from my tank water however is 90.

I believe I should be looking at 150-200 for TDS, so what's the best way of achieving this? Move to RO or buffer with minerals or leave as? Or something else?

The plants are growing great, everything is technically in place, just the TDS is causing me a bit of concern. Unless it shouldn't?

Appreciate any help,

Thanks,

J

 

[utahfish]

TDS is total dissolved solids. RO water has 0 TDS so adding RO water isnt the solution.
A product ive heard used to " condition" water for shrimp is called Salty shrimp. Ive never used it but apparently it is used to get water in ideal conditions for shrimp. Give it a look. There are lots of other products out there for water for shrimp but salty shrimp is one i hear the most about

 

[seangee]

Hi all

I have a second planted tank (10g) ready and waiting for red cherry shrimp. 8 weeks left to sit and do its stuff re biofilm etc, and it'll be a shrimp only tank. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0-5ppm and pH is 6.8. The TDS from my tank water however is 90.

I believe I should be looking at 150-200 for TDS, so what's the best way of achieving this? Move to RO or buffer with minerals or leave as? Or something else?

The plants are growing great, everything is technically in place, just the TDS is causing me a bit of concern. Unless it shouldn't?

Appreciate any help,

Thanks,

J

Do you know the hardness (GH) of your water? For some reason shrimp sites seem to prefer TDS measurement as a guide to water hardness - which is actually not very accurate. Cherry shrimp are soft water shrimp and are ok in slightly acidic water, which you have. They actually do well in a fairly wide range of parameters. My shrimp tank parameters are as follow
dGH = 6
dKH = 3
pH = 7

If your GH is less than 4 degrees (72 mg/l CaCO3) you should consider raising it to 6. My preferred minerals are Salty Shrimp GH/KH+. 1 Scoop per 10 litres raises the GH by 6 degrees (this is what I add to RO), but you may need to reduce the dosage depending on what your tap water reading is.

Oh and I never measure TDS

 

[JPW003]

Do you know the hardness (GH) of your water? For some reason shrimp sites seem to prefer TDS measurement as a guide to water hardness - which is actually not very accurate. Cherry shrimp are soft water shrimp and are ok in slightly acidic water, which you have. They actually do well in a fairly wide range of parameters. My shrimp tank parameters are as follow
dGH = 6
dKH = 3
pH = 7

If your GH is less than 4 degrees (72 mg/l CaCO3) you should consider raising it to 6. My preferred minerals are Salty Shrimp GH/KH+. 1 Scoop per 10 litres raises the GH by 6 degrees (this is what I add to RO), but you may need to reduce the dosage depending on what your tap water reading is.

Oh and I never measure TDS

Thanks Seangee

I'm 5 and 3 respectively on my tap.

Can I just use Salty Shrimp on my tap to increase it very gradually or do I have to invest in RO/RO unit??

J

 

[seangee]

I'm 5 and 3 respectively on my tap.

Can I just use Salty Shrimp on my tap to increase it very gradually or do I have to invest in RO/RO unit??

If that's 5GH and 3 KH I wouldn't bother TBH. Yes you can use it in your tap water. The reason I use RO is because my tap water contains nitrates at 50ppm, which is totally unsuitable for shrimps (and fish).

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Cherry shrimp are soft water shrimp and are ok in slightly acidic water, which you have.

I thought that red cherry shrimp (neocaridina davidi) were hardwater shrimp (but do well in quite a range of hardness) while caridina shrimp prefer softer?

 

[JPW003]

If that's 5GH and 3 KH I wouldn't bother TBH. Yes you can use it in your tap water. The reason I use RO is because my tap water contains nitrates at 50ppm, which is totally unsuitable for shrimps (and fish).

Thanks again.

Wouldn't bother as in "don't bother adding minerals?". Do you think 90 TDS is okay to keep & breed RCS with all the other coniditions (gH/KH/pH etc)?

Appreciate your help mate,

J

 

[seangee]

Thanks again.

Wouldn't bother as in "don't bother adding minerals?". Do you think 90 TDS is okay to keep & breed RCS with all the other coniditions (gH/KH/pH etc)?

Appreciate your help mate,

J

Yes that's exctly what I meant - no need to add minerals.

 

[seangee]

I thought that red cherry shrimp (neocaridina davidi) were hardwater shrimp (but do well in quite a range of hardness) while caridina shrimp prefer softer?

Caradina are softwater shrimp that require soft water. Neos are also softwater shrimp but will thrive in a far wider range of conditions. That is why caradina are considered more sensitive and (by some) more difficult to keep.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Caradina are softwater shrimp that require soft water. Neos are also softwater shrimp but will thrive in a far wider range of conditions. That is why caradina are considered more sensitive and (by some) more difficult to keep.

Eeekk, I've been misinformed again! I thought the neocaridinas thrived in hard water, and my dH is 15.
I was told the hard water is better for the red cherries 'cos the need the calcium and things to be able to moult properly, but thinking on it after what you've just said, surely that would apply to caridina as well, so it doesn't make sense for me to have believed that...

Urgh. I'm feeling a bit worn down by so much confusing info out there.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

This is one thing I have read so much about but I’ve never followed it tbh. I just make sure my parameters on point and GH is steady on 6-8ppm and that’s it. Seangee is correct, I would be following what is said. I do however have neos and Cadaina in the same tank with no problems at all so I must be doing something right

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Eeekk, I've been misinformed again! I thought the neocaridinas thrived in hard water, and my dH is 15.
I was told the hard water is better for the red cherries 'cos the need the calcium and things to be able to moult properly, but thinking on it after what you've just said, surely that would apply to caridina as well, so it doesn't make sense for me to have believed that...

Urgh. I'm feeling a bit worn down by so much confusing info out there.

Tbh I have found so much misleading information on the internet and other sites hence why I say to this forum for everything. You have a knowledgeable bunch on here and if misleading information is giving someone will chime in and correct it

 

[seangee]

The good news is they are fine in a GH of 15d. My colony actually started its life in my tanks using tap water which is 16dGH and 18dKH. At the time I was using a nitrate filter because my tap water has 50ppm nitrates. It was only later I started mixing RO and gradually reduced the hardness over a period of several months.

Once I got down to pure RO and remineralising I picked 6dGH because that is (apparently) the optimum hardness - but I never actually noticed any difference with the cherries. My primary reason for using RO is the 50ppm nitrates. Since I also happen to prefer soft water fish RO seemed the logical way as I was filtering my tap water multiple times to remove the nitrates and KH. This did work but was costly and time consuming, and as we no there is no other way to lower GH safely without diluting it out.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tbh I have found so much misleading information on the internet and other sites hence why I say to this forum for everything. You have a knowledgeable bunch on here and if misleading information is giving someone will chime in and correct it

There really is so much misleading info out there. I very much trust Seangee, I can tell he's very knowledgeable, and he's been super helpful! I'm setting up a new tank for my otos so they can have softer water because he helped me figure out a way to keep them, rather than just get rid of them like some others told me to, and I'm so grateful for that. That's why I was so surprised to read the soft water thing, and wanted to ask, because I knew what he was saying must be true.

But you'd think you can trust a source like Practical Fishkeeping, wouldn't you? They say "Most species of Neocaridina do best in medium to hard water, with a pH of 6.5-8.0. Where water is soft, however, calcium supplements may be needed to help the shrimp during moulting when calcium is needed to help make new 'skins'. "

Frequently asked questions on Neocaridina shrimps

Freshwater shrimps have never been more popular. Ade Dunn explains how to keep and breed those of the Neocaridina genus.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

And I trusted sources like that. This is why I never beat up a new hobbyist who has made mistakes, or trusted the advice from a fish store, etc. Of course some people do no research at all and just shove a goldfish in a bowl, and deserve to be yelled at - but many times, the same incorrect info is repeated in so many places online, including a major publication like Practical Fishkeeping, can anyone blame someone who believed the wrong info?

If this article simply phrased it differently, like "while technically a soft water shrimp, they thrive in medium- hard water" or something, I wouldn't mind so much. But this makes it sound as though hard water is what they need, and that if your water is soft, you need to do something to make it liveable for them. Hence thinking they were hardwater shrimp.

 

[utahfish]

There really is so much misleading info out there. I very much trust Seangee, I can tell he's very knowledgeable, and he's been super helpful! I'm setting up a new tank for my otos so they can have softer water because he helped me figure out a way to keep them, rather than just get rid of them like some others told me to, and I'm so grateful for that. That's why I was so surprised to read the soft water thing, and wanted to ask, because I knew what he was saying must be true.

But you'd think you can trust a source like Practical Fishkeeping, wouldn't you? They say "Most species of Neocaridina do best in medium to hard water, with a pH of 6.5-8.0. Where water is soft, however, calcium supplements may be needed to help the shrimp during moulting when calcium is needed to help make new 'skins'. "

Frequently asked questions on Neocaridina shrimps

Freshwater shrimps have never been more popular. Ade Dunn explains how to keep and breed those of the Neocaridina genus.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

And I trusted sources like that. This is why I never beat up a new hobbyist who has made mistakes, or trusted the advice from a fish store, etc. Of course some people do no research at all and just shove a goldfish in a bowl, and deserve to be yelled at - but many times, the same incorrect info is repeated in so many places online, including a major publication like Practical Fishkeeping, can anyone blame someone who believed the wrong info?

If this article simply phrased it differently, like "while technically a soft water shrimp, they thrive in medium- hard water" or something, I wouldn't mind so much. But this makes it sound as though hard water is what they need, and that if your water is soft, you need to do something to make it liveable for them. Hence thinking they were hardwater shrimp.

I dont think its just misinformation but that there are constant new discoveries every day and fish keeping equipment and technology is also increasing that things i thought i knew have changed in the last 6 months. Not to mention different people experience different things in their tanks with so many different variables that its difficult to come to a consensus let alone have that consensus accepted and spread by the masses.
I appreciate the people on here that try and find the best course of action using the best available information at the time also keeping in mind that information may change tomorrow.