Neocaridina or caridina?

[zFlix]

I am very new to this hobby, but have been enthusiastically researching it, the community around it is amazing .

I currently have a cycled 29gal planted tank that has Glass/Ghost shrimp in it, which I want to change over to either a Neocaridina (Blue Pearl and/or Cherry) or possibly a CRS tank.

I'm rather torn between the thought, because I used Amazonia II as part of the soil based on research into planted tanks un-aware of its effects on pH. This has causing me distress due to the un-expectantly low ph (bottomed out at about 5.8, currently about 6.4).

All of that said to this point I have used predominantly tap/spring water in the tank, and the GH is rather high. The KH is 0.

I do not have a reliable source for RO, and have looked into getting a home RO/DI set-up but am not sure that I want to invest that much money in the hobby just yet. I could get distilled (and plan to start using about 1/4 to 1/2 distilled in my weekly water changes to lower GH as is).

So I guess my question is, with the set-up as described above, and my new to the world of shrimp status, would it be better to try to get the pH to about 6.8 for a Neocaridina, or to try to find more RO, and go right into a Caridina?

Would the experience of 6 months to a year of working with Neocaridina help me significantly when I do make the jump to a CRS tank?

Thanks in advance for all your great advise!

[madness]

If you don't have RO then you should probably make it a neocaridina (Red Cherry Shrimp or blue pearl as you mentioned) tank.

They are definitely a LOT more forgiving.

[blahdeblah]

I wouldn't be scared of keeping cardina. You could be lucky and your tap water might need very little adjusting. Your pH looks about perfect and you mention gh is on the high side, but what exactly is the gh please?

Cheers,

Mike.

[zFlix]

I don't have very accurate test medium for gh at this point, as all my lfs only have gh testing in API 5 in 1 strips :-/.

GH usually reads max on the strip which is 180ppm.

I plan on venturing to a semi-distant lfs this weekend in hopes of getting a better gh test kit.

[Lexinverts]

I am very new to this hobby, but have been enthusiastically researching it, the community around it is amazing .

I currently have a cycled 29gal planted tank that has Glass/Ghost shrimp in it, which I want to change over to either a Neocaridina (Blue Pearl and/or Cherry) or possibly a CRS tank.

I'm rather torn between the thought, because I used Amazonia II as part of the soil based on research into planted tanks un-aware of its effects on pH. This has causing me distress due to the un-expectantly low ph (bottomed out at about 5.8, currently about 6.4).

All of that said to this point I have used predominantly tap/spring water in the tank, and the GH is rather high. The KH is 0.

I do not have a reliable source for RO, and have looked into getting a home RO/DI set-up but am not sure that I want to invest that much money in the hobby just yet. I could get distilled (and plan to start using about 1/4 to 1/2 distilled in my weekly water changes to lower GH as is).

So I guess my question is, with the set-up as described above, and my new to the world of shrimp status, would it be better to try to get the pH to about 6.8 for a Neocaridina, or to try to find more RO, and go right into a Caridina?

Would the experience of 6 months to a year of working with Neocaridina help me significantly when I do make the jump to a CRS tank?

Thanks in advance for all your great advise!

Since you already invested in Aquasoil, I would just go ahead and do a CRS tank.

It isn't really that difficult to do. However, you have to get the API test kits for pH, KH and GH before you do anything else.

Depending on what your tap water parameters are, I would start mixing in distilled (steam) water with your tapwater for water changes. Distilled water is relatively cheap. I can get it for 87 cents per gallon at the grocery store here in KY. Experiment with different ratios with tapwater until you get a mix that gives you a GH of 4/5 and a KH of 0/1.

Give it a shot. Crystal Red Shrimp are not really that difficult if you know how to get your water right.

[zFlix]

Thanks!

Distilled water is usually 99 cents around here (not much different). I wish I had a better reading of my GH, and a also a better LFS >.<.

Is there a specific PH test kit that allows for good low end readings? Most of the ones i've seen (and the one I have) min out at 6.0 (which isn't horrible for this application, but could be better).

In any case, if I am trying to start a CRS colony, what is the minimum number of shrimp suggested?

I have seen that there is a lot about ideal water conditions for CRS on the forums, so I'll have to dig into that some more.

[RiverAquatics]

Welcome…
RO can make things much easier but it is not necessary. If you are good with water you can overcome any water issue and if you have a good source may have no need for RO/DI.

I like it because I’m lazy, scared and busy. Also as a control freak I know how to measure and take the water where it needs to go with say, M. Mineral Plus.

Since you’re being slowly persuaded to go CRS I thought I might mention that a cheap 100gpd RO/DI is about $65 ($82 with an upgrade that includes a back-flush valve and from a company at eBay). I did not buy through eBay but did find the company there; they don’t list all the parts at eBay.

I’m not sure if I can link to them yet or if a direct commercial link is allowed, I need to re-read, so:

1. go to eBay and search without quotes, “portable ro”
2. sort showing lowest first
3. scroll until you see prices are $65
4. find the one with a fish bowl and 100gpd, click
5. you should see orange smiley faces
6. scroll and find the world STORE, underlined under Specifications, click
7. Locate same model at their store, read because you have to pick your adapter
8. I added from the Upgrades, 1 Flush Kit
9. I added from Parts & Tools>Other, 1 Pressure regulator (just in case)

Less than 10 steps.

It’s cheap and they assume I’ll order the filters from them to make a little money, they’re probably right.

Honestly they’re pretty generic and you can’t easily make one cheaper yourself because it’s already kind of an at home business taking commodity parts and snapping them together.

That would save you about 82 trips if you carry one at a time or cost less than 3 tank fills.

Cheap but it is a crappy build so I’ll at least pull out the Teflon tape and fiddle with it, even upgrade a few fittings if need be.

RO/DI is just like the Internet, just "a series of tubes".

PS- I buy all my stuff online, I have no LFS, 0 – find the deals – Free shipping on all orders over $49 @ Foster Smith right now. I just went test kit wild. I got my RO order last night, decided to commit and tired of buying water and carrying it.

[zFlix]

So over the weekend, I went to a couple LFS, and was able to get a API GH & KH kit, which is at least something. Also got a DI filter, and one of the LFS had RO water for sale! (55 cents/gal). So I got 10gal of RO water as well. I did a 20% water change with the RO, and as of last night my GH was still over 200ppm (16) :-/. I have some of the water softening pillows in the tank as well to try and get the gh down. Thanks for the encouragement about going for CRS, I am about 80% sure I am going to go for the CRS, as along as I can get my GH down by mid-end of the week. Now all I have to do is figure out where to get them from >.<. But i don't think it appropriate to talk about that so i'll leave it at that >.<.

[zFlix]

RiverAquatics, that RO/DI unit looks like it would be perfect for my application. Thanks! I know I have to get to just on-line purchases, I'm just used to instant gratification >.<. Its a curse.

I have made some purchases on-line for supplies I just know I can't get at an LFS, so its moving in that direction. Once I find more places on-line I'm comfortable getting the supplies I need at, I'm sure I'll move over to that more often XD.

[madness]

Aquatic hardware (especially things like filters and lights) is so much less expensive online (even from big reliable vendors) that you will find it hard to go back to buying from a LFS once you start purchasing stuff online.

If I recall correctly I got an Elos pH test kit that does real low pH (I think it was called the low-end version or something similar). I haven't used it because I happened to buy a pH meter around the same time but it was definitely rated for low-end pH.