New shrimp tank - need advice

[Austex]

Hello,

I have decided to start a shrimp tank after 30 years of fish/plant only set ups. I have a Fluval 7.9 gallon shrimp habitat that has been cycled for 3 months using ghost shrimp. The set up currently includes:

6 lbs of Fluval Stratum substrate
2 medium pieces of drift wood.
2 small of pieces of limestone
7 different low light pants that are spreading nicely
4 Espei Tetras (.5 inch max size)
3 adult Endlers and 4 babies
1 snail
1 dwarf algae eater

I am using an Ebi Internal Filter with spray bar and I am dosing CO2 generated by a yeast solution in a bottle. Not using the charcoal packs yet.

My water parameters are:
Nitrate 0
Nitrate 0
GH about 40
Total Chlorine 0
KH 30
Ph 6.8
Temp 79

I know that I have to raise my GH, KH and PH but I am not sure the best way to do this. I have 8 days to get this done before I pick up my Cardinal (5) and Yellow stripe shrimp (5) juvies.

The aquarium water is a 50/50 mixture of tap and RO water. I should probably use less RO in the mixture.

I have read some posts about using Almond leaves to better condition the water. The only source I can find is on Ebay.

Any help you can give me would be appreciate. By the way, I have a 14 gallon planted Oceanic Biocube, that has been established for a couple of years. This will be where I transfer the excess shrimp if they start to breed. It is heavily planted and I would probably not see the shrimp very well.

Thanks for the help.

Austex
Sean
Austin, TX

[TexSun]

I have the same tank! its been up since mid Feb. I have mine setup for CRS. I have some lower grade and some of a higher grade in there. Everyone's doing great. In my opinion Fluval did a great job, with this "kit". Almost everything's provided.

The Fluval Ebi comes with solution to raise the GH ( its labeled as mineral supplement). I'm unsure of how it affects the KH if at all. I do a base line test of the water, and then add the supplied solution until it has reached my desired GH. ( following the direction on the bottle).

Do those particular types of shrimp require a high pH & GH?

The stratum included in the kit will lower pH to about 6.

I do 30% water once a week on this tank with 70% tap & 30% RO.

Hope this helped.

[Austex]

Thanks TexSun. I just found my bottle of shrimp mineral supplement. Once I find my pipetter, I will make some adjustments.

I forgot this question on the original posting. What is the recommended shrimp per gallon ratio?

[armthehomeless]

Honestly it doesn't sound like your tank is the best solution for these types of shrimps. Shrimp like stability . . . and the more additives you have to add . . . the less stable your tanks becomes.

As TexSun mentioned, you may want to think about changing your substrate. Something that lowers the pH to 6 isn't good for a shrimp that likes a pH of 8. If you are buying the shrimp locally, ask the person/store that you are buying them from what they are doing to the water.

[TexSun]

+1

[Austex]

Well since I have settled on keeping Cardinal Shrimp. I will change the substrate this week. What would you recommend?

I have read several internet postings and this is what I have found so far.

- An inert sand mixture with some crushed coral /aragonite/ quartz in it.

[armthehomeless]

I have pool filter sand or agaronite sand in my sulawesi tanks. Any inert substrate will work. Choose something you like.