Shrimp Keeping newbie needs help!

[Derricktxm]

Hello everyone! I am interested in keeping shrimps, have bought some stuff and used it. Let me explain what i've done.

I have a 2ft x 1.5ft tank.
2 days ago i went to CRS haven and got some products.
I intend to keep CRS


1) Went home and scatter their "Mineral Snow" 3 teaspoon.
MINERAL SNOW

2)After that poured in Mr Aqua Aquarium Soil


3) Separate and insert some Japanese hair grass. And also a drift wood.


4) Put Tapwater inside the tank

5) Pressed 3 times of these 2 products



6) Let the water cycle.




So my question here is there anything i need to do?
How do i input CO2?
How to control PH, GH, Ammonia & Nitrite?

Advices please

[FabianLee]

Welcome to shrimp keeping !!

Firstly, i am not a professional, but had reared CRS without much problem so far(S - SS Grade) other than my chocolate gouramis terrorizing them and having a 5 star hotel buffet.

Could answer a few of your questions firstly,

How do i input CO2 - You will have to buy a whole set of CO2 "gears" which could be easily found in discussions like http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...tor-w-solenoid and http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-are-you-using which are all super good threads that i learned so much from, basically if you are lazy like me, get the tank, electrical solenoid with bubble counter, tubing linked to a diffuser of your choice, lots of hobbyist go against CO2 in a CRS tank because it affects PH thus it's usually hardy plants like mosses, it is hard to say some did succeed with co2, some didn't, for me "pH shock" is not as deadly as "osmotic shock"

How to control PH,GH,Ammonia & Nitrite
- Firstly PH, personally i used ADA Amazonia soil which i think many shrimp hobbyist does, other brands such as Benibachi, BorneoWild, RAC are widely used too, http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-do-you-prefer, soil discussion are found here, they have a buffer which pull down your PH to 6.3-6.6(which are recommended CRS PH) depending on what you buy.

-GH wise 4-6 is recommended, need pros to venture more on this point, as i have always gotten between 4 - 6 and was lazy to research more.

-Ammonia & Nitrite are your very best friends when u start up an aquarium which is a process called cycling(there are lots and lots of thread talking about this) which NO hobbyist can avoid. you do not have to worry about ammonia and nitrite if your tank is cycled as it will always be 0, unless you are giving buffet to your fishes/shrimps which is a big NO which will lead to increased ammonia.

2 more important factors in my CRS journey, TDS(I maintain it at 200) and Temperature, big difference/range of TDS is what cause osmotic shock(Taught by uncle ronnie at GC), Temperature should also be kept low, i tried my luck and the highest i went was 28degrees celcius which resulted in their colour dulling like crazy which in most cases could be a mass casualty. If you are in a aircon room it's fine, if not a chiller is recommended.

And to end all the blah blahs, i recommend you to get a test kit to test your parameters before throwing your shrimps in, and different grade tolerance is different, my pocket only allows me to get SS grades, if you are rearing higher end CRS, you have to seek professionals here which are everywhere, there are also lots of products(Mosura, Benibachi, BorneoWild etc.) in the market to adjust pH, GH, some product even claims to remove ammonia(which i think is up to the owner responsibility)

It's best to have a full tank shrimp, rather than itchy backside like me who throws chocolate gourami in cause it's cute.

Sorry if i am bad in explaining, and i hope i didn't left out anything as it is 2.40am, i am learning from people here everyday

[xuan87]

I'll just add in my 2 cents:

Based on your description of what you've added to your tank, you do not need to input CO2. It can cost more harm than good as it will promote algae growth.

The most desirable way to control pH is to use active soils that can buffer your pH. I have not heard of the soil that you're using and do not know if it has this capability. Other ways to do it is to use water conditioners such as Mosura's pH Up and pH Down to control pH. Same for GH, you can look for such water conditioners too.

Some soils contain a small amount of ammonia so that once water is added, the nitrogen cycle will be kickstarted. I'm not sure about your soil so best to call CRS Haven and ask or do your own research. If it doesn't contain ammonia, the best way is to add your own. The easiest way to tell if your cycle is complete is to test for ammonia and nitrate at the start of your cycle, and do it again a few weeks later. When your ammonia reading has dropped to 0, and your nitrate level is high (i got around 70 ppm for mine), it means your cycle is complete.

Temperature is very minimum and as a guide, it should be kept at a maxmium of 26C for CRS. Some chill it with air con, some with cooling fans, but I use chillers cos my room's ambient temperature is too high and I don't use my room's aircon. Plus cooling fans evaporate water quickly and constantly topping up with water will change water parameters, which is bad for your shrimps.

Minimum test kits that you need is a NO3 test kit, pH and GH test kits are good to tell if your tank water and replacement water parameters are good. I typically use them for my tank water before adding them in and after my first few water changes.

[Derricktxm]

Thanks guys! i wish to have my the soil filled with grass "carpet". I only bought 2 "10cm" japanese hairgrass... How long will it for it to spread and cover the whole area?

And can anyone PM me some CRS Breeder, so i can grab them at a cheaper price ahahah!