Coral Banded Shrimp new addition advice please

[scott764]

Hi, I was given a coral banded shrimp but have only had a fish only tank for a while. Do these need anything extra in the water? I read that they dont like copper so will buy a test kit for this tomorrow. Do I need to test for and add calcium for his exoskeleton? Any advice or pointers to online resources for these shrimp would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[indy]

They're pretty simple to keep. No additional food is needed. Copper will kill them like all other inverts. They need iodine for molting, not calcium, and generally the amounts found in your topoff water will be more than adequate.

 

[scott764]

how do I check for copper is there a test kit available? How do I get rid of the copper?
thanks,
Scott

 

[austinsdad]

Did you ever add copper to the tank in the past? If not, don't worry about copper testing. Folks add it to treat sick fish.