Ghost Shrimp

[coffeemommy]

I am curently in the process of attempting to set up a 5.5 gallon tank for my son. For his birthday he decided that he wanted ghost shrimp. I have researched them fairly well but one question seems to always have multiple answers, so I'm trying here. We already have an established gold fish tank and are used to bettas. I usually use distilled water in our tanks with no treatments and our fish are fine. I'm trying to use less bottled water and more of a distilled/tap mixture and so far so good. Will this method be OK for the shrimp as well? I would like to not have to treat the water every time if possiable because it's my son's tank and he is responsiable for it and I'm affraid he might get the amounts wrong. I'm OK with only distilled water despite the cost if that's what needs to be done to prevent adding treaments. I have read conflicting reports that distilled water is bad for the shrimp, that untreated tap water is fine, and that spring water is better. I also get into forums that go on and on about other shrimp and that's not what I'm looking for. Simply a 5.5 heated tank with a few ghost shrimp and maybe a female betta or two. Treatments and testing kits are expensive so I don't want to mess with it at all if I don't really need to. If anyone can help me straighten this water issue out I'd be very happy! TIA!

 

[Coursair]

I use Prime for my tap water. It's cheap. It's 2 drops per gallon. You cant overdo it. afaik It's very safe.

 

[adeebm]

You don't need any fancy treatments, just dechlorinator at the most. Prime is a good option, very easy to dose. You can also leave most tap water in a bucket for 24-48hrs and the chlorine will gas off. Tap water is probably better for the shrimp anyway, as distilled water will have lower amounts of calcium and other things shrimp need. Ghost shrimp can live in pretty much anything anyway.

--Adeeb