I have a 5 gallon cube. NiCrew HOB (really great so far, except i have to remove stuff to get the propellors to move again after I unplug it), and it is unheated. It has been running since November 2024, with different inhabitants at different times. It is now my neocaridina shrimp tank. However, I have not had the greatest luck with keeping them in general. My problem is that I do not have a GH/Kh/TDS testing kits. I think I do not have enough minerals in my water, even with the few water changes I do. I am afraid of Old Tank Syndrome! But I heard shrimp prefer less water changes, to keep parameters stable
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Can someone recommend me some testing kits for this? Is it similar to the API water testing kit (I have this).
Right now, I think it is just three shrimp in this tank: Two juvenile cherry shrimp, and one lone semi-transparent blue guy. Unfortunately I cannot tell if the two younger ones are male or female yet, I believe the blue shrimp is a boy.
I got a small group from PetCo first, since they were close to me and okay price. (5 dollars) that was nice. Had males and females, with one berried. Not all of them survived, but Mama shrimp had babies before she passed (The two shrimplets) I got a skittles group from shrimpybusiness, I ordered online, and they all came alive. Now it is just the three left.
I can totally see this is a ME issue. The regular parameters are fine. I haven't had any ammonia spikes because I try to remove the dead shrimps as quick as possible (and then feed them to my betta. Is this okay? Anyone else do this?) I think it is a chemical/water parameter problem, as I seen a couple of failed molts, and I have noticed my hitchhiker Ramshorns shell is lighter in the new growth, I don't want it to deteriorate. So far, to try to combat this, I have ordered the Easy Shrimp and Snail booster things from Aquarium co-op. They are pretty cheap.
I mentioned before in a previous post, that my tap water ( I am on a well, water is very hard naturally and causes hard water stains in bathtub, like orange and blue) is ran thru a water softener, and I heard that is not good for the inhabitants? Water chemistry is soooo hard, I do not understand
I do not know if I should continue using the softened water, or use bottled water even though there are not many minerals.
If someone has some insight about testing my water, please let me know. I feel like I have lost a lot of money on these shrimps. My local fish stores (Petco and PetSmart sadly) only keep a few types. PetCo has cherry shrimp, PetSmart sells ghost shrimp, not my thing, but at least they are cheap!
I am willing to spend a pretty penny on a test kit if that means I can understand what is happening.
.
Can someone recommend me some testing kits for this? Is it similar to the API water testing kit (I have this).
Right now, I think it is just three shrimp in this tank: Two juvenile cherry shrimp, and one lone semi-transparent blue guy. Unfortunately I cannot tell if the two younger ones are male or female yet, I believe the blue shrimp is a boy.
I got a small group from PetCo first, since they were close to me and okay price. (5 dollars) that was nice. Had males and females, with one berried. Not all of them survived, but Mama shrimp had babies before she passed (The two shrimplets) I got a skittles group from shrimpybusiness, I ordered online, and they all came alive. Now it is just the three left.
I can totally see this is a ME issue. The regular parameters are fine. I haven't had any ammonia spikes because I try to remove the dead shrimps as quick as possible (and then feed them to my betta. Is this okay? Anyone else do this?) I think it is a chemical/water parameter problem, as I seen a couple of failed molts, and I have noticed my hitchhiker Ramshorns shell is lighter in the new growth, I don't want it to deteriorate. So far, to try to combat this, I have ordered the Easy Shrimp and Snail booster things from Aquarium co-op. They are pretty cheap.
I mentioned before in a previous post, that my tap water ( I am on a well, water is very hard naturally and causes hard water stains in bathtub, like orange and blue) is ran thru a water softener, and I heard that is not good for the inhabitants? Water chemistry is soooo hard, I do not understand
I do not know if I should continue using the softened water, or use bottled water even though there are not many minerals. If someone has some insight about testing my water, please let me know. I feel like I have lost a lot of money on these shrimps. My local fish stores (Petco and PetSmart sadly) only keep a few types. PetCo has cherry shrimp, PetSmart sells ghost shrimp, not my thing, but at least they are cheap!
I am willing to spend a pretty penny on a test kit if that means I can understand what is happening.
