Shrimp tank setup?

[Jleeq]

I have a 10 gal tank with good cycle, AquaClear filter, fine gravels and some plants. I had a couple neons and pelco before and the water still running at ph 7. Do I need to replace the entire water and anything I have to do before introducing shrimps. Is CRS ok for beginners? Any suggestions? Thanks everyone in advance.

[theinnkeeper]

Do an 80% water change. If the next day your readings are good, it should be okay. I killed off a lot of crs to start. Cherries are very forgiving as they hardy, maybe start with these. I'd do some research before going with crs.

[Jleeq]

Thanks the innkeeper. I will take your advice and go for cherry. So exciting coz they look so cute

[Tarobot]

er, i dont think you need to do water change at all and on top of that 80% is ridiculous. get something that boosts GH like seachem equilibrium and a gh testkit to make sure it's around 4 gh or so. shrimp bioload is so small theres no reason to change water just for them if anything you will shock the fish and everything will die.

[Morainy]

I think your tank will be fine! Just add some Equilibrium or Fluval shrimp mineral or whatever you're going to use, usually.

I find that red cherries are very hardy, as are blue pearls, amanos, and Sunkist shrimp. But the red cherry shrimp are widely available and a great way to stock your tank. They will look very pale when they're in the bag, but once they're settled in your tank and happy (especially, I find, if there's a bit of mineral content in the water from Equilibrium, etc and the tank is planted) they will colour up and be very red. You can also try painted fire reds, I find they are just as hardy as cherry shrimp but usually more expensive.

You may find that your Aquaclear sucks up the odd shrimp. Just pour the shrimp back into the tank during water changes. Best, though, is to put a piece of foam or a pre-filter (Fluval makes them) over the water intake. The shrimp will love to sit on this, too.

Shrimp love to hang upside down from floating plants like water lettuce.

Have fun! You can also keep a few otos in there, if you'd like.