Soft Water Shrimp Care: substrates, water and remineralizers

So, you've had success caring for neocaridina shrimp and you feel you're up to a bigger challenge. The next logical step is to try your hand at the beautiful caridina shrimp. So many choices of colors and patterns! And such cost! Neocaridina mistakes, while disappointing, are not as costly as mistakes with caridina shrimp. With specimens costing from $10's to $100's each piece it is best to be prepared for their care.

Bee shrimp are native to soft water streams in Taiwan. Many of the color morphs are derived from this wild type. Taiwan bees are a color morphs that have been derived from these shrimp. There are also the tiger shrimps, such as the tangerine tiger and orange eye tiger varieties. I will discuss their requirements further along in this entry.

Success with keeping soft water shrimp is usually achieved by replicating their natural environment to the best of our ability. That is done with temperature (68-74 Fahrenheit) and water control. Since tap water makeup and parameters (Ph, carbonate hardness (kH), general hardness (gH), total dissolved solids) are different across geographical regions, it is best to start with a blank slate and make up water. This is usually done with reverse osmosis water and a remineralizer salt. Distilled water will work, however this can be expensive or physically demanding due to purchasing water and having to physically move it. I purchased a reverse osmosis unit from RO Buddie. If you catch the shrimp keeping bug and have many tanks it saves a lot of time (making RO water from the convenience of home!) and money. The next step is to remineralize the water with RO salt according to the directions on the container. I use Salty Shrimp gH+ but there are many products that you can use. I would find one and stick to it. In my experience shrimp do best with consistency above all.

Now that we have our soft water how do we keep it that way? We use an active substrate that will strip out any carbonate hardness from the water and keep the water acidic enough for our shrimp to thrive. There are many choices of active substrate that you can purchase for use. I have used many brands and I still try different ones to test them out. Right now I mostly use akadama bonsai soil and Brightwell Rio Escuro. I have used ADA Amazonia and Fluval stratum as well as Shrimp King to name a few and have evaluated others as well. Find one that works and is within your budget. This is one area where you cannot cut corners. The low Ph and kH stripping ability will be necessary for your colonies to thrive.

Addendum for Tiger Shrimp varieties

Tiger shrimp are one of the varieties that are exceptions to the requirements for caridina shrimp keeping. They can tolerate and thrive in a variety of environments. I keep breeding colonies in both caridina and neocaridina parameters.