What kind of shrimp should I get?

The world of freshwater shrimp can be intimidating with the number of choices there are! When we include the most common kinds of shrimp available to freshwater hobbyists, we can literally find all of the colors of the rainbow (ROY G BIV)! An important thing to consider is the environment of your home aquarium. Some shrimp (neocaridina) will be right at home at most community tank parameters on a sand or gravel bottom. They aren't too fussy when it comes to water hardness or ph. Caridina cantonensis (crystal and taiwan bee), mariae and serrata tigers on the other hand come from softer water environments with a slightly acidic PH.

Neocaridina require the least amount of shrimp friendly equipment. An aquarium, substrate of sand or gravel, a shrimp friendly filter and few weeks to cycle and you're ready to go. The nitrogen converting bacteria occur naturally in the environment will help you cycle your aquarium or there are numerous beneficial bacteria products to get you started more quickly. You'll need an ammonia source such as fish food or ammonium chloride solution.

Caridina varieties such as crystal shrimp and taiwan bees need a slightly acidic and low carbonate (KH) environment. This is usually achieved with an active substrate which will strip any KH out of the water. It is importand to start with water that has no carbonate hardness and low general hardness. Many hobbyists achieve this using a reverse osmosis or reverse osmosis unit. They are usually required equipment for the hobbyist that wants to keep multiple caridina tanks. Distill water will also work. Take care to note that remineralizer salt will be necessary to bring the water up to the required 3-5 degrees of general hardness. Please be aware that certain rocks are partially composed of carbonate rock which will exhaust your substrate's buffering ability and cause your PH to rise to levels that are incompatible with caridina shrimp.

I will go into more details in the upcoming posts so please stay tuned!