# Need Caridina and Fish advice



## MaxGen (Jan 30, 2007)

I have a new tank setup that has just finished cycling. It's been setup for Caridina shrimp, ie: RO water, remineralized to 5 GH and 100 TDS.

My plan was always to have a school of Chili Rasboras, and an Otocinclus cat, plus a couple of snails along with the Caridina shrimp.

Will the fish and snails be ok in a tank with only 100 TDS? Should I be using some TDS UP to get the TDS closer to 150? From what I read at Shrimpfever, the fish and snails need TDS of 150 - 500, but Caridina are recommended between 100 and 150.


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## Fisheye (Jan 13, 2015)

Hey MaxGen,

Which species of caridina are you considering-hopefully someone will come along with specific info.

What kind of substrate are you using (sorry, I`ve lost my questino mark...)

For sure stable parameters across the board with compatible PH and GH for all inhabitants.

I`ve never tested TDS (just posted about that recently) and have had CRS (alone), RCS and short nose shrimp breed for me (with Chili`s, nerites and others). 

Look forward to reading better advice.

Jackie


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## MaxGen (Jan 30, 2007)

Thanks Jackie,

I checked out the recommended parameters for Chili Rasbora's again, and they will tolerate a TDS of 50 - 200, which is perfect for a Caridina tank. GH and PH are spot on too.

I have the ADA Amazonia Normal (dark brown). My tank has been cycling for 9 weeks now. Parameters are perfect for Caridina.

Picked up some Nerite snails at BigAls Scarborough last night. They are doing great in the tank so far. Going to get some CRS from Kijiji on Friday. Just need the Chili Rasboras now, which should be in in just over a week.

How high can I let the Nitrate get before doing a water change? Rather not do it weekly if possible, but I guess that will depend on the bio-load I place on the tank.

Scot...


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## Fisheye (Jan 13, 2015)

Hey Scot,

I really hope a forum member with more experience comes along with better info.

Before I knew anything more than just what I wanted, I kept CRS (a's or s's...can't remember) in tap water in a fluval edge (6.6 gal), with fluval stratum, random plants and CPD's. They bred like crazy and the babies survived. I was just testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

The CRS colony eventually failed when the substrate stopped buffering (best guess but I also wasn't testing TDS,GH, KH at all.)

If you don't mind reading (and haven't seen this), here is a great blog/article/whatever.

http://www.fahadismy.name/things-ive-learnt-killing-crs/

His take on nitrate is 0-5.

As for water changes...what size is your tank? I guess you'll just have to do weekly tests once all your livestock is in (including plants and hardscape) and see how your parameters sit over time. I don't think anyone would argue against long term stability across the board.

I do wonder about the nerites long term with low ph and GH. How many did you get?

I've tried to research nerite bioload (for myself out of curiosity)but keep coming up on people fighting about it with no definitive answers. Anyway, they really drop bombs.

Hope someone else has something to say!!!

J


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

You don't want your Nitrates to go above 40ppm. But if you are adding any type of fertilizer to your water for your plants, you will need to do a water change every week no matter what to set things back to statis before adding more. 

You would probably miss a couple days here or there, but it is best to always do at least a 10% water change every week to ensure there are proper nutrients for plants and to keep an eye on algae and other things. 

Whatever you do, avoid doing huge water changes as that could have an adverse affect on your tank. When you are dealing with shrimp and fish that like warmer temps and highly stable conditions, the smaller more frequent water changes is the way to go.


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## MaxGen (Jan 30, 2007)

Just a quick update.

I believe I have finished populating my tank and am doing 10% water changes every Thursday night. I may try to push that later

So far I have:

1 Otto Cat
1 Vampire Shrimp
2 Nerite snails
6 Clown Killifish
10 CRS
12 Golden Bee shrimp
25 Chili Rasboras

No Ferts or CO2

Picked up the GBS and Killifish last night at Shrimpfever. Great sale on. The GBS were more than 50% off.


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## infolific (Apr 10, 2016)

MaxGen said:


> So far I have: 1 Vampire Shrimp


What are you planning to feed the vampire shrimp?


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## MaxGen (Jan 30, 2007)

Genchem Polytase 2 - 3 times a week. 

Plus there are live plants in the tank, and the Chili Rasboras are so small, I have to crush the micro pellets for them.


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