# Setting up for Crystal Red



## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

I think I have hit the quota of tanks that is safe for my marriage but I really want to try my hand at crystal reds (and possibly mischlings) now after keeping Neocaridina in 3 tanks that I have 46, 40 and 10 gal.`

From what I red around a lot say to go with 15g-20g tank as minimum which would mean I'd have to shut down one of the tanks I have 10gal and find new one buy it set it up etc.

I'm wondering if 10gal is too much headache to keep stable ? as that's the tank that would be easiest for me to redo plust it's a half moon tank with my finex leds so it looks really good.

Another option is my 40gal that has painted/fire red cherry in it and already over 8kg of Fluval stratum substrate (although it doesn't seem to buffer ph much as I'm still getting 7.6 on the tester) I would just need to add aqua new amazonia. I wouldn't want to loose the high quality red shrimp I have and lot of shrimplets when I would be adding the amazonia and getting the Amonia spike plus different water requirements to keep them together.

46gal not really an option as i have over 200 yellow neos there and everything is doing good.

So which would be best option ? would red neocaridina still be able to breed in the water parameters for crystal red if somehow I remove them from this tank when I add new substrate so they don't die with Amonia spike; or the 10g would be an ok option and is not that hard to run as some make it to be.
I have RO in my kitchen so that's not an issue.

Thank you for input


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## qualityshrimpz (Dec 15, 2009)

i have some rcs in that netlea soil that i use for my mischling colony, they are berried and seem to be having babies so it should be alright but not optimal conditions


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

alstare2000 said:


> Another option is my 40gal that has painted/fire red cherry in it and already over 8kg of Fluval stratum substrate (although it doesn't seem to buffer ph much as I'm still getting 7.6 on the tester) I would just need to add aqua new amazonia. I wouldn't want to loose the high quality red shrimp I have and lot of shrimplets when I would be adding the amazonia and getting the Amonia spike plus different water requirements to keep them together.


Yeah, don't do that. New Amazonia releases a ton of ammonia. Plus, cherries don't do well in crystal shrimp conditions.

10 gallons should be fine. You could also try a leaf litter instead of using amazonia:

http://www.discobee.com/blogs/news/15655129-benefits-of-leaf-litter-in-dwarf-shrimp-tanks

There's plenty of oak leaves you can use at this time of the year.


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## hoody123 (Oct 24, 2012)

I'm extremely far from being any kind of authority on crystal reds, but I've got a Fluval Spec V (5 gallon) that is extremely successful with my reds. They breed incredibly prolifically in that tank so much so that I have to move them from that tank to a couple of others (where, for whatever reason, they're no where near as successful).


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## supershrimp (Dec 29, 2011)

hoody123 said:


> I'm extremely far from being any kind of authority on crystal reds, but I've got a Fluval Spec V (5 gallon) that is extremely successful with my reds. They breed incredibly prolifically in that tank so much so that I have to move them from that tank to a couple of others (where, for whatever reason, they're no where near as successful).


I have also heard from another trusted source that the new fluval is very good, I have not had the pleasure of trying it yet myself.


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## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

Thanks for input guys,

Hoody, on that 5 gal how often do you do water changes is keeping everything steady not a headache on such a small tank, also what substrate did you use for it ?


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## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

One more question so I tested water from my kitchen RO system and it's 
ph 6.6 or 6.8 (can't remember exactly now) with TDS of 8 (I know I have to add minerals to RO water for CRS tank)

Would this be sufficient for tank with inert substrate as the PH is within the range or I still need a buffing substrate just for stability issues ?

Or the Ph in my RO system will fluctuate with filters getting used up ?


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## Tamtep (Jun 20, 2013)

Most of my tanks are 10gal, had been using it for 3 years. I use as selective tank and breeding. Never had any issues in term of water parameters. If you maintain it well.

From beginning until now I never bother to use or switch with other brand such as Fluval stratum which I heard too many people had failed to keep Caridina shrimps after 5 or 6 months, it stopped buffering...

ADA amazonia is only soil I trust but within 3/4weeks cycling, it releases Ammonia during that time you must do some water change to lower it down. But after that it works like a charm, very stable and quality. After those years, it still doing its job right...

Hope it helps and good luck!!



alstare2000 said:


> From what I red around a lot say to go with 15g-20g tank as minimum which would mean I'd have to shut down one of the tanks I have 10gal and find new one buy it set it up etc.
> 
> I'm wondering if 10gal is too much headache to keep stable ? as that's the tank that would be easiest for me to redo plust it's a half moon tank with my finex leds so it looks really good.
> 
> ...


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## Jeff B (Jul 27, 2010)

Tamtep said:


> Most of my tanks are 10gal, had been using it for 3 years. I use as selective tank and breeding. Never had any issues in term of water parameters. If you maintain it well.
> 
> From beginning until now I never bother to use or switch with other brand such as Fluval stratum which I heard too many people had failed to keep Caridina shrimps after 5 or 6 months, it stopped buffering...
> 
> ...


I'm not going to set it up any time soon, but I have a Spec V. If I set it up with ADA Amazonia are you saying that it will buffer down the ph of a tank for years? I don't like the thought of changing substrate once it is "exhausted".


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## Tamtep (Jun 20, 2013)

Yes It will buffer for years, in order to obtain long life. You must use 100% RO water. Some old batch of ADA I have been using 3 years without changing it, yes it won't buffer as hard as its first used. That's pretty normal but my shrimps still breeding, living pretty well. If using the right way though...

Keep in mind if you mix with tap or using 100% tap, obviously soil lifespan will get shorter malbe after 10 months or 1 years. Some had that issue and they didn't know what was wrong...

Hope it helps...



Jeff B said:


> I'm not going to set it up any time soon, but I have a Spec V. If I set it up with ADA Amazonia are you saying that it will buffer down the ph of a tank for years? I don't like the thought of changing substrate once it is "exhausted".


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## Jeff B (Jul 27, 2010)

Tamtep said:


> Yes It will buffer for years, in order to obtain long life. You must use 100% RO water. Some old batch of ADA I have been using 3 years without changing it, yes it won't buffer as hard as its first used. That's pretty normal but my shrimps still breeding, living pretty well. If using the right way though...
> 
> Keep in mind if you mix with tap or using 100% tap, obviously soil lifespan will get shorter malbe after 10 months or 1 years. Some had that issue and they didn't know what was wrong...
> 
> Hope it helps...


That does. So do you put something back into the RO water to remineralize it to your preference?


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## hoody123 (Oct 24, 2012)

alstare2000 said:


> Thanks for input guys,
> 
> Hoody, on that 5 gal how often do you do water changes is keeping everything steady not a headache on such a small tank, also what substrate did you use for it ?


You know what, I actually don't do water changes on the tank! It's got a really substantial amount of Christmas moss in it (at least, I think it's Christmas moss?), regardless, probably half the tank volume is moss.

The substrate is Netlea lambo soil they sell (sold?) at Aquainspirations.

Water top ups are done with distilled water (President's Choice 18L bottles). Not exactly sophisticated I know, but honestly the shrimp breed (and live) like crazy.

I honestly haven't tested that tank in at least 2 years, nor have I done a single water change. The most I do is periodically change out filter floss from the filtration chamber and clean the pump - that's it.

It does have a different light than the stock one, I've got a Finnex Ray2 light on it that is substantially brighter than the stock light.


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## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

There is few products people use to get the GH and KH up to required level:
Ex: Salty shrimp Bee shrimp GH+ or Bio-Culture SMW


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## hoody123 (Oct 24, 2012)

Also figured I'd add that I have to add more water than just what evaporates - for whatever reason, the only place in the house my cat will drink from is that tank. Stupid cat, I've got water dishes in two other places that I keep clean and refreshed but will he drink from them? Nope.


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## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

Probably cleanest water in your house lol.

It's pretty impressive how low maintenance it is and how everything is working.



hoody123 said:


> Also figured I'd add that I have to add more water than just what evaporates - for whatever reason, the only place in the house my cat will drink from is that tank. Stupid cat, I've got water dishes in two other places that I keep clean and refreshed but will he drink from them? Nope.


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## Tamtep (Jun 20, 2013)

I just added a new article in my blog How to setup shrimp tank that I explain and also a video I made in real time setup.

http://redspotaqua.blogspot.ca/2015/11/how-to-setup-shrimp-tank.html

Hope it helps



Jeff B said:


> That does. So do you put something back into the RO water to remineralize it to your preference?


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## alstare2000 (Feb 16, 2013)

So my 10Gal is empty and will be going to my parents place or sell,
and I'll be down to 46 gal and 40gal

I was almost set on redoing 46 gal for caridina shrimps but just noticed that my main floor in my house the water temp during daytime is about 25.5C i think that's bit too much for CRS ? I guess that location would be out of question then as I don't want to go into cooling the tank etc headache.

Tank in the basement 40gal sits at about 24C


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## Jeff B (Jul 27, 2010)

Tamtep said:


> I just added a new article in my blog How to setup shrimp tank that I explain and also a video I made in real time setup.
> 
> http://redspotaqua.blogspot.ca/2015/11/how-to-setup-shrimp-tank.html
> 
> Hope it helps


That's helpful. I like that you don't put 6 different layers of expensive products for substrate.
Thanks


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## John_C (Dec 17, 2007)

*Crystals*

My first time around keeping Crystals I wasn't so successful but now I found out a system that works... Big key which I ignored was the TDS (total dissolved solids), as the population went up I failed to keep up with water changes and suddenly 3/4 of the population crashed when the TDS went over 500, which is even toxic for Neos...

Now I do small 10%-20% water changes on a 3-4 wk basis, or simply just top ups if the TDS count isn't high, now I make sure that the TDS isn't allowed to get above 200. I use use 80% RO water along with 20% remineralized water from a home water filtering system which we use as drinking water. This seems to be working as I haven't lost a shrimp yet. Also it's imperative to keep live plants to help with water quality but not so lushly planted that it create dead pockets.

The aquarium is a 33g long.. So more room for error as opposed to before where I just had them in a 15g... It's a beautiful tank as well and perfect size as it's 48" x 13" x 13" so its great for any bottom dwelling species. (Bottom aquarium)

I did a whole write up on Crystal shrimps on the blog.


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