My Well Water for Cherry Shrimp

[kjfhg]

I am starting a new shrimp only tank (Cherry Shrimp) and need advice on my water parameters. I have well water and my numbers are:

Ph 7.4; KH 3; GH 11; TDS 154

Can I use my well water or should I use distilled water and remineralize?

Thanks for any and all advice as keeping shrimp will be a new venture for me.

Kelley

[Scapexghost]

Those parameters are probably good. Cherry shrimp are very adaptable and those parameters are pretty close to neutral. Cherry shrimp arent an acidic species like a lot of other shrimp.

[Fish Folk]

On 4/28/2022 at 9:54 PM, kjfhg said:

I am starting a new shrimp only tank (Cherry Shrimp) and need advice on my water parameters. I have well water and my numbers are:

Ph 7.4; KH 3; GH 11; TDS 154

Can I use my well water or should I use distilled water and remineralize?

Thanks for any and all advice as keeping shrimp will be a new venture for me.

Kelley

Our city water is comparable to this. I would definitely go ahead and give it a try. One thing I've learned: Shrimp are filter feeders, and appreciate a very established source for micro-life feeding. An established sponge filter does wonders for them. A bit of crushed coral added to the substrate, or set in the tank somewhere might help with the parameters, but I've been successful without too. But he key is an aged-tank. Shrimp may not do terribly well with brand new tanks. A guy in our fish club describes at great length how to build a fresh setup. I'd go broke if I bought all of this stuff . . . but you can check that out here:

One thing I am learning is that unless you've got parameters that are clearly WAY out of bounds for aquatic life, sometimes the thing to do is just try it out. The two things I think are essential are: (1) Established Sponge Filter (2) Loads of Java Moss

[lefty o]

id try the well water. depending on the exact composition of the water, you may need to supplement some calcium.

[Torrey]

Our tap water is too hard for shrimp to have a healthy molt, so I mix it with ZeroWater until TDS are between 150 - 200, KH is around 80, and GH is ~ the same (I'm doing most of my testing with the ACO test strips, because SO MUCH EASIER). Back when I had my carbon rili colony, I had to buy distilled water to mix with my filtered water (Pur filter works to keep the chloramine out according to the water test) because we hadn't even heard of a ZeroWater filter back then, and RO is environmentally irresponsible when one lives in the desert.

I just started back up with Blue Dream (still a Neocaridina davidi color variant) and did the same. My scape for the tank was started back in February, and I didn't add the shrimp until I had a healthy biofilm growing as well as saw evidence of copepods in the tank. I think your well water will probably be fine, do you get your well water tested annually so you know the full composition of your water? That gives you a solid base, and lets you know if your water has TDS that are in good parameters but might still have a deficiency (like magnesium, for example).

[Tihshho]

I have a well and use straight well for shrimp once I get the 'new-to-me' shrimp established. I generally setup a tank with 70% remineralized RO/DI (because I have it) and 30% well at first only because I don't know much about the tank water from some of the suppliers I get my starter colonies from. If the shrimp are being sold to you by a local, ask about their water. If they are also on a well, you might be more than fine to start them off with well water. 

IME well water is a godsend for aquarists, the water is much better than city and the lack of chlorine and chloromines means dechlor isn't a thing. The only concern is if you live close to agricultural land as run off surface water post their fertilization can get into your well water in time. Where I previously lived was next to a big farm, and in early spring or right before (as long as the ground was soft) they would till and fertilize the land prior to seeding a month or so later. 6 months or so after I would notice that some tanks would get green water like clock work. Per some research, sending off water samples to a local university and talking with other local hobbyists it was found that over fertilization being done by farmers (more so commercial) would tend to end up in our wells around 6 months after post rains pulling those nutrients deeper and deeper into the ground until they hit the water table. It was proposed by the University that the high organics in the fertilizer would saturate the water table in about 6-8 months which in turn propegated into wells overtime. It was though that the previous years fertilizer would hit deep wells a year after, where shallow wells were hit in the 6-8 month period.