Looking to lower GH and KH

[Jeff]

I have a 10g planted tank, with only Chili Rasboras, and I want to add some Neocaridina shrimp; for some more color. Tank has been running for 2.5 years.

Here are my water parameters:

GH: 10

KH: 6

Chlorine: 0

PH: 7.2-7.6

Nitrate: 10

Nitrite: 0

Ammonia: 0

I want to lower my GH & KH, so that I can have shrimp. What would you recommend? 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Jeff

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Have you tried shrimp without altering your water? Maybe I’m just crazy, but I’m  big fan of not altering my water and chasing numbers that the internet says you HAVE to have. 
 

Maybe try a small batch of shrimp and see how it goes? If all goes well either add more, or have just a bit of patience and they’ll reproduce themselves!

 

Obviously if you’re going after specialty shrimp this might be completely irrelevant, but if it’s just neo’s I’d try it as is

[AnimalNerd98]

You might just get locally bred Neocaridinia from your LFS or another hobbyist so you don't have to doctor your water. Neos are pretty hardy and adaptable. But, if I were trying to lower my GH and KH, I would actually cut down on water changes and use mostly plants to take out some of the minerals. 

[Jeff]

On 9/26/2022 at 9:51 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Have you tried shrimp without altering your water? Maybe I’m just crazy, but I’m  big fan of not altering my water and chasing numbers that the internet says you HAVE to have. 
 

Maybe try a small batch of shrimp and see how it goes? If all goes well either add more, or have just a bit of patience and they’ll reproduce themselves!

 

Obviously if you’re going after specialty shrimp this might be completely irrelevant, but if it’s just neo’s I’d try it as is

I have tried Blue Velvet (Neocaridina) quite a while ago. Maybe my tank wasn't mature enough. I also tried Amano Shrimp last summer. Both kinds didn't last more than a month.

I took your advice, and will be getting some more shrimp - Golden Back Yellows (Neocaridina). I'll see how it goes....it is another year later, and my tank has matured even more. Fingers crossed.

When you say specialty shrimp - what are you referring to?

On 9/26/2022 at 9:52 PM, AnimalNerd98 said:

You might just get locally bred Neocaridinia from your LFS or another hobbyist so you don't have to doctor your water. Neos are pretty hardy and adaptable. But, if I were trying to lower my GH and KH, I would actually cut down on water changes and use mostly plants to take out some of the minerals. 

Thanks for the advice about lowering GH / KH. I only do 1x weekly water changes. 

@AllFishNoBrakes @AnimalNerd98 I have also added a good amount more of plants since last summer when I tried shrimp last time (Amano). Fingers crossed, and hopefully this all helps. 

I have always thought that shrimp shouldn't be too difficult, as I see lots of people having them. Is it Caridinas that are more difficult?

Thanks again.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Jeff

[TeeJay]

Yes my water is much harder than that. I did get my neos from someone local. But I have no problem keeping them in my water parameters. It's a shrimp and snail tank only. It was set up for 3 months before I got them. And I have had no losses since I added them about 3 months ago.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 9/27/2022 at 6:32 AM, Jeff said:

When you say specialty shrimp - what are you referring to?

I’d be talking about Cardinal shrimp or Crystal shrimp; species that require certain parameters. 
 

For my shrimp tank, when I set it up, I kept it super simple and just let it grow a bunch of algae. Shrimp did fine for me and I’ve sold hundreds at this point. Now that the tank is a couple years old, has shrimp, snails, and CPO’s (dwarf crayfish) there’s basically 0 algae, but I just feed really well and still have no issues. 

[Cinnebuns]

Those parameters work for neo shrimp. I lower mine but mine comes out of the tap at 20 GH and 16 KH. The major factor when it comes to shrimp is the paramaters they were raised in. I recommend finding someone raising them in similar parameters. You will have more success that way. I raise mine in higher gh than most but I'm pretty sure those parameters are very common for people breeding neos. Most hard-core shrimp people do use RO water and remineralize it but I don't think you need to. 

If you wanted to soften it a little you can do what I do and use aged water. Let the water sit for 24-48 hours. The minerals will sink. You can then take the water from the top part only and it will be softer.