# CRS shrimp requirements



## mantis147 (28 Jan 2015)

Hello all,

I have 5 cherry shrimp in my 90ltr tank at the min and the are doing fine but im interested in getting crystal reds. I just want to confirm if these water conditions are ok:-
Ph 7 (liquid test)
Gh 8
Kh 3
Temp 22-23c
(Awaiting a tds meter which i ordered)
Also pretty sure my ph is actually 6.8 as this is what my pond water used to get through seneye. 
I do use co2 and ferts also. 

Cheers

Anyone selling any in the wirral/cheshire/liverpool area too?


----------



## Jose (28 Jan 2015)

Sounds perfect to me. Just be careful with the CO2. Maybe the mist method suits CRS best since not much CO2 gets dissolved  into the water.


----------



## Lindy (28 Jan 2015)

crs ideal conditions ph below 7 (5.5 to 6.8) Gh 4-6, kh 0-1, tds 130-180. These are a guide, you then have to find your own sweet spot. Your stats are better suited to cherries which is why they are doing well.


----------



## bogwood (28 Jan 2015)

hi.
I have CRS for sale. Im  by Knowsley Safari park.
Send me a private message if your interested.

cheers


----------



## mantis147 (28 Jan 2015)

Not heard of the co2 misting but i may have saw it in the green machine wrexham. So if i reduce Gh slightly will this also bring kh down or the otherway round?


----------



## mantis147 (28 Jan 2015)

bogwood said:


> hi.
> I have CRS for sale. Im  by Knowsley Safari park.
> Send me a private message if your interested.
> 
> cheers


Pm sent


----------



## kirk (28 Jan 2015)

From my personal experience, forget co2 also be very careful with ferts mine hate ferts, is was almost a form of torture using co2, they are now in a lowtech tank. Carefull with water changes, you may need ro set up and salty shrimp or equivalent.  I'm not saying you cannot use co2,  if your tanks high light forget it you will melt your plants.   I would say if you realy want a high energy tank full of plants stick with cherry or rili they tolerate alot more.  Also if you are currently using ferts I think your tds will be at least double what it should be, what substrate do you have? (buffer) .  Good advice would be get everything you need and set a tank up purely for cbs crs keep it low tech then when everything is ideal then get some of the little beauties.


----------



## Jose (28 Jan 2015)

kirk said:


> From my personal experience, forget co2 also be very careful with ferts mine hate ferts, is was almost a form of torture using co2, they are now in a lowtech tank. Carefull with water changes, you may need ro set up and salty shrimp or equivalent. I'm not saying you cannot use co2, if your tanks high light forget it you will melt your plants. I would say if you realy want a high energy tank full of plants stick with cherry or rili they tolerate alot more. Also if you are currently using ferts I think your tds will be at least double what it should be, what substrate do you have? (buffer) . Good advice would be get everything you need and set a tank up purely for cbs crs keep it low tech then when everything is ideal then get some of the little beauties.


I agree totally.


----------



## Thrills24 (28 Jan 2015)

kirk said:


> From my personal experience, forget co2 also be very careful with ferts mine hate ferts, is was almost a form of torture using co2, they are now in a lowtech tank. Carefull with water changes, you may need ro set up and salty shrimp or equivalent.  I'm not saying you cannot use co2,  if your tanks high light forget it you will melt your plants.   I would say if you realy want a high energy tank full of plants stick with cherry or rili they tolerate alot more.  Also if you are currently using ferts I think your tds will be at least double what it should be, what substrate do you have? (buffer) .  Good advice would be get everything you need and set a tank up purely for cbs crs keep it low tech then when everything is ideal then get some of the little beauties.



Interesting!

And please excuse my ignorance here but are you advising against CO2 due to the reduced levels of oxygen or is there another factor which CO2 introduces which I am (highly likely) unaware of. Also, when it comes to ferts is there a specific ingredient in EI we should try to minimize or is it just the dosing regime as a whole?


----------



## kirk (28 Jan 2015)

Good question. First let me say I am in no way an expert shrimp keeper. Nor am I anywhere near  mastering co2.                         long story as short as poss. I began patient using an air stone got everything as I said. Slowly and mean slowly introduced the shrimp. Things were great I ran an air stone as recommended fed them quality food, stopped ferts.  Started loosing plants fast. Soooooo started running co2 gradualally increasing over mths using a hydor to turn surface abit. Got the balance shrimp were good plants slow but alive.                             started a bit of ei dosing a little this altered tds.                        I noticed they behaved differently as in not picking around eating they were just sat doing nothing. So water change.  This is becoming a long story.   basically me trying to save my plants in the end made me realise I realy wanted a planted tank and to allow this                 ... I was being stupid stressing some very attractive shrimp, sorry lindy and Nathaniel.                         So my findings lesson learnt is there's too much tinkering / error with co2 alone without the addition of crs.Ours are now happy in my sons lowtech hassle free in comparison. I can relax go out not thinking is the co2 going to stay on has the solenoid stuck on, timers fail etc mine did.  sometimes I wish when i joined ukaps hungry to gas my tank, cook my plants and create an algae farm., I should of not underestimated the lowtech approach and I'd have a lush tank by now just like my 9 year olds is a he's got shrimp too my tank has nothing alive right now.  Opologies that's almost a sentence. If you read it all good night


----------



## Thrills24 (28 Jan 2015)

kirk said:


> Good question. First let me say I am in no way an expert shrimp keeper. Nor am I anywhere near  mastering co2.                         long story as short as poss. I began patient using an air stone got everything as I said. Slowly and mean slowly introduced the shrimp. Things were great I ran an air stone as recommended fed them quality food, stopped ferts.  Started loosing plants fast. Soooooo started running co2 gradualally increasing over mths using a hydor to turn surface abit. Got the balance shrimp were good plants slow but alive.                             started a bit of ei dosing a little this altered tds.                        I noticed they behaved differently as in not picking around eating they were just sat doing nothing. So water change.  This is becoming a long story.   basically me trying to save my plants in the end made me realise I realy wanted a planted tank and to allow this                 ... I was being stupid stressing some very attractive shrimp, sorry lindy and Nathaniel.                         So my findings lesson learnt is there's too much tinkering / error with co2 alone without the addition of crs.Ours are now happy in my sons lowtech hassle free in comparison. I can relax go out not thinking is the co2 going to stay on has the solenoid stuck on, timers fail etc mine did.  sometimes I wish when i joined ukaps hungry to gas my tank, cook my plants and create an algae farm., I should of not underestimated the lowtech approach and I'd have a lush tank by now just like my 9 year olds is a he's got shrimp too my tank has nothing alive right now.  Opologies that's almost a sentence. If you read it all good night




Really appreciate the post and response here. I think it's more about creating the "best" water conditions. However we get to that point, low or high tech, we should probably get to that point before we get add shrimp. I think that's the problem I've had which is why the shrimp never last. Buy on impulse according to what looks best to me at that point, and then, failure.


----------



## Jose (29 Jan 2015)

Thrills24 said:


> Interesting!
> And please excuse my ignorance here but are you advising against CO2 due to the reduced levels of oxygen or is there another factor which CO2 introduces which I am (highly likely) unaware of. Also, when it comes to ferts is there a specific ingredient in EI we should try to minimize or is it just the dosing regime as a whole?



CO2 reduces brood size possibly even in high o2 levels.

This has not been proven but look at the way most people are breeding CRS. Its the low tech aproach with very easy plants. It can be done in a high tech. Tom Barr says hes done it a lot. But its more difficult with CO2 and ferts. So in the end its all about your goals. If you are in for a challenge then you know what you gotta do.


----------



## bogwood (29 Jan 2015)

I have had CRS in my high and low tech tanks.

There is no doubt in my mind were the shrimps flourish best. Breed well, and produce high numbers of shrimplets.
My aim has always been to create the best possible conditions for these amazing little creatures. There needs always come first.


----------



## Jose (29 Jan 2015)

bogwood said:


> I have had CRS in my high and low tech tanks.
> There is no doubt in my mind were the shrimps flourish best. Breed well, and produce high numbers of shrimplets.
> My aim has always been to create the best possible conditions for these amazing little creatures. There needs always come first.



The are always going to  be nice exceptions.


----------



## Thrills24 (29 Jan 2015)

bogwood said:


> I have had CRS in my high and low tech tanks.
> 
> There is no doubt in my mind were the shrimps flourish best. Breed well, and produce high numbers of shrimplets.
> My aim has always been to create the best possible conditions for these amazing little creatures. There needs always come first.



You didn't actually state where...




Jose said:


> CO2 reduces brood size possibly even in high o2 levels.
> 
> This has not been proven but look at the way most people are breeding CRS. Its the low tech aproach with very easy plants. It can be done in a high tech. Tom Barr says hes done it a lot. But its more difficult with CO2 and ferts. So in the end its all about your goals. If you are in for a challenge then you know what you gotta do.



From my limited experience I don't think all shrimp species will fair the same. I've come across this a lot on TPT so I don't doubt that there must be some truth to it, proven or unproven. For me personally, if the goal was to breed them I'd definitely approach shrimp keeping differently.


----------

