Ever wonder what is the best water parameters for your shrimps?

There have been too many debates online regarding different shrimp water parameters, however there is no right answer to the question of “What is the best water parameters for your shrimp?”.

Shrimps are able to live in a range of water parameters as long as you condition them correctly.

For example, the most basic Crystal Red Shrimps can live in these parameters.
pH: 5.8-6.5
gH: 2-5
TDS: 70-250ppm

This is just a rough range of parameters that I have seen these shrimps live in. As long as you condition the shrimp well enough, they should survive in your tanks unless in extreme range of parameters like a pH of 4.

A very good example of how shrimps can adapt to different parameters would be the fancy tigers that we have now. It started with crossing Crystal Red Shrimps(CRS) with Orange Eye Blue Tiger(OEBT) that live in harder water. However after conditioning the OEBT to live in CRS conditions, they are able to mate in the same tank and that’s how different variations of Caridina species come about.

Eventually with different species of shrimps that originally lives in different water parameters, they are able to now live in the same tank together and breed together which leads to many different beautiful shrimps. However, we can’t defy the laws of natures that Caridina species can’t interbreed with the Neocaridina species.

So how do you condition your shrimps to live in different parameters? One way is to acclimatise the shrimp by dripping water of the tank that you want into the current shrimp tank. Do this for a long period of time and eventually both tanks are of the same parameters. This way, your shrimps won’t get shock by the change of parameters as it changes gradually.

How fast to drip would depend on the volume of water in your current tank that you want to change. With a larger volume of water, you can drip at a slightly faster rate. With a smaller tank, it would be advisable to drip slower so that it won’t change the parameters too fast.

I have to warn that conditioning your shrimps to different parameters might be a slow and painful process. There is no guaranteed that your shrimp will survive. However if they do, and manage to breed in the tank, give yourself a pat on your back as you have successfully conditioned your shrimps to the parameters that you want. The offsprings would usually be able to survive in the tanks.

I once tried to condition some 100 Neocaridina that was initially bred in ponds with higher pH and gH into Caridina tanks, only ten survived and they manage to breed eventually.

Shrimps appearance might change at different parameters. Some breeders would adjust the parameters to improve the colour of the shrimp before they invite their customers over to purchase shrimps. Once again, it is always better to view the shrimp before purchase.

So back to the question of “What is the best parameters for my shrimps?”. I would say as long as you acclimatise them properly, your shrimps would survive well enough in a stable and well cycled tank.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email at demin@madshrimp.com.

Thank you for your time and happy shrimping!