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From my years of playing around with tap water, and from what I have read, and thats a lot, the only assumption I can come too is that you don't know what is in tapwater (TDS) and it can be changed by the water company/source without you knowing. I assume you read my tapwater thread where the TDS/parameterts were perfect with our tap water for Taiwan bees but they never survived, but by using the zerowater filter jug producing RO alternative water and remineralised water it has been plain sailing all the way since. I do use tapwater for the cherry shrimp and they are more adaptable (although I believe they would probably do better with remineralised RO water all the same, I posted a video on here that suggests that from a Pro) and survive without any problems. To summarise, your blues should be ok in tapwater, but as you don't know what is in the water then it is a risk from the start. If you use RO water and remineralise using a shrimp specific product then you KNOW that everything the shrimps need is in the water and will always be the same! Simon

Here, by the way, is my solution to the problem of shrimp getting into the filter chamber. It is knitting mesh. I cut coarse foam to put behind it just where the intakes are - putting it the entire length seemed to slow down the flow too much. Hopefully, it will keep most shrimp out of there.

That's the big problem with it. Because it doesn't dissolve properly, the parameters are never what you think it is. The undissolved parts, fall into the tank and continue to dissolve slowly, changing TDS, GH, KH and pH over time. If you have no other choice, you can go with Equilibrium. If price is an issue, you can DIY it. I have a post in the Water Parameters forum on the recipe and how to DIY. For the price of one bottle of Salty shrimp, you can make a kilo worth of remineraliser.

OK, so I wimped out on the Zero Water filter for now. I ordered a 7 gallon jug and am just going to get RO water from my LFS for the short term. I am also planning to raise Kh and Gh separately instead of going with an all in one product. We'll see if it works out.

That part's on me for being naive and thinking "tank-bred" meant they were breeding them while I was making that decision. Having ordered, though, I feel committed. We'll see. If the experience is poor, I will have learned my lesson and actively seek out an American breeder.