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No, we use the German system of degrees GH and KH, aka dGH, where one "degree" = 18.x ppm. (often we leave off the "d") U should get a Reverse osmosis system to get consistent and pure water, or do what Simon does and buy a Zerowater filter. Then buy Salty Shrimp GH+ remineralizer and add 400 mg to one gallon of water, which will give you 100 ppm or 5 dGH.

Hey mate, I’m a fellow melbournian. Our tap is defs fine for shrimp. You’re using a test kit that measures in ppm, whereas most people describe GH and KH in degrees of hardness (usually with shrimp it’ll be somewhere between 2-6, depending on variety). I reckon crystals will do fine with your water, if you’re just using dechlorinated melb tap. Also geez, blowing $240 on shrimp substrate, that’s an investment. Hopefully it’ll help a lot with the plants and buffering. Anyways, good luck! -Crabby

Hi, I'm in the process of cycling a new tank and would like to mature it before adding shrimp. So, after it completely cycles, I'd like for the tank to just sit and run for a month or so for it to become established before adding the first shrimp. Do I need to keep adding ammonia during that month after the tank cycles? Thanks......Clippergear

Chlorine and Chloramine in tap water wont kill plants. Disturbing the root system by pulling them out knocks them back a bit however. A quick 1 minute bath in Malachite Green should kill any bugs. You can try that.

I imagine you do need something to keep the good bacteria alive and I believe it is normal practice to add a TINY bit of fish food every few days! I tend to add assassin snails to all my new tanks fairly early on so they will produce some waste and eat any small bits of food I add. Obviously you can use any other type of snail as well, though ones that can breed in the tank may end up being another problem down the line? Simon

I would clean the plants as best you can and then put them in clear (if possible) containers (no substrate or anything) with some of the old water strained through a net. If you can do 1 plant per container that would be best, then leave them somewhere for a few days so you can keep checking on them, then as a last check, add a tiny bit of food to see if that attracts any hiding ones out of hiding! Any really dense plants I would do this for a longer duration (maybe 2 weeks), or dispose of them if your not sure! Simon A question for the wider community? - If the plants were kept in a container with plain tapwater (having chlorine) would that kill the water louse and/or would that harm the plants as well? Dimos - you could catch a few bugs and put them in a cup with tap water and see how long they live?

Melbourne water is fine for shrimp use. Many have used Melbourne's tap water and remineralised it a bit to increase TDS. A low TDS means that GH will be low as well. You have room to increase TDS a bit, but don't use Equilibrium. Use a shrimp specific remineraliser.

Yes, I'm going to change everything! I haven't noticed any eggs, I suddenly see hundreds of them swimming around like crazy! A good way to catch some was to add a big piece of food and they would all stick on it devouring it. Then I would net the piece of food together with them and rinse. I'm a bit worried about the plants as these suckers could simply live in between the plant leaves without me being able to see them. They are about 1mm when they are babies. I also don't want to let the plants dry as they will die.

i just wanna know if my gh is safe for CRS ?IN AUSTRALIA melb VICTORIA, it says its 30-40 out of the tap, but if thats the same measurement as USA,i have no chance they say the gh should be 4-6 ???