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Hi folks! I'm a (soon-to-be) brand-new shrimper. After tons of research, I took advantage of Petco's open-top tank sale recently and grabbed a 10gal, a 5 gal, and a 2.5gal, and set up the 10gal (45.6 liter) a few days ago with a bit of help from a local shrimp breeder who owns his own store. I'll be keeping neocaridina for now, with the intent to "graduate" to caridina at some point in the future. I'm unsure yet if I'll be ordering from one of the larger shrimp retailers online (flipaquatics or aquaticarts) or buying from my local breeder, but I'm most interested in blue dream neos. While I'm (impatiently) waiting for my tank to cycle, I thought I'd introduce myself, post a few pics and ask a few questions. I have a proper aquarium light coming, but right now I'm using a spare desk lamp lol. 1. Substrate. I admit, I cut costs and went with Petco-brand gravel here. Was this a bad choice? I've read lots of good things about Fluval Stratum, which my local shrimp store sells, but I also see that it lowers ph, which I read was not good for neos. I've also seen Caribsea's Eco-Complete, which I'd love to replace my gravel with in the future. I read that anything inert (or even nothing at all) was fine for neos, and I thought that if it didn't say it messes with PH it was fine, but perhaps this was a bad conclusion. I also used BacterKit Soil, which I bought from the local shop and is the same BB they use for their tanks. 2. Plants. I should have asked in-person about the plants I picked out, but I was feeling rushed by that point lol. Can anyone identify the plants in my setup? I know the small ones are staurogyne repens; those came as labeled tissue cultures. I'm hoping the plant in the very back of my tank will make it, but it looks like it might not. I'd like to plant this setup much more heavily in the near future. 3. Parameters. I'm using RO water and remineralizing it. The local breeder/store owner sold me BrightWell's NeoTiger GH/KH+, which I used according to the instructions, & I thought I shook the bottle well, but apparently it was still partly solidified and clogged the pump. I used it as best I could, brought the TDS of the first 5 gallons up to ~220, and GH to 8, but KH remained at zero. I brought the bottle back to the store, and the owner says solidification is a known problem with that particular Brightwell product. He gave me a new pump and told me to "shake the crap out of it", which I did for the 2nd 5 gallons, and managed to get the KH up to 2 when I finally set up my tank, which it's remained at since. PH is at 7, so I can't add more without risking the PH going higher than is safe. I'm pretty unsatisfied with Brightwell's NeoTiger though, and ordered some Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ to use for my next water changes instead. The breeder's KH is 4, so ideally (if I go with his shrimp), I'd like to boost it a little bit before I stock the tank. To do this I ordered Continuum's FloraViv KH+. I know I'm not supposed to chase numbers, and instead go for stability, so should I avoid the FloraViv completely and just use the Salty Shrimp? Can I get some advice here? My parameters and notes are here: https://i.imgur.com/qP77F4U.png I'm using pure ammonia to cycle the tank. Thanks for letting pick all your brains! 😉 ~ saturniidae

Those are one of the main Rasbora that I breed. I also breed Phoenix, Kubotai, CPD’s, Dwarf Emerald, and Pygmy Cory’s and Hasbrosus Cory’s. A few others as well. Basically almost all of the Micro Rasbora and CPD’s and Dwarf Emeralds breed the same. The main thing is getting the adults out of the tank in time so they don’t eat the eggs. They will gobble them up really quick if you’re not careful. I’ve had them eat every single egg (40-50ish) in about 4 hours. I’m getting ready to try the Strawberry Rasbora and Least Rasbora as soon as I make some room for another “grow out“ tank.

Correct, don't chase the numbers but instead keep them consistent. However, getting the numbers right before any shrimp are added is fine and encouraged. Numbers can, and will change if a tank is not fully cycled. So test for GH, KH, TDS and pH only after you are 100% sure the tank is cycled. This is the time to alter water parameters, before adding any shrimp. Once the shrimp are in the tank, then small changes to the parameters are fine for the shrimp (as long as it doesn't go wildly outside of the ideal parameters).

Always buy a bit from different sources to keep genetic variation. This helps keep genetic inbred issues to a minimum.