Starting with CRS

[tusk]

I am very new to the forum (My first post here).

I have been in the aquarium hobby for about 15 years, and possibly shrimp for about 3 of those. Now I have kept and bred red cherry shrimp, and want to dabble into the Crystal Red Shrimp.  The water here is about 7.8-8 for pH. I have read that the water in the tanks should be from an RO unit.  

Will these shrimp live in the pH stated above or should I be using RO water in the tanks?  I can buy RO water by the gallon at the aquarium shop, or I may just purchase my own unit.

Also, what foods do you recommend for them?  This is the store i will be buying from: 

http://www.shrimpfever.com

[ineke]

You will find CRS don't do well in high ph. They cope much better in anything from 5.5- 7 and do Best around 6 - 6.5ph. They also do better at a lower TDS anywhere from around 130 - 160 although a bit higher doesn't seem to worry them - stability is the key . RO water is the best way to go but you must use a remineralising product like salty shrimp GH + as RO water in itself is too "pure". Generally a buffering substrate is highly recommended as well. 

Feeding is not hard , firstly they thrive on the biofilm in their tank, blanched leaves such as mulberry leaves , spinach or other blanched vegetables, IAL ( Indian almond leaves) commercial shrimp  pellets , also a bit of protein in the form of either frozen black worms or black worm pellets or similar foods fed weekly.

temperature plays a big part too as they don't do well in constant warmer temperature - we aim for 21-24 C usually so in Summer you need fans or chillers on the tank to keep the temperature stable. 

Regular small water changes also play a part in keeping your colony healthy. Generally 10-15 % weekly but this varies depending on size of tank and size of colony