Hi, new user here, so bear with me if this is the wrong area to ask 🙂 Been keeping RCS/neos on and off for a few years, but curious about Paratya keeping/breeding because they are cool and I'm slowly constructing an Australian river/creek biotope. I was wondering what other people think of different "types" of water, or anything else you have learned specifically that have been successful. I have read fishmosy's helpful article on Paratya and will refer back to it once the tank I'm planning to use is more settled/ I have a backup for the rasboras in it.

My understanding is that for most shrimp:

-RO is best (with additions depeding on waht you need)

-clean rain is next-best

-and then aged outside or treated (e.g. with Prime etc) , is ok too but not ideal due to less predictable gh/kh

I have only ever used treated tap water for my RCS, but I want to provide better for them and any future shrimps I have. Being a student/renter, I can't really justify a RO system of my own, so am planning on making a habit of collecting rain water and jarring it for my tanks. I live in Sydney now, so perhaps not the best in terms of quality, but will try anyway. Curious about what others think and how you collect/make/use water. 

Welcome to SKFA @Etnorb.

 

I kept an Australian native tank for many years, before letting it go naturally and decommissioned that tank.

I kept Darwin Red Nose (DRN), Chameleon Shrimps, and some unknown Paratya glass shrimp.

Never kept Macrobrachiums however.

 

I used rainwater predominantly, because it was easiest for me. Rain water without adding additional chemicals to alter TDS, pH, KH. I found RO water to be too fiddly after a while, in order to get it suitable for living organisms.

I collect rainwater from one of my gutter downpipes, it's got a Leafeater plumbed in to strain out leaves and twigs. The water is collected in a couple of 100L tanks.

 

I would just pour this into the tanks without further treatment. Gets as close as 0 - 1 KH, 60. to 6.5 pH and very low TDS. That's how our natives like it.

If you design/build your tank closely to an Australian biotope, than drift woods and leaf litter will be present in your tank. That will condition the rain water up to a suitable environment for native shrimp.

 

Fishmosy's guide is great.

There is also a short article on Aquagreen here, if you have not seen it ... https://www.aquagreen.com.au/files/Freshwater_Shrimps_of_NT.pdf

 

Good luck. 

Thanks @jayc! Already shooting for a very leafy/sticky vibe so that's good to know