20L Crystal Red Tank

I recently picked up some Crystal Red Shrimp from a local breeder.  I've had these for about 2 months now and things are going really well.  This is my second attempt at keeping Crystal Reds and I've learned a lot from my first attempt.  I would say the quality from the second patch is A LOT better than the first.  The grades ranges from anywhere between S and SS but the important thing is the coloration of the shrimps.  These guys have a very nice white colors.

This is a full tank shot of my 20L Akadama Double Red Line tank.  This time around I tried taking a different path and changing things up a bit.  I decided to try out Akadama Double Red Line because there's been a lot of "Pro" shrimp breeders using this substrate with a lot of success.  I'm also running this tank without any CO2.  

Normally my tanks have a lot of plants, but this time around I'm keeping things simple.  The tank is almost absent of plants with just only driftwood and a few sheets of moss tied on stainless steel mesh.  The moss growing on the sheets of SS Mesh is Mini Xmas.  I really like this moss because it grows very dense and compact.  The fronds are small and fans out very evenly.  Mini xmas moss has a deep green forest coloration.    

This tank is filtered with an Eheim 2215 canister filter, with Eheim intake pipes covered with a SS Mesh filter to protect shrimplets (newborns) from getting sucked into the filter.  The outfit is an ADA glass lily pipe that I've had laying around.  I really like the ADA lily pipe because it allows me to aerate the surface water to increase surface air exchange and remove the surface oil.  

The moss has grown a lot since I've started this tank, and there's been berried (pregnant) females.  They should be releasing their babies any day.  I try to keep my Crystal Red shrimp around 72-75 degrees, but because we're experiencing a hot summer the tank has been getting as high at 78-80 degrees.  I haven't noticed any shrimps being lethargic though.  

Crystal Red Shrimps are harder to keep than Taiwan Fire Reds or other Neocaridina shrimps.  They are more sensitive and have more specific water requirements.  Sudden parameter fluctuation can cause deaths.  They are happiest in more acidic water (pH) ranging from 6.2 - 6.6 with a general hardness (gH) ranging from 4 - 6.  The pictured crystal red shrimp is a female SS No-Entry Grade.  I really like the white shell on her.  Her shell is very thick and the white is a milky white.  I hope she produces some great offsprings!  

20L Akadama Double Red Line Parameters:

pH: 6.5

gH: 5

kH: 0

TDS: 140-150

Temp: 74-78