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Which Substrate do you use for RCS?

RCS won't mind PH as much, I've seen them kept with CRS before which prefers a low PH. I've kept RCS in a tank with gravel and currently keeping them in a tank with cat litter, peat and aquarium compost. You can go ahead and use the ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia with no ill effects.
 
You shouldn't have too many problems with Red Cherries and PH mate, it's Crystal Reds you want to be more lenient about. My cherries are at about 6.8 PH and they're doing fine. Active substrates are good for buffering the water to what some of the fancier shrimp like so you don't necessarily need to spend too much on substrate for RCS.
Cheers:)
 
RCS won't mind PH as much, I've seen them kept with CRS before which prefers a low PH. I've kept RCS in a tank with gravel and currently keeping them in a tank with cat litter, peat and aquarium compost. You can go ahead and use the ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia with no ill effects.
You beat me to it Michael!;)
 
I've used gravel and sand this time round, last time just gravel. I have found rilis and cherries hardy. They are always berried and . Use ferts, co2. they never seem bothered.:) have a look at some rili shrimp they are pretty little things
 
Ok so Amazonia is ok to use. Another question for you guys, will a lower ph effect breeding and molting of RCS or will they breed and molt just as well?
My first tank will be tap water, I'm leaning towards either black sand or Amazonia. I assume some plants will grow better in Amazonia.
In my mind I'm thinking the setup will be low tech, with plants that are not high light demanding. Light wise i'm thinking one or two daylight bulbs over the tank.
 
Within reason, cherries can thrive at a lower PH. I wouldn't risk going much below 6.4 - 6.5 for breeding. Molting shouldn't be an issue at that either. You can also get a PH buffer which would mean that if you were worried, you could cancel the Amazonia out and raise the PH a little bit. Don't worry about PH at the moment, just make sure your tank is cycled and there is enough algae/biofilm for the shrimps and you should be able to keep them alive! ADA Amazonia is a great substrate by the way, I've found that hairgrass especially really likes the soil. Go for that if you're looking for quick plant growth, if not just go for black sand. I use this Dennerle stuff that is inert and doesn't need rinsed: Dennerle Nano Shrimps Gravel Sulawesi black -Aquaristic shop
Cheers:)
 
Whats your tap water like. If its hard then you wont need to worry about buffering.
 
I just use black gravel in my shrimp tank. I'm on London tap water so don't need to muck about too much.
 
I have a 25kg bag of black quartz sand if anyone wants it. Free if you can collect and perfect for RCS! :)
 
How do you do a tank cycle with an inert substrate, I read somewhere online that you use pure ammonia like what they sell in the diy stores? I was reading the back of the bottle and it says not to be used with animals, also when I opened the bottle it was like pure acid giving off lethal fumes! This is the same ammonia that we use to cycle our tanks correctly? The bottle states its a cleaner, it smells eggy like drain cleaner! Is there no safer way?
 
How do you do a tank cycle with an inert substrate, I read somewhere online that you use pure ammonia like what they sell in the diy stores? I was reading the back of the bottle and it says not to be used with animals, also when I opened the bottle it was like pure acid giving off lethal fumes! This is the same ammonia that we use to cycle our tanks correctly? The bottle states its a cleaner, it smells eggy like drain cleaner! Is there no safer way?
The safest way to cycle a tank is to plant it and leave it for a few weeks. Fishless cycling is mainly used for tanks where people want to dump a load of messy fish on a tank at once, think malawi setup. If you dont add a large bioload straight away it makes the amonia method pointless
 
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