New To Shrimp Keeping Please Help

[harikrishna]

Am new to this forum and am ready to learn a lot
First of all am glad to know this website and I hope I get most of my questions answered.
I don't know anything about shrimps but the 3 weeks of research i have been doing about them online.
I think they are amazing creatures and i don't know why i didn't start sooner..
I know i have to wait 2 month and get my tank cycled before introducing any shrimps to their new home.
Bought this 60 gallon tank 2 weeks ago and this is gonna be their home
This is a list of items i have bought online of which i found from my research and should be here in a week max.

-Driftwood
-Internal Filterhttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4 ... SY450_.jpg
-Sponge Filter
-Air Pump for sponge filter
-Heater with thermostat
-Fluval Shrimp Stratum
-Water Kit
-Lights
-Fire Moss

And this is my list anything else you guys think i would need

And the 2 shrimps i wanted to keep was Snowball or yellow shrimp and i want to know what i would need for them any suggestions? would help a lot
And also the substrate search been giving me a headache which kind of substrate would i need for them. Can i use any kind of substrate for plants? or any sand type that are cheaper please help and also can i use tap water with those shrimps rather than Reverse Osmosis?
Thanks a lot in Advance I do have more questions are some of your replys:)

[harikrishna]

any knows that can help? with some suggestions?

[harikrishna]

its mainly the substrate that i need to know what else can i use to replace it please reply thank you.
Am ready to set up my tank only waiting on the substrate part XD

[link81]

whats wrong with the fluval shrimp that you listed? that should work fine. Just about anything will work in my opinion. even sand for pool filters. i would avoid anything painted or large gravel though, mine really like picking at the sand. I would also avoid some of the "blasting media" that some people have used. That has too many metallic unknowns for me.

fyi this is a pretty slow site, relax, you will get help, just not necessarily right away.

[Mustafa]

Everything looks fine, except that I would add some calcium carbonate rock to your tank if your tap water (= change water) is not alkaline enough. And you don't need two filters...I would return the internal filter if you can. The air driven sponge filter is enough. Any substrate is fine, too, although I prefer substrates that are pretty much neutral. Your substrate acidifies the water. I would hold on on the driftwood, too, for now. Unless soaked for a *very* long time in a bucket it can not only discolor the water but cause all kinds of problems with the water parameters (and the shrimp).

[harikrishna]

Thank you both appreciate it.
And one thing am not gonna use that substrate because i have only bought 1 bag of them and then realized later i would need 6 after my researches XD.
But still not sure about which new substrate any type or brand of other stuff i can put at the bottom of the tank? For example anything from home depot or anything else?
Because I had a budget and now am out of money for this tank.>< Sand in my back yard is kind of a dirt so that's a noway. How about simple gravel? of too big for them? does it have to be more refined? And I also had in mind of other ideas of other people but still not sure for example turface?

[link81]

if you're looking at home depot sand will work fine, i think that play sand is a little to fine, it has a tendency to "poof" whenever you disturb it. If you have a pool store near you they sell filter sand that is a little coarser that works better. Either way you have to rinse it good before using it. If you want to use the shrimp stratum you can definitally mix it with the sand (after washing the sand) that way it will help out with plant growth. (maybe, at least a little bit) I don't see any reason that you Cant use gravel, i just watch my shrimp picking at the sand alot and turning it over, so i think they definitaly like it. Gravel would be too big for them to do that.

I'm not sure i would trust the turface. There is a line on their website that concerns me.

"All soils consist of sand, silt and clay. The infield mix is the combination of these components plus any conditioners or additives. To understand how your mix works you need to understand the components."

Where it talks about "any conditioners or additives" that worries me as far as shrimp go.

[Mustafa]

Hmmm...unless they started adding something to their product, Turface works just fine. I have 2-3 older tanks that I filled with Turface about 5 years ago. No problems. I think the company uses the words "conditioners or additives" strategically to give the impression that their product is more than just calcined clay (with pretty much any company can pretty easily produce). In other words their product is allegedly "special" due to the "conditioners" etc.

As for Gravel..it works fine, too. The shrimp will just pick at the surface of the gravel.

I'm not sure i would trust the turface. There is a line on their website that concerns me.

"All soils consist of sand, silt and clay. The infield mix is the combination of these components plus any conditioners or additives. To understand how your mix works you need to understand the components."

Where it talks about "any conditioners or additives" that worries me as far as shrimp go.

[harikrishna]

thanks a lot you all helped a lot and today i bought a bunch of black sand and black gravels which am going to mix and used that hopefully its going to be good enough for my snowballs or yellow shrimps><
And also tomorrow is the 4th so thats when my order comes in yayXD

[Mustafa]

Unfortunately, it looks like you're going to go through a long learning process. Most of your shrimp are probably going to die if they are going into your brand new tank. A shrimp tank needs to run without shrimp for about 1-2 months before you put any shrimp in there. A completely new tank is not even cycled, nor does it have the microfauna and microflora that a healthy, functioning shrimp tank needs.

thanks a lot you all helped a lot and today i bought a bunch of black sand and black gravels which am going to mix and used that hopefully its going to be good enough for my snowballs or yellow shrimps><
And also tomorrow is the 4th so thats when my order comes in yayXD

[harikrishna]

oh am not getting shrimps yet until 2 month from now.
Tank is placed and got gravel in there with half of water filled up
And i did get my water test kit today through the mail and still waiting for the other items.
Also i got two flowers poets for them in there to hide and ill place the moss and stuff hopefully this Tuesday when the stuff is coming.
And i still got to post my pictures and i will do so when the tank is set up:P and then you guys can tell me what is good and whats not and ty for reply again mustafa:)

[Mustafa]

Oh, I see. I misunderstood you. Your order of sand/gravel is coming in. It sounded like a shrimp order was coming in. Well, good! It's better that way for the shrimp and for you (financially). I'll comment when your pictures are up.