Freshwater shrimp tank - questions from a reefer

[pbjelly]

I'm finally moving to an office where I can have a small tank. I don't have a lot of room, so I thought I'd set up a little Spec3 and use it as a red cherry shrimp tank.

I don't have any experience with freshwater shrimp and the reading I've been doing online has only made me more confused.

Do any of you reefers have experience with keeping freshwater shrimp in NYC? Can you give me a simple, reefer-friendly breakdown of how to safely set up and keep them?
What's the deal with TDS, and should I really be using tap water and just pouring in that water conditioner that as a reefer I toss in the trash? It's an office tank, so if that's true, I'd be psyched. Apparently, most freshwater substrates will lower the PH of the tank, but RCS need more neutral PH, so does anyone have any suggestions for substrate? Do I really want to use all those additives to set up and keep a low light planted tank with shrimp? I've got no issues with whatever you call the freshwater version of dosing, but between the bee balls and minerax rocks, I can't tell the wheat from the chaff. What do I actually need, vs what do I want, vs what's a load of crap?

Can anyone point me to a simple explanation of how to set up for and keep a planted nano tank with shrimp that isn't a forum filled with idiots (like us :biggrin who disagree about everything and think the answer to everything is buying something new?

confused in nyc ...http://www.manhattanreefs.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

I have kept them before and I have a friend that keeps them and has several AMAZING planted tanks. The biggest issue with them is temperature. In the summer you will lose them if you don't keep the temperature within range.

But they are easy to care for and breed. Just keep the tank well planted with a piece of driftwood. They will thrive! There is a woman that sells them in PA, she is the cheapest I have found:

http://msjinkzd.com/

You can keep them with tiny rasboras in a small 2-5 gallon tank and it would be incredibly pretty.

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

http://msjinkzd.com/species/boraras-maculatus-dwarf-rasbora/

http://msjinkzd.com/species/freshwater-shrimp/

Hope that helps... If you need plants I can introduce you to my friend. He is always selling bags of plants to the petshops for credit. I am sure he would gladly give some away or sell them for giggles... He is a real nice guy.