No RO, No Distilled: Can I Still Keep Shrimp?

Let’s be honest.

A lot of YouTube videos and forum posts make it look like you must have:

• RO water

• Distilled water

• Remineralizer powders

• Precise GH/KH/TDS targets

…just to keep a few shrimp.

But for many of us, RO units are expensive.
Distilled water is not cheap.
And even if we want them, they’re not always easy to find.

So the real question becomes:

“If I only have normal tap water,
can I still keep shrimp safely?”

In this post, I want to answer that from the perspective of:

• Someone living in a real place, with real bills

• Someone who can’t just buy an RO system tomorrow

• Someone who still loves shrimp and natural tanks anyway

This is Part 3 of my water basics series.
In Part 1, we talked about soft vs hard water.
In Part 2, we met GH, KH, and TDS.

Now we’ll bring those concepts down to earth and see what we can do with the water we actually have.

---

1. The Good News: Many Shrimp Can Survive in Tap Water

Let’s start with some hope.

Not all shrimp are super fragile.
There are two broad groups you usually see in the hobby:

• Neocaridina (like cherry shrimp, yellow, blue dream, etc.)

• Caridina (like crystal red, bee shrimp, etc.)

Very simplified:

• Neocaridina

  • Generally more forgiving

  • Many strains can live and even breed in normal tap water

  • Often recommended for beginners

• Caridina

  • More sensitive

  • Prefer softer water with low GH/KH

  • Often kept with RO + remineralizers

So if:

• You don’t have RO

• Distilled water is too expensive

Then the simplest option is:

Choose shrimp that match your water,
instead of forcing your water to match the most sensitive shrimp.

For most of us in cities with medium to hard tap water, that means:

• Focus on Neocaridina first

• Save the fancy Caridina dreams for later

---

2. Step One: Make Your Tap Water Safer

We can’t turn tap water into magic water, but we can remove the worst parts and make it gentler for shrimp.

Most tap water problems for shrimp come from:

• Chlorine / chloramine (used to disinfect water)

• Possible heavy metals

• Sudden changes (pH, temperature, TDS)

So the first basic step is:

✅ Use a good water conditioner

Choose one that:

• Removes chlorine

• Deals with chloramine (many modern conditioners do both)

• Ideally also binds heavy metals

This is your minimum “must do” step for tap water.

---

🔍 Optional: Pre-Treat Your Water in a Container

If you have space, you can go one step further and pre-treat your tap water in a separate bucket or container before it ever touches the aquarium.

Two simple helpers you can use:

🧊 1. Activated carbon cubes

You can drop activated carbon cubes (or small bags of activated carbon) into your storage container.

They can help:

• Remove leftover chlorine and some other chemicals

• Absorb dissolved organic pollutants

• Slightly “polish” the water and make it clearer

Activated carbon doesn’t remove all minerals that make your water hard (GH/KH), but it can reduce some dissolved substances and, over time, may slightly lower TDS by removing certain organics.

🌿 2. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

Many aquarists hang a pothos plant (the common houseplant with heart-shaped leaves) so that:

• Roots are in the water

• Leaves stay above the surface

Pothos is very good at:

• Using ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as nutrients

• Absorbing some dissolved nutrients/minerals from the water

• Helping to keep overall nutrient levels lower

If you grow pothos in your storage water container or in the main tank (with only roots in the water), over time it can:

• Help keep ammonia close to zero

• Slightly reduce the amount of dissolved nutrients (which also influences TDS)

• Add a bit of “natural filter” effect before water even enters the aquarium

So a simple routine can look like this:

1. Fill a container with tap water

2. Add water conditioner

3. Drop in activated carbon cubes

4. Let pothos roots hang in the water

5. Let it sit for some time before using it for water changes

This doesn’t turn tap water into RO, but it removes harsh chemicals, reduces some dissolved waste, and makes the water gentler and more stable before it meets your shrimp.

---

3. Step Two: Work With Your Water, Not Against It

You don’t have to know exact GH/KH values from day one, but from the earlier parts you already know:

• Your water is more soft / more medium / more hard

• GH = minerals

• KH = pH bodyguard

• TDS = total dissolved stuff

Now we use that understanding in a practical way.

If your water is medium to hard

This is very common.

Good news:

• This is actually fine for Neocaridina

• They like having minerals for their shells

• Many plants also do okay in medium-hard water

Realistic approach:

• Accept that your water is not “perfect soft”

• Use conditioner, add plants, wood, and maybe some leaves

• Avoid trying to force your water to become extremely soft with random chemicals

If your water is naturally soft

Less common, but possible in some areas.

In that case:

• Shrimp may appreciate a little extra mineral support

• Some people use mineral stones, special shrimp mineral blocks, or remineralizing salts

• You also need to be careful with KH (buffer), so pH doesn’t crash

Either way, the mindset is:

“What is my water like right now?
Which shrimp and setup will be comfortable in this, with minimal fighting?”

---

4. Can Rainwater Help? Sometimes, Yes (With Caution)

In some places, hobbyists use rainwater to soften their tap water:

• Rainwater usually has very low GH and KH

• When mixed with harder tap water, the result is “softer” than pure tap

But there are important warnings:

• Roofs, gutters, and pipes can be dirty or even contaminated

• Polluted areas can have unsafe rainwater

• You must collect and store it in clean containers

If you ever use rainwater:

• Never use it pure without knowing what’s inside

• Always mix it with treated tap water

• Start with small ratios (for example 20% rain, 80% tap)

• Watch your shrimp and plants over time

If you’re unsure about your environment’s air and roof cleanliness, it might be safer to skip rainwater and work mainly with tap water.

---

5. Using Natural Materials to Support Shrimp

Even if we can’t change our water source, we can still build a more shrimp-friendly environment inside the tank.

Some helpful natural materials:

🪵 Driftwood

• Releases tannins slowly

• Can gently lower pH behaviour (not always dramatic, but supportive)

• Provides surface area for biofilm (shrimp snacks)

🍂 Leaves (like Indian almond leaves, guava leaves, etc.)

• Release tannins and humic substances

• Create a more “forest stream” feel

• Serve as food: shrimp graze on the biofilm and decaying leaf material

• Offer hiding spots for shrimplets

🌱 Plants and Moss

• Help absorb some nutrients and waste

• Provide shelter and grazing surfaces

• Make the tank look alive and natural

These don’t magically fix bad water, but they:

• Reduce stress

• Give shrimp more natural behaviour

• Make the whole system more stable

---

6. Choosing the Right Shrimp for No-RO Life

If you’re living without RO and distilled water, here’s a simple way to think:

✅ Good starting choices:

• Neocaridina varieties (cherry shrimp, yellow, blue dream, rili types, etc.)

• Local hardy species (if your region has them and they are legally collected / sold)

These tolerate moderate hardness and common tap water conditions better.

❌ Not ideal at the beginning:

• Fancy Caridina variants that demand very soft, specific water

• Species bred in very different water from your tap (unless you know how to adapt)

You can always upgrade to more sensitive species later if one day:

• You get access to RO

• You feel ready to manage stricter parameters

For now, it’s okay to be the “tap water Neocaridina gang.”
They are beautiful, active, and much more realistic for many hobbyists.

---

7. Practical Routine: Keeping Shrimp on Tap Water

Here’s a simple tap-water shrimp routine you can adapt:

1. Condition the tap water

   • Always dechlorinate

   • Let it sit a bit or adjust temperature to match the tank

2. Start with a planted tank

   • Use soil or nutrient-rich substrate if possible

   • Add moss, easy plants, a few wood pieces, maybe some leaves

3. Cycle the tank properly

   • Let beneficial bacteria grow

   • Wait until ammonia and nitrite are zero before adding shrimp

   • Shrimp hate unstable new tanks more than they hate “non-RO” water

4. Add shrimp slowly

   • Start with a small group

   • Acclimate them slowly (drip method is ideal)

   • Observe their behaviour and colour over the next days

5. Do gentle, regular water changes

   • 10–20% at a time is usually enough

   • Avoid big 80–90% changes unless it’s an emergency

   • Always match temperature and condition the new water

6. Feed lightly

   • Overfeeding causes more problems than slightly underfeeding

   • Let shrimp graze on biofilm, algae, and leaves

This routine doesn’t require RO, distilled water, or fancy equipment.
It just asks for patience and consistency.

---

8. When You Might Consider RO Later

Even if you start with only tap water, there are times in the future when RO might still be useful, for example:

• You fall in love with sensitive Caridina species

• Your tap water is extremely hard with very high KH

• You want to breed certain delicate species or experiment

If that day comes:

• You don’t have to jump immediately to an expensive under-sink unit

• Some hobbyists buy RO water from shops in big jugs

• Others start with small portable RO filters

But this is a later upgrade, not a barrier that must block you from shrimp right now.

---

9. You Are Allowed to Start With What You Have

The aquarium world sometimes accidentally sends this message:

“No RO = no real shrimp keeping.”

I don’t agree with that.

You are allowed to:

• Use your local tap water

• Choose shrimp that fit your reality

• Build a natural planted tank slowly

• Learn from small mistakes

• Upgrade later if it truly makes sense for your life

Understanding soft vs hard water, GH/KH/TDS, and your own tap water is already a powerful start.

You don’t have to wait until everything is “perfect” before keeping shrimp.
You just have to respect water, move slowly, and match your animals to your conditions.

Your shrimp journey doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
It just has to work for you — and for the little lives you’re taking care of. 🦐🌿

Water Basics Series — Wander Within Life

1. Soft vs Hard Water
2. GH, KH & TDS — The Three Numbers
3. No RO, No Distilled: Can I Still Keep Shrimp? (You’re here)
4. Do We Really Need a Filter?
5. Filters for Shrimp Tanks — Flow • Intake • Media
6. How I Treat Tap Water Before It Enters My Aquarium
7. Pothos as a Natural Filter — Roots in Water, Leaves Above