CRS and cherry reds?

cyber_ecco · Post by **cyber_ecco** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:10 am

Can anyone tell me if I put these 2 in a tank together, will they cross breed? Thanks.

Gord.

gr81 · Post by **gr81** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:15 am

can be together, will not crossbreed.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:58 am

Check the water parameters and the varieties page. You won't be able to keep them both happy. One or the other will suffer & won't breed.

vinnymac · Post by **vinnymac** » Wed May 03, 2006 11:13 am

I keep and breed CRS and cherries in the same tank. They do quite well. The only major difference is CRS prefer cooler temps. I keep my tank at 73.5F which is fine for Cherries.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed May 03, 2006 1:27 pm

I keep and breed CRS and cherries in the same tank. They do quite well.

Vinnymac- what are your water parameters? Pretty close to neutral and failry soft?

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed May 03, 2006 5:05 pm

A better question is: "how do you measure your water parameters, especially ph?" I don't trust anything but a good ph meter anymore. Not even the liquid tests. You might have different water parameters from what you think you have. I for sure did before I got my ph meter.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed May 03, 2006 5:53 pm

True, true, but if he's found a sweet spot that they can both thrive, that would be good info.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed May 03, 2006 7:07 pm

badflash wrote:True, true, but if he's found a sweet spot that they can both thrive, that would be good info.

Actually, the red cherry shrimp can live and breed just fine at ph levels going down to even 6.0. However, their reproduction won't be nearly as explosive as at higher ph levels.

On the other hand, crystal reds can also live in alkaline water and sometimes you might also see some young, but you will get nowhere nearly as many young as in acidic water. This is not only my experience, but the experiences of all of the serious breeders in Germany and Japan, too. That's why I am inquiring about the testing method when someone says that they are breeing CRS in alkaline water.

So...to come back to the original question...you can keep RCS and CRS together and have them even breed in the acidic ph range without problems if you are willing to take the reduced fertility if the water gets too acidic (they still produce a lot of young). You can keep RCS and CRS together in the lower to mid 7s ph, but your CRS will most likely not produce any young or maybe 1 or 2 in a few months. CRS seem to be more sensitive, even as adults, in the alkaline ph range, so I most definitely would not recommend keeping them under such conditions. Plus, I personally believe that the goal of every keeper of shrimp should be to have self-perpetuating breeding population at some point, so keeping CRS under alkaline conditions just won't get you there.