Brand spankin newbie with cherry shrimp question...

mduros · Post by **mduros** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:20 pm

Hi folks,
I've read the posts and have done some research today while waiting for my membership to register, but want to make absolutely sure the answer to my question.

Will cherry shrimp and crystal red shrimp hybridize if kept in the same tank? I have had a steady population of gorgeous cherries for a little over a year and have the opportunity to pick up some B grade crysal red shrimp this weekend. I'm very tempted to expand my shrimp collection but not at the risk of creating hybrids. I keep one small dedicated tank of cherry shrimp and have a colony of cherries in each of my 55 gallon community tanks. The only other shrimp I have are a couple of amanos.

Thank you for your patience in giving me an absolute yes or no on whether cherry shrimp and crystal reds can interbreed.

You have a great site here.
Take care,
Mary.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:42 pm

Welcome!
They won't hybridize, but the consensus is that yu should keep them in separate tanks for several reasons. CRS like softer water than RCS and RCS are a lot more agressive and so out-compete CRS. Check some recent similar posts.

Currently I only keep the hard water species, so I have not attempted keeping them together.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:16 pm

badflash is right about them not hybridizing but when I keep the two types together, the CRS were more aggressive than the RCS. This might be because the CRS outnumbered and dominated the tank.

Baby_Girl · Post by **Baby_Girl** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:56 pm

So which is it, fellas? RCS more aggressive, or are CRS the aggressors?

I was going to mention the water chemistry, too. While the two types won't interbreed, their differing water hardness and pH needs mean I wouldn't keep the two in the same tank.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:56 pm

So which is it, fellas? RCS more aggressive, or are CRS the aggressors?

I am just sharing my experience with the CRS and RCS both in one tank. I kept them in RO water and the CRS outnumbered the RCS 5:1. They both did fine in the tank, they even reproduced well. Does anyone else have the same experience?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 6:42 am

I think it may be a numbers thing. Which ever mob is bigger wins. The cherries tend to breed much faster than the CRS, so that may be where it comes from.

Check:
viewtopic.php?t=2792

mduros · Post by **mduros** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:50 am

Thank you guys. I guess I'm going to go for it then. I wouldn't mind having a few additional types of shrimp. Actually, one of my 55s is very soft water. The cherries do well in there, but maybe this would be the tank for the crystals.

My tap ph is 7.6 and weekly this tank leaches down from 7.2 after water change to 6.0 a week later before water change. Haven't quite come up with a reason for it except for the extremely high spixi population. I need to start using a calcium supplement in that tank and see if that helps. But it's been like this for a year and hasn't affected the fish any. Even get baby tetras from time to time, so how cool is that?
Take care,
Mary.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:34 am

I make up plaster of paris (Home Depot brand) and pour it into plastic ice cube trays as molds. Let it harden for a week, then you can add one for each 20 gallons of water. It will disolve slowly (several weeks) and adds hardness and calcium to your water. Plaster of paris is 50% calcium sulphate and 50% calcium carbonate.

I use these in my snail tanks. You can make your own feeders using this same method using low-fat sinking goldfish granules.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:28 am

Will this eliminate the need for additives like RO correct and other?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:45 pm

No, this can't be used to totally replace additives like R/O right. This only add calcium hardness and not other trace minerals that are needed.

mduros · Post by **mduros** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:11 pm

How's this for a poppin' berried cherry???

Take care,
Mary.

Baby_Girl · Post by **Baby_Girl** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:07 pm

mduros wrote: I wouldn't mind having a few additional types of shrimp.

uh oh, I sense the Shrimp Bug about to bite someone!

I look forward to seeing more of you around here, Mary!

nice pic, too, thanks for sharing. Your camera looks really good to capture not only small subjects, but in motion too.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:48 pm

uh oh, I sense the Shrimp Bug about to bite someone!

I concur with the diagnosis

Baby_Girl · Post by **Baby_Girl** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:51 pm

Neonshrimp wrote:I concur with the diagnosis

yup, it is an ailment often concurrent with and related to Multiple Tank Syndrome. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not good. Those two conditions are often terminal

guntank0079 · Post by **guntank0079** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:05 pm

Baby_Girl wrote:
Neonshrimp wrote:I concur with the diagnosis
yup, it is an ailment often concurrent with and related to Multiple Tank Syndrome. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not good. Those two conditions are often terminal

Hilarious!
Another impressive one after the famous "application of garlic cures shrimp heart disease", Dr. Baby_Girl.