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I have read the cherry shrimp article here and searched these forums for info on if ocean salt is bad for cherry shrimp. I am still not sure what the consensus is about salt and cherry shrimp. Here's my situation:

10g tank with 4 guppies and 3 cherry shrimp. I want to get the guppies to breed so plan to slowly add 1 tsp marine salt per gallon of water. I will add 1 tsp of this salt (dissolved in 1 cup warm water) per day to slowly increase salinity. Will my shrimp die eventually from this salt? I plan to keep the tank at this salinity.

Tank has been cycled for 11 months and has zero ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. But it has some blue-green algae (cyano bacteria). My shrimp have been in this tank for 3 weeks and the females are really getting bright red. They were all juveniles when I bought them. And the "saddle" on the backs of females are quite pronounced. I guess these are the ovaries.

I also don't feed these shrimp in this tank. I let them eat the algae growing and eat the extra food. I have no visible algae (other than the cyanobacteria) but I always see the shrimp picking at something on the plants (cabomba) and rock.

Will salt harm ghost shrimp? I also have 3 ghost shrimp in this tank.

I'm not quite sure why you're adding salt with guppies since they breed freely (usually end up overbreeding) in freshwater. I know mollies like a slightly brackish setup but i've also successfully kept mollies in freshwater with no salt.

I couldn't tell you if salt is bad for cherry shrimp...I would assume so but I could be wrong.....I wouldn't risk it with mine though.

Good luck.

Salt will not harm cherries if it's for a short period. I don't know if it will harm them over longer time.
I had a 30 liter cherry tank, where the shrimps got some type of fungus. I did a 50% waterchange and added 30 grams of salt to the fresh water - and added it slowly through a dripping airhose. I used Instant Ocean salt without nitrate and phosphate.
After a week I did another 50% waterchange and added another 30 grams of salt.
After another week I did a 50% waterchange with pure freshwater and after that normal 1/3 weekly waterchanges.
The salt "killed" the fungus and all the cherries survived.

It is a myth that adding salt will make guppies breed. If you have a male & a female and feed them, you get babies. 6 months ago I got 6 endler's. Now I have over a 1000. No salt, just food.

The salt is absolutely not necessary for the guppies and may harm your shrimp in the long term so I wouldn't add it at all.

I agree with everyone that guppies do not need salt to breed. They are very adaptable to all kinds of water conditions. As for the red cherry shrimp, they can actually live and breed in slightly brackish water, too, as long as they are acclimated slowly. I've had them in 6ppt (1.004 spg) with no problems. However, in this case salt is absolutely unnecessary.

bulrush, do the guppies attack the cherrys?

shrimping wrote:bulrush, do the guppies attack the cherrys?

That's another factor. You won't be seeing any offspring with guppies around to eat them.

I have not seen any evidence that the guppies attack the adult cherry shrimp. There are plenty of hiding places in the guppy tank (plants, under broken pots, under flat rocks.) But you're right, the guppies would surely eat the young cherry shrimp.

As for the guppies, I feed them moderately (not lightly, not heavily) twice per day. Is that enough for breeding? I have 2 fat females, 1 (probably juvenile) female, and a male and have not seen babies yet. I have had them about 3 weeks. Should I just be patient? Are they still getting used to their new home?

Next, I moved my other population of cherry shrimp from the wastebasket to the 10g tank. 2 juvenile females (no color yet) already have eggs. Will the move harm the eggs? Will this batch of eggs "go bad" and be aborted?

And another question. The 10g tank I moved them to used to have daphnia and I fed them yeast. There is some yeast growing on the sides of the tank. Will this harm the cherry shrimp, or will they eat it? It is high protein stuff.

After I see eggs, how long does it take the eggs to hatch? I'm guessing 1-2 weeks, then I will have free swimming babies.

Thanks all! You've been very helpful.

For cherry red shrimps, it depends on the temporature. In my experience, at 76-78 degree, you should see baby shrimps in 16-18 days.



For guppies, it depends on the lines and the temporature. Some lines of guppies are very productive and can produce one drop of babies each month. Some are slow and produce 2 drops of babies every 3-4 months.

bulrush wrote: As for the guppies, I feed them moderately (not lightly, not heavily) twice per day. Is that enough for breeding? I have 2 fat females, 1 (probably juvenile) female, and a male and have not seen babies yet. I have had them about 3 weeks. Should I just be patient? Are they still getting used to their new home?

Ok...this is the third warning this morning. This question has absolutely nothing to do with shrimp. The question about keeping guppies and red cherries together in brackish water was at least shrimp related, but this is just a guppy question. Please read the stickies in this forum and follow the rules. If there is any further question or answer about guppies I will close this topic. I am just keeping it open for your shrimp questions.

This is a final warning.