Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hello, I currently have an cycled eclipse 12 with 8 harlequin rasboras and I am receiving a shipment of 10 red cherry shrimp on thursday.

I ordered the shrimp before I tested the GH and KH of my water so I took it to the LFS today and they tested my GH and KH with one of those strip tests, which I understand isn't too accurate.

My numbers are (from liquid drip tests)
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 5
pH: 7

From Test strips:
GH: 75 --> 4.5
KH: 65 --> 4

I think these numbers are relatively close because I live in new york city and I've heard that we tend to have soft water.

I also have a few plants in my tank so I am dosing with Seachem Flourish and Seachem Flourish Excel as well as using Prime as a water conditioner.

Is this ok for keeping red cherry shrimp? I think my GH is a little bit low and I guess my KH is less than optimal. I know red cherry shrimp are pretty adaptable but I want to try and bring the water to as close to optimal for them as possible.

Should I add Seachem Equilibrium to bring up the GH? I don't want to change my pH too much, as my rasboras tend to like more acidic water, so I figure a neutral pH might be best for both the shrimp and fish.

Also, I've read on the forum that crushed coral is recommended for soft water to increase the buffering capacity. Is that changing KH? and if so, does it affect pH drastically?

Thanks for your help.

Cherries like hard basic water. They also don't do well with ferts. People that do what you are attempting have shrimp that may survive, but they don't thrive. You would be better off starting another tank for the cherries. There are plenty of shrimp that do well iin soft acidic water. Check the Shrimp Varieties for ones that like the same parameters as your fish. Also be aware that any fish that like live food will eat the baby shrimp.

Something like Bamboo shrimp may be a good choice for you.

Yeah, I realized that the red cherry shrimp might not be the best shrimp for my tank but I had already ordered them before I thought to check. Sorry, I'm still very new at this.

As for the ferts, they don't have any copper in them, well, I'm not adding the fert with copper in them, so hopefully they won't adversely affect the shrimp.

On the other hand, I just want the shrimp to live, I'm not as worried about breeding, if fact, I don't want too many shrimp babies as my tank will probably not be able to support a whole lot of shrimp as it is.

I've also read on forums that rasboras then to be ok with shrimp, especially the juvenile to adult ones and will most often leave them alone.

Juvies may be fine with them, but the babies are plent small enough tobe a tasty treat for them, so be aware that you'll get very few babies if the females hatch any.

The problem with ferts is the nitrate and phosphate. 5 ppm nitrate is at the upper limit for cherries. If you have any more than around 2 ppm phosphate, and I assume you have at least that, you'll see almost no egg production. Ferts are birth control for shrimp, at least that is my experience.

If you have a good bio load from fish & shrimp, you don't need ferts.

The problem with plant fertilizers is the phosphates tend to build up to dangerous levels and may harm the shrimp. But at the very least the phosphates may encourage some algae.

Here is a copy of a fellow shrimp keeper's raking of shrimp. For the most part I have found this to be true. What do you think?

Hardiness:
1. Cherry Red Shrimp
2. Amano
3. Bee
4. Crystal Red
All the shrimp are pretty hardy, but cherries and amano can deal with harsher conditions than the bee and crystal. Crystals are just selectively bred bee shrimp, so they are pretty much the same as bee, maybe a little more sensitive.

Algae Eating
1. Amano
2. Cherry
3. Bee/Crystal tie
All are decent, but you need allot of any of them to make a dent in your size tank.

Breeding
1. Cherry
2. Bee
3. Crystal
4. Amano

I pretty much agree with the list, but Amanos are hardier than cherries. I keep them together and have had a few tank problems. Many more amanos survive the calmities.

Your water sounds like mine, and I have a huge population (bred in that water) and have never seen a dead shrimp to date.