Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I have had cherry shrimp in the past with poor success and I am trying once more to have a cherry shrimp only tank. The problem is, my tap water here is naturally very soft and I have tested my tank on multiple occasions, coming up with pretty much 1 degree KH and 1 degree of GH. I tried adding crushed coral to the filter, and that only seems to have raised my pH slightly. My pH is currently a 7.8, and kH/GH are both 1 degree. My shrimp seem to be doing fine still but I am worried that with such soft water, my pH might change drastically and my shrimp will die. Anyone know of any way to gradually increase hardness (can I even use Kent Marine Calcium even if it says for reef/marine tanks), without messing with the pH too much?

I use R/O right. You can add per the directions to increase hardness.

calcium chloride baking soda and epsom salts are all useful as alkalinty/hardness additives

all can be relatively easily sourced in pure forms and just need som web reading and practice to get used to

note practice is for empty water containers not ones with shrimp in

andrew

Your kh is just fine. You do not need some kind of "target kh" at all. I have even stopped adding crushed coral (my kh and gh both register 0 out of the tap, although I know that there are dissolved solids, including alkalinity builders, in there as my conductivity/TDS is about 90/59 out of the tap. All tap water seems to have sodium hydroxide added to keep the PH above 7 (to prevent corrosion to the water pipes). Your ph is already way above 7, so I don't see where the worry is. Even if it goes slightly under 7 (which can occur overnight due to increased CO2 produced both by possible plants in the aquarium *and* by the human owners closing the windows and exhaling CO2) it's ok for these shrimp.

Let me say it here again that KH values are absolutely unimportant and measurements of such values unnecessary. The same applies to a lesser degree to GH values. The only reliable tool for hardness/conductivity/TDS measurements is an electronic conductivity meter. I use TDS 5 by Hanna, but I barely ever need it anymore as I already know all my hardness parameters. In contrast I use my PH meter almost every day.

If you do regular water changes, you do not need to worry about having your ph plunge all of a sudden. Ph plunges occur only if you allow nitrates to build up (which is accompanied by the production of nitric acid), which is bad for your shrimp in the first place. Hence, worry less about your kh and more about the water changes and feeding sparingly.

Looks like an article about water parameters, measurement etc. is sorely needed, as this topic keeps popping up regularly.

Thank you so much for the information. I have been obsessing over my very soft water and I keep adding things (crushed coral, chemicals to increase carbonate hardness, etc.) in the hopes to increase hardness, all because I keep trying to keep the environment for the shrimp ideal.

I will definitely be keeping up with the water changes (though in smaller amounts) and checking my pH often. I've also added more nitrate-sucking plants in there (najas grass and java moss) to help keep nitrates at bay, although water changes are really the key to that. I've only been feeding the shrimp a teeny tiny piece of algae wafer daily, and then after an hour I suck up what hasn't been eaten and dispose of it. I've had to feed because the tank doesn't quite have a huge growth of algae anywhere, so I'm working on another tank to just "cultivate" brown algae for them to eat.

Anyway! I appreciate the info, I wish I'd seeked this out in my first attempt at cherry shrimp...

Welcome, I am also new to this site but love the hobby. Please post any questions you may have along the way and there will be someone who will try to help you. Hope you continue to have fun.

Later.

I have a 10 gallon tank set up for my cherry shrimp. I used crushed coral and gravel for the substrate, java fern and java moss that would be the size of a basketball if they were bunched tightly together, hygro, and algae from another aquarium. Riccia and duckweed floating on the surface. Several aponogeton and Nymphaea lily bulbs were recently added for variety. Nitrates don't stand a chance, and the shrimp are multiplying.
Air-driven sponge filter to circulate the water, ramshorns and MTS to clean up shrimp leftovers. Judging by the presence of copepods, the water quality is excellent, since the tiny critters are even more sensitive than shrimp.
The shrimp are fed a pinch of either cichlid flakes, spirulina flakes, or NLS pellets once daily. They also spend lots of time grazing on the algae that grows everywhere.

Thanks for sharing about your setup, I am always curious as to how people have their cherry shrimp tanks setup, and they are always slightly different, it's interesting to see what works. I can definitely see how the shrimp are thriving, especially with the many hardy plants you have in your tank to suck up nitrates. As of right now I only have najas grass, some riccia and a mystery clump of floating plant which I have yet to ID.

I've changed to feeding the shrimp Omega One veggie flakes (like one or two pieces a day) in addition to bits of algae wafers.

Don't have any snails, but I am definitely considering getting MTS for the tank. I might also be putting some spixi in there.

Freshwater shrimp are definitely interesting little creatures, I love to observe them. I'm hoping to set up more tanks for different species.

Java fern is a particularly good nitrate sponge, or at least so I've been told. Duckweed is also very effective, a fact sustantiated by the way it covers the surface of the water very quickly. I have an additional fluorescent full-spectrum light behind the tank, to boost watts/gallon. If it wasn't for that, the duckweed would severely limit the amount of light available to the rest of the plants.

Java fern is very slow growing, so I think you mean java moss, which gorws much faster and is better for shrimp to hide in and feel safe. Riccia is even faster growing and keeps water free of nitrates nless things are really out of hand.

oocfish wrote:Thanks for sharing about your setup, I am always curious as to how people have their cherry shrimp tanks setup, and they are always slightly different, it's interesting to see what works. I can definitely see how the shrimp are thriving, especially with the many hardy plants you have in your tank to suck up nitrates. As of right now I only have najas grass, some riccia and a mystery clump of floating plant which I have yet to ID.

I've changed to feeding the shrimp Omega One veggie flakes (like one or two pieces a day) in addition to bits of algae wafers.

Don't have any snails, but I am definitely considering getting MTS for the tank. I might also be putting some spixi in there.

Freshwater shrimp are definitely interesting little creatures, I love to observe them. I'm hoping to set up more tanks for different species.

If you plan on adding any spixis to your shrimp tank beware because hatchlings and young spixis eat plants. I find adult spixis don't bother plants unless they are very hungry.
You also have to watch out for the egg sacs they lay underwater....they are great at hiding them and if they hatch your plants will be covered with tiny "locusts".

That said, shrimp get along fine with them but too many snails will easily ruin your water quality which wouldn't be good for your shrimp.

I had no idea snails could impact a shrimp tank so much. Thanks for the info, I have one tank that I am getting ready for my rudolph shrimp and there are two spixis in there with some MTS...are the MTS going to be a problem as well too? I'm afraid it will be practically impossible to remove every single one.

I do however with the spixis try to remove the clutches and put them in the designated hatching/grow out tank I have just for baby spixi.

So far my shrimp are doing alright...but it seems their activity has been dwindling a bit. They look like they're just sitting on top of the java moss and najas, not really eating or grazing. Makes me worry a bit. I should probably check the water parameters.

I have hundreds of MTS in my tanks and they don't seem to have much of an impact. Just be sure to do regular weekly water changes. Apple snails can be a big bioload and you should think of them like a large fish, not a mobile ornament. An animal that is 1" across adds considerable waster to the tank. They need at least 1 gallon per adult snail. Little pond snails are different as they are so small, but like a blizzard, they can get out of hand if you overfeed.

I find nerites to be the biggest snail poopers I have....they poo dark brown pellet poos all over the place.

I have a couple in each tank and saw lots of poo on the sand in the front of my baby tiger shrimp tank....so I came with with a great idea. I got a piece of airline and thought "i'll use this as a mini siphon"..... I popped one end in the tank....sucked the tube and yummy.....snail poo and tank water right in my mouth.

I'm moving the nerites out of that tank.

Shrimp&Snails wrote:so I came with with a great idea. I got a piece of airline and thought "i'll use this as a mini siphon"..... I popped one end in the tank....sucked the tube and yummy.....snail poo and tank water right in my mouth.

I'm moving the nerites out of that tank.

I don't remember who said it first but I stole someone elses great idea...

The Turkey Baster
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Ecir