Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hi to all cherrys keepers.

I wonder what water conditions and temperature are you keeping the cherrys that makes them the most happy shrimps around (colour up, being active, and breeding)?

I have them in 78F (summer boasts it up to 79~81F), PH 7.2~7.4, KH 3.4, Nitrate is around 2~7 ppm. And I found my female starts carrying eggs but then drop them after a few days to a week.

Cheers

Hi Csmike, from what I understand, Cherries are the more forgiving of the algae-eating shrimps to variance, provided there aren't large fluctuations of parameters in a short amount of time. But as with most shrimp, providing a stable environment at non-extremes is usually best. My conditions aren't the best, but I do try to keep things stable.

My heater is set to 76 - 77 degrees, average temp is 78. During heat waves it can get to 82+, but I keep it 80 and below by way of fan.

I hate trying to read those test kits, it doesn't seem very accurate nor do I understand chemistry/water parameter stuff very well. Anyway, my tap's PH is around 8.0. I add about 1/10 distilled water to the water change water, which helps keep it about 7.8 and helps soften the water a bit. Although I don't like messing with stuff because it brings up more room for error, I understand that high temp and high PH causes ammonia to be toxic at much lower levels and thus, creating even less of a margin for keeping the water safe. And yes, I know ammonia should be at 0, which it is.

But a quick caution to anyone using part distilled/RO water: It's best to mix it with some of the aquarium or conditioned tap water first, then putting it slowly into the tank. Reason is, I found the distilled water I was using has a 6.4 PH. That's a big shock, pouring it straight into a 7.8 PH tank! So I figure it's best to "dilute" it first.

Csmike, do you have any additional info that you think might be causing the eggs to drop? You're sure you have some mature males in your tank and all that?

Also, you said KH is 3.4 - that sounds a little low...

-GB

Yes, BC Canada water is absolutely soft. KH is 0 or 1. I bring the kh up to 3.4 so I can add co2 into the tank for the moss to grow better.


I don't know what else I added to cause the drop of eggs. I have them with my tigers and they're doing great and having babies.

I don't know it matters but I got these couple cherrys a month. Could it be that they still not getting use to the water conditions?

Hmm, if your Tigers are doing great, then your water's probably okay and I personally wouldn't mess with it much. Perhaps it's simply that the Cherries might prefer a little harder water, but you could wait and see if they come around with a little more time.

Also, do you have the Tigers in much larger numbers than the Cherries? If so, I wonder if there could be some stress over that. I've not had that combination, but have read of other combos in which one kind dominates the other. Maybe someone else has some experience in that arena.

-GB