RCS won't breed?

[ravensgate]

If not you can get them online, I think I got both (they came together) for under $10 on Ebay. KH stands for Carbonate Hardness and GH stands for General Hardness.

[Overgrowth]

I noticed that you do 30% water changes. I think that's a bit too much; aim for 20% MAXIMUM.

[Colorful]

Originally Posted by goodeye--sniper

Sorry!
Ammonia and nitrites were 0, nitrates were 5. Unfortunately I don't have a way to test for the other things. I do a water change every week, about 30%. I don't vacuum the substrate because its sand, I figure that my MTS will take care of anything underneath it. I usually take a solo cup's worth of water off the top.

As far as eggs, I saw them under a female once but they disappeared, like I said I think they got sucked into the filter, which has since been covered up.

The temperature is about 79 degrees.

I think that answers your points!

Does anyone else think his temperature is too high? I always thought the suitable temp was 70-75.

[DoubleT]

Originally Posted by Colorful

Does anyone else think his temperature is too high? I always thought the suitable temp was 70-75.

+1 I was thinking the same thing. I keep mine at 75 degrees

[Fdsh5]

Originally Posted by DoubleT

+1 I was thinking the same thing. I keep mine at 75 degrees

Bingo! My CRS would not breed for me. I lowered the temp to 75 and put in two Indian almond leaves and within a week I found three berried females.

[ravensgate]

The OP has RCS not CRS. CRS don't like high temps...RCS don't mind. 79 is fine and I've kept mine at 80 in the past with breeding constant. They are still breeding now and temp in the tank is 68...and most folks will tell you that's too cold and they won't breed. Everyone will have different experiences but temp wouldn't be the first thing I'd jump to especially if it's in acceptable range.

[GeToChKn]

Originally Posted by ravensgate

The OP has RCS not CRS. CRS don't like high temps...RCS don't mind. 79 is fine and I've kept mine at 80 in the past with breeding constant. They are still breeding now and temp in the tank is 68...and most folks will tell you that's too cold and they won't breed. Everyone will have different experiences but temp wouldn't be the first thing I'd jump to especially if it's in acceptable range.

Ya, my RCS tank varies from 80-82 in the summer to 68-72 right now and I don't really use a fan or heater with them. I have at least 10-15 berried females right now and probably 100 baby to juvi's around right now, so I'm not going to bother with a heater unless it gets a lot colder. They're going good, why mess with it.

[Fdsh5]

Originally Posted by ravensgate

The OP has RCS not CRS. CRS don't like high temps...RCS don't mind. 79 is fine and I've kept mine at 80 in the past with breeding constant. They are still breeding now and temp in the tank is 68...and most folks will tell you that's too cold and they won't breed. Everyone will have different experiences but temp wouldn't be the first thing I'd jump to especially if it's in acceptable range.

My bad. Sorry didn't read the whole post. I have cherries in three tank and like others have said, temps can vary widely. I would have to think it was the water. Possibly ph

[goodeye--sniper]

The water in my area is very hard, I know that. Haven't got a test yet though. That's on tomorrow's agenda!

[goodeye--sniper]

so 20 days later I'm finally able to get to testing the water. it's been a very busy three weeks with Thanksgiving and exams but I finally got a test and was able to test the water.

I got the Mardel 5 in 1 strip--I dislike strip tests but it's all I had.

pH was 8.0, Hardness was 150, and Alkalinity looked like it was at 300... which seems awfully high

[somewhatshocked]

If the strips were on target, that would be a GH of about 8 - which isn't a bad thing for Cherries.

Do you have the ability to get a liquid test kit? As you're aware, test strips really don't provide much help in the realm of, well, testing. I've seen the API Master Freshwater kit for about $15 all over the place online recently. KH & GH kits from both API and Sera can be obtained for under $20 total, as well.

[goodeye--sniper]

I have the master kit already thankfully, too bad it doesn't have kH or GH tests. I will try to find a liquid test this weekend and see what's up.

I had another cherry die yesterday so I need to figure this out

[dprais1]

I'm no expert but...

but I've only ever seen eggs once (which got stuck in the small hole in the back that I didn't notice at first).

that doesn't make sense to me. also is it possible that you just aren't seeing them. I thought I only had a few babies in my sump until I really got close and discovered exactly how small the babies really are, now I realize my original population of 30-40 is well over 100, maybe 150-200. (and I found my do better at 76 temp than they did at 82 temp)

[Soothing Shrimp]

I keep mine around 78-80 and they do fine. Here's a couple questions though,

1) Do you see saddles on any of the shrimp?

2) What kind of filter do you use?

[Hmoobthor]

Originally Posted by goodeye--sniper

I have the master kit already thankfully, too bad it doesn't have kH or GH tests. I will try to find a liquid test this weekend and see what's up.

I had another cherry die yesterday so I need to figure this out

are u addng any type of ferts?