Red Cherry Shrimp Tank

[sub-80]

Originally Posted by theericafish

Females will have a saddle. It looks like an orange saddle right behind their head on their upper back.

Be careful with fluctuating ph, it can kill the shrimp.

GH and KH are pretty important also, I learned the hard way.

I ended up putting coral bones in my filter to solve that issue, it raises the ph, kh, and gh.

Anyway, heres how I learned=
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...52#post1971652

Oh yeah, most algae wafers are pretty high in protein and if your gh/kh is low(low amounts of minerals in the water) you can actually kill your shrimp by overfeeding because they wont have enough minerals to generate a new shell before they bust out of their old one. In your pictures you can see the shrimp having a line in the center of their body, that seemed to be what was happening before mine had started dying. With moss in the tank they wont starve, I usually feed mine algae wafers twice a week and they get some flakes that the fish miss.

Not trying to be scary or anything, rcs are pretty easy to keep, shrimp in general are still less hardy than fish in my experience though.

The PH reached 7.4 then lowered to 7.12 and stabilized at that value. The mineral powder states if you dlose correctly, the parameters will be the following: GH 4, KH 1-2, pH 7.4, conductance 75 µS.

I drop one Shirakura Ebi Dama Special pellet and I won't drop another until its finished.

[sub-80]

Originally Posted by accordztech

For your temps, I noticed that my cherry shrimps bred much more at lower temps below 77 degrees. I have them at 74 currently.

I like that data logger, is that all real time?

I have the Fluval heater set at 26C but the heater is showing 25C and the seneye is showing 24.3C.

The seneye device has readings taken at 30 minute intervals.

[sub-80]

Originally Posted by accordztech

For your temps, I noticed that my cherry shrimps bred much more at lower temps below 77 degrees. I have them at 74 currently.

Some say RCS breed better at warmer temperatures 25-27C, like this article in wikihow and Aquariuminfo. The majority of sites state this fact.

And shrimp farm states to keep at the temp and the PH anywhere but the extremes, which to me makes sense that RCS would breed better at an average of the range.

There was a site which I can't seem to find, which stated that the optimium temp is 74-75F.

At the end I've decided to go with the large number of srticles that state 25-27C is the best breeding temp. My only problem is that my fluval 100W heater wont get to that temp. It reaches 24.5C and stays at that value.

[accordztech]

Originally Posted by sub-80

Some say RCS breed better at warmer temperatures 25-27C, like this article in wikihow and Aquariuminfo. The majority of sites state this fact.

And shrimp farm states to keep at the temp and the PH anywhere but the extremes, which to me makes sense that RCS would breed better at an average of the range.

There was a site which I can't seem to find, which stated that the optimium temp is 74-75F.

At the end I've decided to go with the large number of srticles that state 25-27C is the best breeding temp. My only problem is that my fluval 100W heater wont get to that temp. It reaches 24.5C and stays at that value.

Yea people have their opinions. FOr some reason at any low temp mine breed like hell. Try anything after a few months to see if things change. Its all about finding the sweet spot.

[sub-80]

added a question about breeding time

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Installing Pressurized CO2 into the tank until the DHG matures. Do I need to add an air stone and how many CO2 bubbles per second should I set it?

[Unikorn]

I recently killed all of my RCS using pressurized CO2. I was not dosing high amounts or anything either.

[sub-80]

Originally Posted by Unikorn

I recently killed all of my RCS using pressurized CO2. I was not dosing high amounts or anything either.

How large is your tank?

How many bubbles per sec were you dosing?

Was an air stone present?

Could it have been PH fluctuation that killed them?

[Unikorn]

Originally Posted by sub-80

How large is your tank?

How many bubbles per sec were you dosing?

Was an air stone present?

Could it have been PH fluctuation that killed them?

Standard 20 gallon tank
I have a sponge filter in the tank along with the canister filter
I was dosing 1-2 bubbles per second, from the information I've gathered from other TPT member's help, yes the PH swings will kill the shrimp.

[sub-80]

Did you have an airstone in the tank?

[Unikorn]

Isn't that is what runs the sponge filter? Do I need an additional air line?

[sub-80]

I switched from the sponge filter to an HOB and the sponge filter without the inline connected to the sponge filter and the oxygen was at 8.3 with inline 8.4 and when I have the HOB 8.0-8.2 depending on the height of water.

[Hardstuff]

My Ph swings from 7.5 to 6.4 almost every day but I only have 3 cherries in a fish / planted tank with pressurized CO2 & my shrimp are doing really well. Although I am not sure if they are too old to breed. I have been told that 2 or 3 shrimp in a heavy planted tank are not going to breed. I also read that that the stripe down the middle actually means the shrimp are getting older NOT dying. My RCS shrimp have had a stripe down the middle now for 5 months & they are still doing well. If they died in the next few months I doubt it was because the stripe appeared but more because they died of old age. The stripe means they are old shrimp. Young cherry reds do not get the stripe until they are at least a year old or more.
If my shrimp were more plentiful & younger they probably would have breed by now. I doubt the ph swings are really that bad because in nature the ph swings a lot. It is probably a myth the ph thing. If your shrimp are breeding with a steady ph than it is probably because all else is good.
1 last thing. I do not always consider breeding the only indication that a species is doing well. All it takes is 1 thing that can turn the corner for breeding but the species can still be doing well. My 2 cents

[sub-80]

WTH? I thought a made a second post here?

[sub-80]

Second Continuation

Updates:

1. Replaced the Sponge filter with Eheim HOB (2042) with Fluval prefilter; The oxygen dissolved was reduced from 8.4 to 8.0.
2. Bought some more shrimp; Currently have 10 RCS and 4 Amano/Yamato Shrimp.
3. Placed a Fluval Ceramics Shrimp Tube. To enhance the chances of breeding.
4. Installed a pressurized Co2 syste; 4Kg aluminum cylinder, Miluawkee Regulator set at 1 bubble every 4 seconds and Aquili 3cm corner Co2 diffuser.
5. Increased Temperature to 27C (80.6F) ; the corner where the Java Moss is gets an average of 25C (77F)
6. Installed a Dupla drop checker. Light green.

Objective: Red Cherry Breeding and Nicely planted tank.

Question 9: Have a huge number of snails, should I get rid of them or should I keep them, since I don't pick up remaining food? Will they affect the shrimp breeding?