[JosephM]

There’s a lot of contradicting info of best water parameters for breeding and keeping RCS. Obviously ammonia and nitrite at zero and nitrate <20ppm. I have tests for kh, gh, ph, and tds and was wondering what you guys had the best results with. And temp stays around 77° F. Anything will help, thanks!

 

[Zoidburg]

What works best for one person may not be the best for someone else.... so you are likely to get a wide range of answers.

A GH of 6-8 is recommended, but they can handle up to 20-ish GH too! Not too often that they can do well in lower GH.

KH will depend on setup of tank... so 0-16?

pH will once again depend on setup of tank.... most say 6-8 pH... but it may be possible to raise them in lower or higher pH.



If you want to try your best, find a breeder (not importer) of the shrimp you want to keep and try to match their parameters. Then once the parameters are dialed in, the tank is cycled and age, get shrimp from that breeder!

 

[JosephM]

How can I raise my GH? Coming out of the tap it’s at 2 and in my tank it’s at 3 as of yesterday.

 

[Nubster]

Get some GH booster. Maybe SaltyShrimp GH+...great product. NilocG also sells a GH Booster. There's others as well and of course DIY. I've use the SaltyShrimp and I use NilocG ferts so I know both produce a good product. Make sure your KH is in check too. That's what buffers the water and keeps parameters from swinging which is one of the worst things for shrimp.

Also, temp of 77 is on the high side. They will be ok most likely but higher temps will shorten their lifespan. It may also increase breeding so I guess it will even out. Die sooner but more babies.

 

[JosephM]

Get some GH booster. Maybe SaltyShrimp GH+...great product. NilocG also sells a GH Booster. There's others as well and of course DIY. I've use the SaltyShrimp and I use NilocG ferts so I know both produce a good product. Make sure your KH is in check too. That's what buffers the water and keeps parameters from swinging which is one of the worst things for shrimp.

Also, temp of 77 is on the high side. They will be ok most likely but higher temps will shorten their lifespan. It may also increase breeding so I guess it will even out. Die sooner but more babies.

My kh seems to be in check. It looks like you might know a thing or two about ferts too. I tried starting a post in ferts but no one has really gave a good response. It’s pretty heavily planted and I’m using BDBS, high light for 8hrs a day, osmocote in the substrate, and flourish advance for root and stem growth. And I’m hoping to start using ThriveS for water column and excel until/if I’m ready for CO2. What’re your thoughts on that?

 

[en7jos]

I just moved some RCS from my Goldenback's tank (10 GH / 3 KH / ph 7.2 / 250 TDS / 28C) to keep my CRS company in their tank (5 GH / 0 KH / pH <6.0 / 130 TDS / 25C). One was berried in the old tank (can't wait to find out who the daddy was!) and is still happily berried in the new tank. I did a long (12+ hr) drip acclimation and I know that both tanks are in great shape. No deaths, all doing great with their new tank mates.

So don't get too hung up on chasing particular 'must have' water parameters as most cherries are pretty adaptable. Good to find out what they have been bred in and aim for that as a starting point, but other more subtle and less easily quantified factors (e.g. diet, tank maturity, stability) are probably much more significant.