# Cherry Red Shrimp- acidic pH



## aquasox (Sep 3, 2005)

I'm thinking of getting some cherry red shrimps for a ten gallon that has extra clippings. I've got DIY CO2 (Hagen Ladder) which produce 30+ ppm of CO2. kH is generally around 4 and pH is around 6.3.

Is this too acidic (and too high CO2) for survival and breeding of cherry red shrimp? Anybody have and success with these parameters?

BTW I have pregnant amano shrimp in different tanks with same parameters.

Thanks in advance


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

Cherries will live in that water but breeding will be very slow if at all. Best bet would be to go with bee shrimp or crystal reds. They love the low pH. 30ppm of co2 is fine!


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## ianiwane (Sep 7, 2004)

I have cherries in very acidic water, they are breeding like mad. pH close to 6.0. I even have them in with a pair of rams. Just cleaned my canister filter and pulled out like 20-30 of them out of it. This is in my 60cm ada tank.


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## aquasox (Sep 3, 2005)

The crystal reds would seem ideal...then I looked at the price...I've seen some varieties sell for $90.00 , but generally around 15-30.

ianwane...thats really good to know about the pH, because the pH in my 10 gallon generally hovers around 6.2-6.3 range. I'm going to give the cherries a shot first.


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## Youjin (Mar 15, 2006)

it is a good idea to start with the cherry shrimp 1st as it is much cheaper (less than $2 each cherry reds compared to at least $15 each crystal reds).

After some time, you will be able to buy some crystal reds and mix them in and will not have cross breeding problems (that is what i saw in vinnymac thread).

I am taking the same route and my PH is only about 6.5 and the cherry reds are starting to reproduce.


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## Kayakbabe (Sep 4, 2005)

I keep my cherries at 6.3 pH and Kh=8-10 and Gh=7-9 they breed faster than rabbits! I think the key is that they need some calcium and iodine. 

I also noticed that the sex of the offspring seems to be influenced by temperature. Higher tank temps seem to result in a much higher proportion males.. at least in my setup. I haven't reseached freshwater shrimp biology much but I do know many inverts have temp influenced sexual development. I'm still playing with testing this and probably going to so something more scientific and with a control at some point. I'd love to sell males to my LFS and keep the females. LOL.. yeah I'm a captilist... LOL.


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## aquasox (Sep 3, 2005)

Interesting that sex may be determined by temp...I think that happens in crocodiles or alligators if I'm not mistaken...cool.

I've got CaCl2. What would be recommended as a good source of iodine and in what concentration?


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## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

CaCl2 shouldn't have any iodine in it. That's Calcium Chloride. Iodine is different.

Also, iodine is typically a requirement for saltwater inverts, not freshwater. My Cherries are fine (and plenty prolific) without any iodine other than what's in the food.


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## aquasox (Sep 3, 2005)

With the CaCl2, what I'm referring to is that I have the means to get the desired concentration of calcium in the tank :biggrin:


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## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

Ah. OK. I don't know that a lot of calcium is needed, either. If you've got acceptable hardness in your water you should be good. $.02


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## aquasox (Sep 3, 2005)

I can agree with that, but we got very soft water here in Vancouver. gH without addition of calcium or magnesium is essentially zero according to test kits. I keep Ca around 40 ppm. Thanks for the advice though.


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## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

Ah. That's a different story.


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