# What is the ideal pH for Red Cherry Shrimps?



## lilflippy

Please respond back with details thanks


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## chad320

I cant say for certain that its the ideal Ph, but all of my tanks are at 6.5 and do great.


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## lilflippy

chad320 said:


> I cant say for certain that its the ideal Ph, but all of my tanks are at 6.5 and do great.


Yeah so i tested my pH it is at 8.4 is that to high for my Red Cherry Shrimps?


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## chad320

You should be informed that Ph test kits arent necessarily accurate unless theyve been calibrated against a known Ph. With that being said, yes, thats a little high for their comfort zone. Try buying a jug of ro/di or distilled water to bring it down a little.


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## Edman30

8.4 is to high for RCS(red cherry shrimp). 6-8 is there range of PH


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## lilflippy

Edman30 said:


> 8.4 is to high for RCS(red cherry shrimp). 6-8 is there range of PH


So can i use this product?

*Proper pH 7.5*


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## Da Plant Man

NO! Don't use that! It is bad, someone else I hope will be more elaborate. I keep cherries with a pH of around 8.4 and they are fine.


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## lilflippy

Caton said:


> NO! Don't use that! It is bad, someone else I hope will be more elaborate. I keep cherries with a pH of around 8.4 and they are fine.


How about a pH of 6.8 to 7.2 would this be more ideal?


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## EntoCraig

My tap water is 8.4

But by the time it has settled in my tank its about 7.6-7.8

I dont use any buffs to lower it.

My Cherry shrimp colonies are breeding like CRAZY. Water temp is also about 76-80. (I have 2 breeding tanks)


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## Hoppy

Cherry shrimp are extremely rugged shrimp, able to live quite well in canister filters, in HOB fiters, behind backgrounds inside the tank, and probably in any water that any fresh water fish do OK in. Obviously it would be possible to have water that is too high in pH or too low in pH, but you are more likely to screw up the water by adding stuff to it to adjust the pH than by just accepting what ever your tank pH ends up at.


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## Jane of Upton

I agree,

don't add the pH "adjuster" - those are temporary fixes, and drastic changes in pH are far worse than a consistent pH that is a bit towards the edge of the "preferred" range. 

-Jane


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## TeamTeal

EntoCraig said:


> My tap water is 8.4
> 
> But by the time it has settled in my tank its about 7.6-7.8
> 
> I dont use any buffs to lower it.
> 
> My Cherry shrimp colonies are breeding like CRAZY. Water temp is also about 76-80. (I have 2 breeding tanks)


wow 76-80? 
i have no heater in my tank in this cooling nor cal weather, and they are breeding like crazy too


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## EntoCraig

TeamTeal said:


> wow 76-80?
> i have no heater in my tank in this cooling nor cal weather, and they are breeding like crazy too


They seem to breed faster in my 80 tank which is only 1.5 gallons. My 10g breeder is at 76 and they do breed but not as much as the 1.5... Once a month I transfer 10-20 juveniles from the 1.5 to the 10g. I think i might up the temp on the 10g...

I'm surprised they are breeding in your cold water. I was under the impression that 'summer' warm water was their breeding season.


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## hbosman

I keep my Red Cherries in a 46 gallon heavily planted at 75 degrees. The tank also has about 20 Cardinal Tetras and 10 Hengels Rasboras. The fish haven't managed to deplete the RCS population much so, I'd have to agree they are hard to kill. My water's total hardness is about 137 ppm, kdh about 4-5 and ph before CO2 is about 7.6 and 6.4 after CO2 injection. Funny, before I put a sponge on the intake of my canister filter, I had a colony of RCS thriving in there as well.

If the fish eat too many RCS, I might take the sponge off the canister again until I have enough shrimp to replenish the tank.


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## Captivate05

Test your GH and KH. If they are very hard, you can SLOWLY adjust it with RO water. RO shouldn't have any real amount of minerals in it, so it will "soften" the water. Depending on how hard or soft your water is, you can mix the RO with your tap during WCs.


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