# Nitrate VS cherry Shrimp



## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

how much nitrate red cherry shrimp could tolerate.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

When they start dying they've had enough.


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## EKLiu (Jan 14, 2010)

I had a bunch die at 40 ppm nitrate. So you probably want to aim lower than that.


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## deleted_user_6 (Jun 19, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> When they start dying they've had enough.


Best answer! roud:

It'd be hard to tell you exactly what ppm concentration that they'll start dying. There are a lot of variables that come into play, such as if the shrimp are already stressed from some other issue, other water parameters, life stage/age of shrimps, etc.
The best you are going to get is "my shrimp died at this ppm", but it may or may not hold true in your aquatic environment.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I've had some RCS live through 30 ppm. lol 

Don't ask, it was when I first started keeping shrimp.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

80ppm so far was the record where they where breeding and fine in my own tanks. But this was a dosing error, not on purpose. Still, if you cannot hit +/-10ppm, you likely are in the wrong hobby when it comes to dosing KNO3.

I add 45ppm per week to most of the tanks where I have them and routinely remove hundreds. They breed like flies.

I think you have no worries hitting a wide non limiting ppm for plants for NO3 and also having no ill effects on cherry shrimps. Same for temp, but they do better at lower temps.

Still, I yank out lots at 84F each month from a couple of my tanks.

Also, make CERTAIN the NO3 test kit is actually accurate and true, run against a known standard. If not, you are guessing what the NO3 is.
Might as well flip a coin.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## deleted_user_6 (Jun 19, 2010)

plantbrain said:


> Also, make CERTAIN the NO3 test kit is actually accurate and true, run against a known standard. If not, you are guessing what the NO3 is.
> Might as well flip a coin.


This is really true. My API nitrate tests were so far off from all the standard solutions, that I don't even bother with it anymore. One out of two kits I tried didn't even respond to a 50ppm standard solution. Your mileage may vary.


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

plantbrain said:


> 80ppm so far was the record where they where breeding and fine in my own tanks. But this was a dosing error, not on purpose. Still, if you cannot hit +/-10ppm, you likely are in the wrong hobby when it comes to dosing KNO3.
> 
> I add 45ppm per week to most of the tanks where I have them and routinely remove hundreds. They breed like flies.
> 
> ...



hi tom, my goal is to keep the plants and my pets happy but its very hard to keep the stable nitrate, sometime i end up over dosing due to organic buildup in the tank which also create extra nitrate. i always dosed 24ppm of nitrate, 6ppm 4x week. if you think there is no need to add this much then at what number should i keep it. 10ppm of nitrate is too low IMO. 

thank you


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

I dose roughly 20ppm 3x a week in my tank. If I were to wait 3 days, I can't detect nitrate in my water. I don't think you really need to worry about contributions to nitrate from fish waste unless you're grossly overstocked, overfeeding, or keeping huge fish. The plants should be tearing through that faster than it can build up if you have a heavily planted tank.

I'm of the opinion that adding KNO3 is not the same as having waste nitrates in your tank. I don't have any data to back that up, so feel free to call me a hack.


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## Whitebeam (Jul 29, 2010)

I start with nitrate >= 25ppm in my tap water, thanks to the local farmers and water sourced from chalk boreholes. My tank always ends the week at 25ppm < Nitrate < 50ppm (calibrated API and Salifert kits - thanks to Tom's nagging :icon_roll). I'll get more precise at this once I've finished my colorimeter. :smile:

My RCS seem perfectly happy in this mix.

Peter


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

i guess RCS could become hardy over time, i recently bought 10 of them for 80 cent each and waiting to see how well they will handle my water. currently my tank is not heavy planted but soon it will be.


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