# Cherry Shrimp PH 8.0



## Goon (Feb 12, 2013)

Hello, my cherry shrimp tank is sitting with a ph of 8.0. I think this is why they are not breeding. What is the safest method to get it down about 6.5 without taking the shrimp out?


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## scotty b (Oct 23, 2012)

how long have you had your shrimp? what are the other water parameters ? 
i have a breeding group in a ph of 8 are you sure ph is the issue ?


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## bankruptjojo (Feb 9, 2013)

mine are breeding like crazy in 7.8ph. i dont think 8 is to high, cherry shrimp are very easy. i find they breed much less when there are other fish present. are there any?

heay scotty, dont i know you form fishlore?


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## Goon (Feb 12, 2013)

nope its just them in a 10 gallon tank full of plants. With a temp of 78, the tds of the water is 200. Im not sure of the other parameters but I do 30-50% weekly water changes. Ive had them for about 3 months


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## bankruptjojo (Feb 9, 2013)

very strange, well if you want to try something id add some peat to your filter. what kind of filter do you have? if its a sponge filter you cant add peat to that... so you need a HOB or internal filter that is also shrimp safe. i know some people add it to there substrate so maybe you can push it down into that but im not for sure on that.

here is some peat.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Lower the temperature a little like 75F.


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## bankruptjojo (Feb 9, 2013)

sayurasem said:


> Lower the temperature a little like 75F.


mine are doing fine in 80f. not saying it wont help just putting it out there.


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## scotty b (Oct 23, 2012)

maybe add some java moss? for some reason shrimp LOVE java moss

@ bankruptjojo yes I'm on fishlore also


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Why would you want to lower your ph to 6.5 for cherry shrimp?

Neos do best in 7+ . In fact several breeders keep theirs in 8+. 

How long have you had these shrimp?


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## jspk (Oct 7, 2012)

My cherries breed fine in 80F and 7.6 pH.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Goon said:


> nope its just them in a 10 gallon tank full of plants. With a *temp of 78*, the tds of the water is 200. Im not sure of the other parameters but I do *30-50% weekly water changes*. Ive had them for about 3 months


You might want to consider lowering the % WC you are doing lol. 30% is my maximum I change out, and I only do WC every 2-3 weeks.

Temperature @ 78 isn't that big of a factor but may help if you lower it. Better gauges of why your RCS might not be breeding is gH and kH but they may be fine considering your TDS


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## Goon (Feb 12, 2013)

bankruptjojo said:


> very strange, well if you want to try something id add some peat to your filter. what kind of filter do you have? if its a sponge filter you cant add peat to that... so you need a HOB or internal filter that is also shrimp safe. i know some people add it to there substrate so maybe you can push it down into that but im not for sure on that.
> 
> here is some peat.
> Amazon.com: EHEIM Torf Pellets Chemical Filtration (Filter Peat with Net Bag) 1L: Pet Supplies


I have a HOB filter with a sponge prefilter so the shrimp stay safe. I do have some peat, if I put it in the filter will it be a gradual enough change not to hurt the cherries that are in there?


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## bankruptjojo (Feb 9, 2013)

shrimpzoo said:


> You might want to consider lowering the % WC you are doing lol. 30% is my maximum I change out, and I only do WC every 2-3 weeks.
> 
> Temperature @ 78 isn't that big of a factor but may help if you lower it. Better gauges of why your RCS might not be breeding is gH and kH but they may be fine considering your TDS


iv always done 50% weekly  seems like everyone dose something diff when it comes to cherrys lol. 

making sure they have plenty of food will help. 

how many cherry shrimp do you have?

add peat slowly and watch ph, your tap ph will stay the same so i wouldnt lower it to much.


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## gabysapha (Oct 26, 2011)

Just want to add my experience. The best production Ive seen from my RCS is when I forgot about them. Didn't touch them, did tiny water changes every week or two weeks, basically kept the tank as stable as possible. But packed it with moss and duckweed.

All of my tanks have ph 8.6 (yup...) and it's VERY hard. Crusty, almost. 

I keep my RCS at room temperature, which is usually 65. 

I think stability is more important than ph....?


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## CookieM (Feb 7, 2012)

gabysapha said:


> Just want to add my experience. The best production Ive seen from my RCS is when I forgot about them. Didn't touch them, did tiny water changes every week or two weeks, basically kept the tank as stable as possible. But packed it with moss and duckweed.
> 
> All of my tanks have ph 8.6 (yup...) and it's VERY hard. Crusty, almost.
> 
> ...


+1 Yes ignore the RCS tank. Come back a month later and you'll see a big population increase. Also do less water change, let nature take it course, just don't over feed to spikes up anything unnecessary.


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## 82nd_Airborne (Mar 28, 2012)

I'm with the be patient crowd. My cherries were slow to breed, now i can't stop them. Do you see saddled females? How many shrimp so you have currently? Do you see good molts and no deaths?


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