# CO2 and cherry red shrimp careful!



## mmfish (Dec 24, 2008)

I gradually added CO2 to my shrimp tank, and ended up losing quite a few. I gradually lowered the ph over2 weeks. My conclusion is that it's a bad idea to use it with shrimp. 
Thoughts?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Did you shut off CO2 and let it all gas out before adding the shrimp in? If you didn't that iwll kill them gradually.

Another reason could be that you ramped up the CO2 too quickly which also can kill the shrimp. It needs to be very slow after the shrimp are successfully acclimated.

But yes, CO2 is quite harmful to shrimp.


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## allaboutfish (Oct 14, 2011)

what about DIY Co2 would that be harmful to the shrimp?(not trying to take over the thread)


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

As long as you shut it off a day before and gas all the CO2 out (by turning on a bubbler) before acclimating the shrimp there won't be a problem. Make sure you slowly ramp the CO2 back up. SLOWLY. Also, at night you want to make sure not to gas your shrimp so either shut off your CO2 or if that is too difficult then put a bubbler on a timer. If you follow all of those steps your shrimp will be fine with CO2.


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## mmfish (Dec 24, 2008)

diwu13 said:


> Did you shut off CO2 and let it all gas out before adding the shrimp in? If you didn't that iwll kill them gradually.
> 
> Another reason could be that you ramped up the CO2 too quickly which also can kill the shrimp. It needs to be very slow after the shrimp are successfully acclimated.
> 
> But yes, CO2 is quite harmful to shrimp.


I started without the CO2 for months and gradually added via regulator and bubble counter. Over two weeks I increased the bubble count and then a die off. Conclusion, careful with CO2, best not to use it in a shrimp tank.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Did you turn the CO2 off at night? Do you have any surface agitation?


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## doonie (Oct 27, 2011)

two words DROP CHECKER . I haven't lost a shrimp in any of my tanks with co2. A bubble counter only tells you what you are putting in the tank not what is being used. And if you left the co2 on with the lights off that is your problem.


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## DerekFF (May 24, 2011)

I have DIY CO2 on my 10g with RCS and they are all doing fine. (was added after the shrimp had been there for months) Its only running about 1 bubble/3-5seconds but the shrimp are still making babies like rabbits.


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## damenblankenship (Nov 11, 2010)

ok c02 is bad, what about excel?


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## doonie (Oct 27, 2011)

co2 isn't bad, people that don't understand how to use it is bad. 

Excel is the same thing use to much and every thing dies , pretty simple 


people need to use common sense , with dosing any thing that goes into a tank


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

damenblankenship said:


> ok c02 is bad, what about excel?


Excel is perfectly safe with shrimp. Unless you overdose 10x the amount you won't have any problems. Just try not to dose on top of a shrimp


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## 1987 (Jan 27, 2007)

doonie said:


> co2 isn't bad, people that don't understand how to use it is bad.
> 
> Excel is the same thing use to much and every thing dies , pretty simple
> 
> ...


If you do it right, CO2 will not cause deaths. It needs to be balanced. You can't just crank it up, and forget about it.

You have to slowly over time, for me it's about a week increase it until your shrimp are ok plus your plants are happy.


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## ProjectCode619 (Oct 29, 2011)

Currently my gf and I have a 12G CRS tank that we dose CO2 24/7 with .5-1bps and eveything is doing just fine, they are even breeding and very active. Got 1 prego shrimp so far and we are talkin about SS-SSS CRS here. 

The problem would most likely be the inconsistency in the pH level. Keep it as constant as possible and you should be fine. DIYs are more risky because you really can't control the CO2 output.


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## joekidwell (Aug 7, 2011)

I must have super shrimp cause two months ago I put in 18 red cherry shrimp with 6 bps of co2 going and didn't lose any i even have babies now.


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## mmfish (Dec 24, 2008)

Thank you for all the comments. The problem it seems, was in the bubble counter exit port being clogged. The bubbles expressed small and slowly and were less noticed. I've cleaned it out and now see much more "crisp" bubbles, starting at 1bps, and increasing 1bps per week


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Yea so it seems like you gassed your shrimp. Make sure to get some surface agitation in the dark as well! Good luck!


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## zergling (May 16, 2007)

Add more surface movement (not exactly agitation, but you should see ripples).

When I was experimenting with reef-worthy lighting on my tank, my pH would drop from 7.6 to all the way down 6.0 for the entire 8 hour photoperiod. No problems whatsoever with my RCS, and they actually have already bred in my tank. At kH 2 and pH 6.0, I'm somewhere around 59ppm of CO2 according to the chart (I know it's not 100% accurate, but use it as a relative estimate).

Now, I do turn off the CO2 during lights out. I also have a Koralia Nano Evolution 240gph that provides good surface movement.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

That pH swing would sure kill off anything besides neocaridina :X. I assume it'll swing back up to 7.6 over night as well?


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## zergling (May 16, 2007)

diwu13 said:


> That pH swing would sure kill off anything besides neocaridina :X. I assume it'll swing back up to 7.6 over night as well?


I have 13 no entry hinomaru CRS and a dozen or two of amano's that disagrees. The CRS have only been in the tank for a week, though, so I need more time to see if they will breed.

Now, the shrimp experts will definitely balk at the notion of CRS and CO2, so it's wiser to follow their advice. I may have 20+ on and off years with freshwater planted tanks (mostly planted), but I'm definitely a NOOB when it comes to shrimp.

Also, the pH doesn't swing back up to 7.6 overnight, as it takes waaaay more than 16 hours to de-gas close to 60ppm of CO2 with my surface water movement. In fact, it's more close to 48 hours to de-gas all that CO2 - if I put tank water in an open container to let it sit and de-gas.

Now that I've stopped my reef-worthy high light experiment, and that hetch hetchy water has dropped in pH, I only CO2 inject down to 5.9. If I put tank water aside and let sit for 48 hours, it goes to 7.0.


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## AnthonyL (Nov 18, 2011)

How would you go about introducing RCS to a tank with slightly soft water and pressurized CO2 (3 dKH and roughly 1 BPS for a 55g)? Completely shut off the CO2 for a few days prior and leave off for how long?


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## zergling (May 16, 2007)

AnthonyL said:


> How would you go about introducing RCS to a tank with slightly soft water and pressurized CO2 (3 dKH and roughly 1 BPS for a 55g)? Completely shut off the CO2 for a few days prior and leave off for how long?


I personally drip acclimate. 1-2 drops per second, until pH and temp of their water matches that of the tank. 

Usually, the bucket water gets colder than the tank, so I wait until pH is matched, put the fish/shrimp in a small plastic container, then I float it on the tank until the temp is matched.

I've seen the shut off CO2 recommendation many times, but personally never tried it.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

AnthonyL said:


> How would you go about introducing RCS to a tank with slightly soft water and pressurized CO2 (3 dKH and roughly 1 BPS for a 55g)? Completely shut off the CO2 for a few days prior and leave off for how long?


You can shut the CO2 off the day before introducing shrimp. Just run a bubbler or anything with surface agitation and the CO2 will gas out right away. Afterwards acclimate the shrimp any way you normally would. Then, slowly increase the CO2 back up. Slowly is key.


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## AnthonyL (Nov 18, 2011)

Ah okay. I did a 24hr acclimation and seeing as most died, it must have been because I didn't shut the CO2 off (aside from at night). I'll be sure to try it next time.


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## Jimmyblues (Dec 16, 2010)

*CO2 And Dwarf Shrimp*



mmfish said:


> I gradually added CO2 to my shrimp tank, and ended up losing quite a few. I gradually lowered the ph over2 weeks. My conclusion is that it's a bad idea to use it with shrimp.
> Thoughts?



I was also concerned about adding some RCS to my planted aquaria, since
I use DIY CO2. However, it's turned out not be problematic, since unlike
pressurized CO2, DIY CO2 tends not to overwhelm an aquarium the way that pressurized CO2 does.

I also use a minimal amount of sugar (1/2 cup, 1/3 tsp yeast, pinch of baking soda) and get about two weeks of fairly consistent CO2 production
before the mixture needs to be replaced.

In my opinion, if you are using pressurized CO2 in a planted aquarium, I'd think twice before adding any type of dwarf shrimp.

However, if you are using DIY CO2, you're probably safe adding some shrimp. Just keep a watchful eye on them for the first hour or so to make sure that they are not laboring in anyway. And do the same whenever you replace your CO2 mixture, since the mixture is usually going to be a bit stronger at first.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

Jimmyblues said:


> I was also concerned about adding some RCS to my planted aquaria, since
> I use DIY CO2. However, it's turned out not be problematic, since unlike
> pressurized CO2, DIY CO2 tends not to overwhelm an aquarium the way that pressurized CO2 does.
> 
> In my opinion, if you are using pressurized CO2 in a planted aquarium, I'd think twice before adding any type of dwarf shrimp.


It's actually quite easy to fine tune the amount of co2 you put in an aquarium with a pressurized setup. I would try it out.


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## levian (Apr 30, 2013)

Yeah, no problem using pressurized CO2 with dwarf shrimps here. (Only 1 bps on my 70 gal, so that's pretty much safe)


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## Ebi-san (Jul 16, 2014)

True, co2 is doable, but should be dosed properly that won't stress the shrimp. Usually the fast fluctuation in PH and osmotic stress is cause of the shrimp.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

I use co2. 
But without a solenoid. I'm injecting ~1 bps 24-7. 

No ph swing and properly oxygenated. No deaths and breeding like crazy.


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

My best breeding shrimp tank was a 75g with CO2 at about 1bps.


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