[blacksheep998]

It would appear that I'm going to have an empty tank soon. My glofish are having problems. Tumors keep killing them. I did some research and found that this seems to be a common problem among many danio breeds. So as much as I loved my little genetic mutant fish, it's time to move on from them to something new.

My yellow and red cherry shrimp are doing great though. The reds are finally getting berried. Three of the females are carrying a tail full of eggs. But two of them have green eggs, not yellow like red cherries usually have in pictures. Defiantly some wild-type mixing going on in the gene pool. Honestly though, I'm liking the green eggs. Quite pretty.

Anyway, I'm thinking it will soon be time to step up to the shrimp that originally got me interested in this hobby, red crystals. I'm just planning at this stage, I still have six glofish and won't be doing anything with their tank as long as they're still alive.

So long as I'm planning though, I may as well get my questions out of the way.

1) My tap water is fairly soft (I will be getting a water hardness test kit sometime soon to find out exactly how soft) and my pH from the tap is just slightly alkaline, around 7.2-7.4. Would amazonia bring that down to the proper levels or do I need RO water? Because I've called all the local pet stores and none of them seem to sell RO water so it could be a problem if I need it. I've heard some people collect rain water and use that in the place of RO water, but I live right outside atlantic city and I'm not sure if I'd trust that water to be clean of contaminants that could harm shrimp.

2) The tank currently has an in-tank filter similar to this. Water is sucked in through the slits on the bottom, so I need a way to cover them or it will suck in any baby shrimp. There's no pre-filter sponge available for this model, so I was thinking of using pantyhose. Basically putting it on the filter like a sock. Anyone try anything like that? And if so, how many layers? I defiantly want more than one in case of rips.

3) I've seen videos of people with mixed tanks of red crystal and black bees, but I hear most people saying that you cant mix related shrimp breeds or they'll lose their colors. Are these an exception or are there still problems with mixing them? Because I really like the look of the mixed red and black shrimp and would like to do my tank like that if possible.

I know there was more I wanted to ask about, but can't remember right now. As always, thanks to everyone. You've all been great with everything I've needed to know. I couldn't have gotten this far without your help.

[runningback82]

Question 1: Amazonia will probably bring the pH down 1 point, but you would be adding 7.2 tap water every time, causing pH fluctuation.

Question 2: You could definitely use a pantyhose, but it may get clogged. I would use only one.

Question 3: They may crossbreed, and some may lose color. I am not sure what will happen.

Also, having green eggs doesn't mean anything happened. Yellow eggs and green eggs are not any different with red-cherry shrimp. I am sorry to hear about the Glofish. Whenever you remember what you forgot, feel free to ask. I will probably anwer soon.

This post has been edited by runningback82: 24 July 2010 - 07:27 PM

[blacksheep998]

Wow, quick response. Thanks for that.

1) I was worried about that. An RO water system is expensive and I really don't have the money for it. I barely have money for the shrimp, lol. I suppose I'll have to test rainwater in my other shrimp tanks and see if they react negatively to it.

2) Thanks for the confirmation on this being possible. I was pretty sure it would work but sometimes I have a hard time telling if my ideas are clever or just crazy.

3) I was looking for more videos of mixed tanks and this popped up on google. Looks like their colors don't blend or fade very often at all.

[runningback82]

You could try to see if your local pet shop has some R/O water, or if your Walmart sells it. Make sure to test the R/O water first, just in case. Remember, rainwater collection might be illegal in your state ... but that doesn't stop a lot of people anyway. I am surprised that the color didn't fade out. That is pretty cool. Good luck with the crystal-red shrimp! :GoodLuck:

[blacksheep998]

We don't really have any small pet stores in the aria anymore. I only know of three within driving distance. One has an excellent reptile collection, but not much in the way of fish. Another is very small and very run down. Skeevy would be the word to describe it really. And the last I refuse to shop at since every single time I've been in there they have dozens of dead fish. I understand that fish die and sometimes you're going to see a couple, but this is just depressing.

I haven't tried walmart as the local one has gotten rid of their entire fish section. And the petsmart salespeople looked at me like I had two heads when I asked about RO water.

I don't think NJ has any laws against rainwater collection though. Or at least I can't find anything about them. So I'll be trying that. Thanks for the advice!

[runningback82]

You are welcome! I am glad to help. Also, the Walmarts that have them don't sell them in their fish sections. They have vending machines.

[AquaGirl]

There is a link to a very inexpensive RO/DI unit below. I have this model and it is a great value for the money. In order to keep Crystal red shrimp, judging by your PH, you will need either a specialized substrate (ADA soil) or a RO unit to lower your PH and prevent fluctuations. You can also use peat or almond leaves which will also lower your PH. I have never used either method to lower my PH so I can not say how good an option it would be for you. A PH of 7.0-7.2 is too high for CRS or CBS, IMHO. You will also need a GH/KH test kit to determine how soft your water is.

CRS are a mutation of the CBS (crystal black shrimp), in other words the CRS shrimp came from the CBS shrimp. It is quite safe to mix them. If you do mix the two shrimp you will get babies of both colors. There is a post here that shows the results of a mixed tank. Hope this helps! :D

As runningback82 has already stated the color of the eggs on Cherry shrimp does not seem to have a bearing on the coloration of the offspring. IMHO



My link

[blacksheep998]

Thanks for the link aquagirl. I think that even I could afford that filter.

[AquaGirl]

blacksheep998, on 02 August 2010 - 09:03 AM, said:

Thanks for the link aquagirl. I think that even I could afford that filter.

Glad that I could help! They are great people to work with and if you have any problems or questions they will be glad to help you. :D

[blacksheep998]

Just ordered that filter, since it looks like I'll be down to 4 fish within the next day or two. I feel bad for the poor little guys but when I think about getting more shrimp it makes me feel better.

Next week I'll start redoing the tank. I'm going to wait on getting the amazonia aquasoil for now, see where my pH and water hardness end up after switching to RO water.

[AquaGirl]

blacksheep998, on 14 August 2010 - 04:15 PM, said:

Just ordered that filter, since it looks like I'll be down to 4 fish within the next day or two. I feel bad for the poor little guys but when I think about getting more shrimp it makes me feel better.

Next week I'll start redoing the tank. I'm going to wait on getting the amazonia aquasoil for now, see where my pH and water hardness end up after switching to RO water.

Sorry to hear that the fish are not making it. You will need to let the RO water sit for awhile before testing it's perimeters. Please let us know how you are doing with the RO unit.

[blacksheep998]

Well I've redone the tank and have another cell phone pic for you all today.

I removed the blue gravel (still a little at the bottom for cycling purposes) and replaced it with a mix of black sand and black gravel. I didn't use all sand this time because I had almost enough sand left over from the other tanks and petsmart only had 25 pound bags. The mix looks good though.

The plants in the middle are amazon swords. I know they'll likely outgrow the tank eventually but I'll worry about that when it happens. Some java moss on the left and a java fern on a driftwood chunk in the other corner.

I didn't try LEDs this time because this tank is nowhere near any natural light source. Instead it's got an 18" florescent grow lamp.

And that fish is hanging in there. He's a trooper, I'll give him that.

My plan once I got the RO filter was to just do a 50% water change with RO water and then see where my parameters were from there. How long to I have to let the tank sit before I can test that?

[TwoHobbies]

blacksheep998, on 17 August 2010 - 05:40 AM, said:

How long to I have to let the tank sit before I can test that?

You can do water tests as often as you want, actually it would be good to do one now to see where you are at, after that weekly test will help tell how it's going.
I wouldn't recommend a 50% RO change with a fish in the tank. Maybe 10-20% per week till you get where you want.

[blacksheep998]

Good point on not shocking the fish. I'll space out the water changes to bring the pH down more gradually.

The water is fine right now. PH around 7.1. No detectable ammonia, NO2 or NO3. My water hardness test is still in the mail so I cant measure that yet, but otherwise everything seems pretty good. I think I'm on a good track for shrimp.

[blacksheep998]

It was a good day today. I got both my water hardness test kit and RO filter. I haven't started playing with the filter yet, but I did get to test my tapwater. For KH I got a reading of 3dKH, which according to the chart is 53.7ppm and 4dGH or 71.6ppm for GH. So that's fairly soft water.

I also bought 20 more red cherries that arrived today (wow it was a good day today) because I ended up with only 5 adult shrimp left and they were all female, 3 of them ready to breed again (and 2 of them were those wild-types. I know I'm probably worrying too much about them diluting the gene pool). These little guy's traveled all the way from CA to NJ so it took a little longer than last time I ordered. And when I opened up the box I was worried. They were were all healthy, but they were actually blue, no hint of red at all. I know their colors fade during shipping but I didnt know they actually change color!

But I got them in the tank and they immediately started feeding, and less than 2 hours later they were already showing red color. The largest in the group is a saddled female and she's already almost as red as my previous shrimp.

[Neonshrimp]

Congratulations on the new shrimp :th_th47b20s0:

It doesn't hurt to select out the best colored shrimp especially if you want to improve the color of your colony/future offspring.

[AquaGirl]

It sure sounds like you had a good day! :sHa_sunny:

Best of luck with the new shrimp. :thumbup:

[blacksheep998]

Got to try out the filter today. It's working great and giving me beautiful water. The pH is around 6.1-6.2 and KH is 1.

The pH in my tank is currently about 7.2 and KH is 3. My plan is to change one gallon of pure RO water into the tank a day until the parameters are correct for the red crystals, which as I understand is around 6.5pH and 1-2KH.

So basically now I'm just waiting for the tank to become free, which probably means that the remaining danios will hang in there for the next 2 years. lol. If they're still around in a month or two I'll see if one of my friends wants them.

[Neonshrimp]

Good to hear your tank setup is working out for you. CRS should be happy in soft water with pH in the range of 6.4-6.8. Be sure to let us know when you get the CRS in there.

[TwoHobbies]

blacksheep998, on 21 August 2010 - 06:08 PM, said:

Got to try out the filter today. It's working great and giving me beautiful water. The pH is around 6.1-6.2 and KH is 1.

The pH in my tank is currently about 7.2 and KH is 3. My plan is to change one gallon of pure RO water into the tank a day until the parameters are correct for the red crystals, which as I understand is around 6.5pH and 1-2KH.

I like that plan a lot better. :tumup: