# Red Cherry Shrimp Issues



## ric44 (Dec 4, 2012)

Guys Ive tried to raise these on several occasions and never had much luck. They seem to thrive for a while then as time goes on I see a gradual decline in their numbers. Never really saw them raise either. I took reasonable care of them and the last few I had were in the same small tank with some endlers. I did see a few eggy females but never any offspring. I have my own well here and while ive never really had it tested I would assume the water is slightly hardand medium PH. The only thing Im lax on is water changes.........might this be the reason they dont do well ? I did add for evaporated water on a regular basis . I see a lot of folks who seem to be overun with these in a short period of time and am curious why I cant raise them ? Thanks for your insight.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Well for one thing your endlers will snack on all that are small and at times tear up adults.


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## ric44 (Dec 4, 2012)

Sound like a dedicated tank will be in order then ....?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Having had them in tanks/w fancy tailed Guppies, the Guppies will eat all the babies. Then too they smell the RCS molt
and look for the one that did and if they find it they take it out...easy meal. With a little bit of plants they often miss that molt
though or I wouldn't have any left.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

ric44 said:


> Sound like a dedicated tank will be in order then ....?


Or a large tank/w a congested aria of plants especially like floating Hortworth.


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## TheShrimpFarm.com (Apr 28, 2011)

I would never keep them in a tank with the endlers, if I were you. Cause getting cherry shrimp to multiply should be pretty easy. Maybe if you had a heavily planted tank (good hiding places), you could get to a semi-decent population. So I bet if you had yourself a dedicated tank, you'll be seeing a bunch of babies in no time.

If you DO get another tank just for them, you might as well use that as a good excuse to get the well water tested. Heck, ya never know what you might find. If you have trouble in the future with the RCS, the testing could help determine what's going on.

Hope it goes well


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## ric44 (Dec 4, 2012)

Getting it tested today at a local pool store. I have a 5 or a 10 gal tank I could set up.......which would you all advise ? Thanks, Brad.


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## TheShrimpFarm.com (Apr 28, 2011)

I say, the bigger the tank, the better....A few RCS in a tank can turn into a few hundred in no time. But if you got too many in your 10 gal., you could always sell some on the forums or such.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

For the life of me I can't remember where I read it, but recently read that pellet type food works better for the shrimp.
Seems the fish eat the flake before the shrimp can get it. I mentioned this because I just bought a container of fish food
in pellet form from Petco(on-line) and have had it for about a week + and just started feeding it regularly to my tank/w
the RCS in it. Can't say it's the only factor cause I changed the substrate Sept. 12th and added a couple of new plants
plus replanted the old ones in a new "scape" so who knows how much that contributed but...in the last week I've seen
an old skin(shed) each day now. Some days like today, I have four in there or two or three each day. Used to be one or
two a week. Apparently getting a regular supply of food has done them good. I do use another one that is in pellet form
but didn't notice all the shedding before I got the one from Petco.
Petco Color Enhancing Carnivore Pellets at PETCO


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Water changes are still in order for shrimp and their relatively lighter bio loads. I would go no longer than 2wks and if I did go that long would do at least 40%. Smaller tanks and water changes take less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee. All of your values may be where they need to be (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate), but this does not mean all is good. Truth is changing the water is just the more solid way to verify it is NOT an issue with lack of maintenance. Cleaning the filter weekly would also be advisable.


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## ric44 (Dec 4, 2012)

Been busy but finally got my well water tested. PH= 5.9 TDS=0 Hardness=0 Nitrates=0.05 .
So looks like my PH is running pretty low. What should I do to raise it ? Thanks


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

You can up the PH and add calcium by adding crushed coral substrate. I use it with shrimp and crayfish.


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