munakgirl Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 So my betta died 2 weeks ago. All that's left is my lone mystery snails. An I was trying to figure out what should come next... An decided I really have always liked shrimp esp after seeing some blue shrimp. The only ones I ever saw local were ghosts and didn't care for those as much Cuz you couldn't ever see them easily. So I did a 50% water change after he died, and again a week later (last weekend) and planed another 20% this weekend. Tested my ammonia and nitrites and both 0. But I had previously lost my ph test formula and card (Along with some other stuff when my sister in law took it upon herself to re-organize a bunch of stuff in the living room and I happen to live it on the shelf out there) well found my formula but not missing cards. Decided to test and check on my phone. It was very low 6.4... normall it's over 7.2... which its fine in my mom's tank Cuz I have coral sand in there to raise the ph to 8.0 for her cichlids. I do have some ph neutralizer which takes it to 7.0. But is that high enough for keeping cherry shrimp and orange eye blue tigers? It's a planted tank but most of my plants were eaten up by my mystery snail sadly... I just got some drift wood and Java moss to add. An need to find some more plants to add that don't need co2 sytem that my snail won't eat. I may have to evict my snail. Haven't decided. I've had him a yr. But he loves water sprite, hornwort, and these lil pink plants I had. Oh! Also I talked to someone who owns shrimp at our local aquarium hobby store and he said normally our tap water is really good, (with a normal conditioner like the stress coat+ I have) but that he adds an additive to help them molt since he noticed that was the only thing they seemed to have trouble with. Maybe low calcium or kh He mentioned. But couldn't remember the name of the product he used. So I figured I'd ask and look around myself (hhe mentioned he gets it online) SurraGync 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Oh yeah! here's a picture of it currently, still haven't added the drift wood (gotta boil it) and Java moss is on its way in mail. Going to remove the lil fake log an try to find some more plants to fill it up... oh and I have this long white mesh net with a draw string I got to put over my filter intake to keep shrimp safe if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGardenofEder Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Salty shrimp gh+ to add to your water. You ph should be a little higher but not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 So I got a little confused reading your post. Is your tap water 6.4? If so.. wow. A Ph of 7 should really be ok for neos and tigers. (neos being your Cherry shirmp) There are blue neos out there too you know? SInce you said you like the blue so much. Look up blue rili, blue diamond, blue pearl, blue velvet , blue dream. Im sure Im forgetting some Neos are the easiest shrimp to keep and if you don't mind a suggestion.. I would choose one kind of Neocaridina shrimp. They come in every color under the rainbow but you can only have one color in your tank. Forget the tigers for a little while. Anyway, choose a type of neo and add those to your tank first. Give them a couple months of watching and waiting. Make sure your tank is stable. Once you have mastered taking care of them, then add the Tigers if you still want them. (by the way, if you like cherries, they are the cheapest and hardiest I only mentioned the blues because you said you were drawn to them) My second suggestion is to go buy a new ph test kit and retest your tap water . If it is around 7 you are golden . If it really is at 6.4 then someday you will be happy about that when you move on to the more advanced difficult to take care of shrimp. hehe. When you have your tank all set, go to the marketplace here and I guarentee you will find a seller who has what you are looking for. If you don't see the kind you want, Make a post that you are "Looking to buy such and such kind of shrimp" Our sellers here are excellent and know their stuff. They also have a feed back page so you can check them out for positive and negative feedback. Hope this helps! miwu, chibikaie and Crazyfishlady 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miwu Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 You'll need to have test kits to know the pH, GH, KH of your water. It's good to know TDS also. Depending on your current tank water and your water source, you'll need to use other products to adjust the mentioned parameters to those suitable for the shrimps you want to keep. This can only be accomplished if you have the test kits and TDS meter. You will also need them if you encounter any problem later on, such as shrimps dying. Also, it sounds like your tap water is pH 7.2 and your tank water is 6.4. If that's the case, find out what's lowering the pH. It may be due to waste build up, or you may have an active substrate. You'll want to have full control of these parameters especially once you move on to more advanced shrimps. Good luck! Jadenlea and chibikaie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 I wanted to keep two different colors of shrimp that contrast eachother but so I didn't have to worry about crossbreeding I chose blue tigers because they are some of my favs (the orange eyes stand out and are neat) I did plan on having cherries first for a few weeks though. I figured since my tank was already cycled it wouldn't be as hard, but didn't know about the lowering ph. I use flora max substrate, for the plants... as well as I've added Indian almond leaves. I'm thinking this may be the reason my ph has lowered. I could put a lil mesh bag of coral sand in under my filter intake when I put the mesh bag tied over the intake to keep shrimp from being sucked up. I'll retest tap and my tank separate today when I do my water changes. I also have kh test... and another test I've never used (I don't remember what it was Cuz I've nevery used it) but I was gonna see if I could get the cards or new test tubes somewhere. Would adding the ph neutralizer help? Takes it to 7.0. It also removes chlorine and chloramine so conditions I suppose. I've never used it since previously never had to and just used stress coat+ to condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 If your tap is 7 or 7.2 you wont need any ph neutralizer. Thats right where the Tigers like it and the Neos , especially cherries can adjust to anything. It wouldn't hurt to find a source for the cherries that have parameters close to your own to make it easiest to acclimate them. IF your ph is 7.2 from the tap, just do multiple water changes until most of the water has been changed out to tap water. Yes take out the indian almond leaves . The flora max shouldn't change your PH. Some people say it RAISES it but floramax says it will not alter your ph. I would try to stay away from the PH altering chemicals if you can help it. With shrimp, less is more unless you really really know what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Hmm... I've done 2 50% water changes, you'd think it would be changing. well I'll know later today when my fience gets home to help me (I can't lift the water bucket full while I'm pregnant.) I'm getting my cherries local from a fish quarantine place. ($1.50 each) and my tigers later from a local hobby aquarium for $6 each On special order. Technically they do all their colored shrimp at $6. they have some beautiful shrimp. It's an awesome shop. I also spoke with a local shrimp hobby keeper there whom said the water here is usually really good, just that he had to add something to help his shrimp molt Cuz they were having a lil trouble with that. Maybe when I get the water where I want I can add some tantora white mineral rock? I wanted to use the almond leaves for the shrimp to nom... but maybe I should soak them n test the water to see what it's doing first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 You can get them other leaves to nom that wont change the ph or maybe adding just small amounts of them won't change your PH much. Im not sure how potent IALs are . I give mine Mulberry leaves. very inexpensive. I get them from Han aquatics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Maybe I'll try those instead Then maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 So I tested my taps ph and my tanks kh and gh. (Haven't done my water change yet) Tap ph is 7.0-7.4, tank kh is around 1... I think it turned yellow with first drop but I've never used these 2 tests, my formula was orange in the bottle. My gh test wasn't changing soo I it just kept getting darker orange. maybe I should get new master test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miwu Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Don't add anything without being sure that you need them. Did you test GH for both tank water and tap water? You really need to know your GH or TDS. If as your local hobbyist said, the shrimps were having trouble molting, it's likely due to low or high GH. If GH is low, you can find products like Salty Shrimp GH+ or SL Aqua blue wizard to raise the GH more precisely (compared to using mineral rocks and crushed corals). If GH is high, you'll need distilled water to bring it down. Jadenlea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Your GH test kit may have gone bad, I've heard of it being less stable than the KH. The other possibility is that your actual GH is through the roof. GH is not included in the API master test kit. However, it is available either with KH or on its own online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 So your PH will be perfect for tigers and the neos will adjust. Now we just gotta figure out your GH issue. Hopefully your gh test is just bad because adding distilled water to lower your GH will also lower your PH hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 the GH test kit is on amazon for like 5 dollars.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Hmm... My master kit included a gh and kh test it has 6 tests. 2 ph (high and low), nitrites, ammonia, kh, and gh. I'll test the tap water, maybe buy a new gh or tds test. that or I'll take my water to the petstore with me next time I get a chance and have them test until I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Does petco do free water tests? I'm suppose to go there soonish (well next door to it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Don't rely on the store to test your water for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 They use test strips, and they can be way off, and most of the time are, invest in a API master test kit, and maybe a ph probe if you think u need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Did my water change. Looks like it raised my ph from 6.2 to 6.6. So ill do another water change next weekend to raise it up closer to 7.0. then just figure out the gh thing and get some cherry shrimp =). I won't add anything extra to the water. I'll just feed them food that promotes all the healthy stuff and molting. I might bake some snail/sshrimp jello and feed that once a week or every other week also. wondering if I should get 1 trumpet snail for the tank also. I'm a lil weary on snails Cuz of how they ate the plants up. But I like that those ones burrow in the gravel. Jadenlea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Sounds like a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 You still need to find out what your GH level is. If it's too low or too high, no amount of feeding them the right foods will make up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munakgirl Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Well im gonna go ahead and buy a new gh test, and a tds meter. I may also buy an api master kit at some point. Mine is a different brand. (the box is rather old and beat up =P). aquariumlover10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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