Can I mix these 3 breeds?

[Kizzle]

Really confused at looking on compatibility charts 

 

can these 3 shrimp be kept in the same tank?

 

Blue dream/velvet 

 

Blue Bolt

 

Black Tiger orange eye

[Aennedry]

The neo won't like the low ph, the Blue Bolt and the tiger will cross, creating tibees I believe.

=^._^=

[Mr. F]

I keep neos with bolts and tigers. The trick is keeping the pH below neutral but not too low. I like to keep em between 6.5-6.8

[Kizzle]

I need to work on my pH it's currently at 8! Any tips to get it down?

 

In my local shop they got pH down/up which one do I need? Lol I need my pH down to 6.8 but wouldn't 'pH down' mean more alkaline? Confused again 

 

 

[Mr. F]

So alkalinity is the water's ability to buffer acidity. in other words, it protects the water with carbonate from sudden drops in pH. Thats actually what KH test kits are measuring. So alkaline water is higher in pH (more basic). pH DOWN would make the water more acidic, thus less alkaline.

pH DOWN is a sulfuric acid product and will cause sulfur build up while neutralizing KH. pH UP is sodium bicarbonate and borate, so it will raise your KH. I wouldn't use either and instead switch to a mildly buffering substrate and RODI water with remineralizer (SS GH+ and Seachem alkaline buffer since you need to accommodate multiple species requirements), especially if you're planning on keeping caridina species.

Hope this lessens the confusion.

[Kizzle]

On 4 July 2016 at 0:14 PM, Mr. F said:

So alkalinity is the water's ability to buffer acidity. in other words, it protects the water with carbonate from sudden drops in pH. Thats actually what KH test kits are measuring. So alkaline water is higher in pH (more basic). pH DOWN would make the water more acidic, thus less alkaline.

pH DOWN is a sulfuric acid product and will cause sulfur build up while neutralizing KH. pH UP is sodium bicarbonate and borate, so it will raise your KH. I wouldn't use either and instead switch to a mildly buffering substrate and RODI water with remineralizer (SS GH+ and Seachem alkaline buffer since you need to accommodate multiple species requirements), especially if you're planning on keeping caridina species.

Hope this lessens the confusion.

Thanks for the reply, yeah this has helped me understand loads now. I will try save up for a new bigger tank and try a new subtrate Instead then, I leave this tank just for cherrys now 

[Mr. F]

Thanks for the reply, yeah this has helped me understand loads now. I will try save up for a new bigger tank and try a new subtrate Instead then, I leave this tank just for cherrys now 

No problem, glad I could help. Also, If you keep stable cherry parameters for a while you can likely keep tigers, mischlinge, and certain tibees (fancy tigers) without fancy expensive substrate, so don't limit yourself. But also, sticking to neos for a while is a good idea; don't go spending all your money at once. Those shrimp can be pricey and I've heard of too many people new to caridina jumping in too fast and ending up with a very expensive empty (shrimpless) tank after just a few weeks.

[Mr. F]

For instance:

Neo nessies with Fancy Red Tigers on inert (petsmart bought) substrate. Have Nessie shrimplets and berried tibees.

Neo Blue Carbon/Rili with Shadow Panda x CRS/CBS mischlinge on nat geo inert sand. Neos going crazy breeding as you can see, several berried mischs and I think I saw a couple shrimplets.

Both tanks pH 6.6-6.8, KH 0-1, GH 4-7, TDS 150-200

Just add some leaf litter, cones, and/or wood and your pH will stay mildly acidic even with inert substrate.