Breeding Cherry Shrimp

[TheMilkman]

Hello all! I was wondering what is the maximum hardness, ph, tds, etc. that you could breed cherry shrimp in successfully as I am debating getting some and my water is very hard, thanks!

[Dawn T]

I consider TDS to be totally irrelevant and useless, because it's such a non-specific measurement. That number can be undesirable stuff like chlorine, or it could be good stuff like calcium. That's a greatly simplified breakdown, of course, but you get my drift.

That said, there's a fabulous article on the Aquarium Coop blog that I think answers your questions about water parameters for cherry shrimp. I just had to look it up myself since I'm considering cherry shrimp for a jarrarium I put together the other day. It won't be ready for occupation for a few weeks, but I want to be prepared to order the livestock I need when time comes. I have hard water here, too.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/breeding-red-cherry-shrimp

[tolstoy21]

There are lots of resources available as far as a google search away for the range of parameters acceptable for cherry shrimp.

I also agree with TDS being meaningless except in one scenario — you’re starting with RO water and remineralizing with a specific product. In this case a TDS reading can help you understand how much you’ve put in a specific volume of water. But after doing that once or twice, you’ll probably never measure TDS again. 

Edited January 19, 2021 by tolstoy21

[dylaneff1]

I don’t think you need to worry about hardness unless your water is just way off the charts. If you can keep freshwater fish in it, they’ll be fine. (I’ve even kept mine in brackish water- not recommended, but they survived.)  The thing that has been most important for me is keeping nitrates low enough and making sure that they have a surface with lots of micro organisms to constantly eat on (like a sponge, plants, mulm, etc.).

[Jeltz]

Honestly. I started with a 90 gal, some rubble piles and plants. Even with 4 swordtails 20 minnows and a Cory, my 7 went to 20+ in a month of cherry shrimp. 7.8 ph and hard water FYI.