water quality for shrimp tank

[snakeskin]

I am planning on getting some cherry shrimp for my 75 gallon planted tank. Does the water have to be at 0 nitates or can it be around 10 to successfully keep red cherry shrimp. also I have heard from the Planted Tank Forum that Anubias and crypts can leach deadly toxins into the water when cut or damaged. is this true? -I have both.

[spinex]

I am planning on getting some cherry shrimp for my 75 gallon planted tank. Does the water have to be at 0 nitates or can it be around 10 to successfully keep red cherry shrimp. also I have heard from the Planted Tank Forum that Anubias and crypts can leach deadly toxins into the water when cut or damaged. is this true? -I have both.

I'm having planted tank and dosing liquid fertiliser daily and i have no problem with my cherry shrimps.

I have anubias in the tank too. My tiger, new bee and cherries all have no problem with them.

[Robert]

Hi,
cherry shrimps are hardy little creatures and the nitrates leavel does not has to be zero. A level of less than 20 mg/l should be OK this stuff is slightly poisonous, so a the smaller the level the better it is for the shrimps. Much more important is the level of ammoniaand nitrite. These chemical are really poisonous and can kill your shrimps. But with a good biological filtration and a well cycled tank there should be no problem with these stuffs.

Regarding the Anubias and Cryptocorynes, they are no big problem. I kept and still keep my shrimps in tanks which were/are a jungle of cryptos and Anubias and it was no problem yet. Normally their healthy leaves do not break or get damaged, so you don't have to worry much. Even if a leaf gets damaged or you want to cut them without removing the whole plant from the tank at first, it should be no problem. Your tank is very large and the plants would leak less than a mililitre. To be safe, observe your shrimps. If something is wrong, their colors will fade at first. So they show you how they feel and if their really become pale, you can do one or two small water changes to reduce the amount of toxic stuffs.

regards

Robert

[simcb]

I agree with Robert. Lately some of my diamonds are white bands are fading away becoming transparent. After 1 or 2 water changes over a few days, their color are returning i guess i must have overfed them.

[Walter]

Nitrates are fine but not nitrite, organisms should be able to take certain nitrate levels with no problems.