Shrimp PH / temps

Ok two questions (if there's a thread already please lead me to it).

The PH from my tap is 8.2. Is this too high for shrimp? I had shrimp and they died for unknown (to me) reasons. if the ph is too high how can I lower it?

Also I'd like to add shrimp and snails to my 10 gallon that now houses 3 white cloud minnows. There is no heater in this tank.

 

Nope! I have cherries and my tap is 8.2.

Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? Maybe your tank underwent a ammonia spike.

Some shrimp and snails are fine for a 10 gal without a heater. Unfortunately, the WCMMs are not appropriate for a 10 gal tank and need to be in larger groups.

 

Thx for the reply. Yes I'm actually familiar with the cycle and with the type of fish. I was in need of a hospital tank and found a 5 gallon for $10 craigslist deal. Poor fishies came with the tank. So I moved them to the 10gallon. There's only 3. I don't want more minnows but I wouldn't mind a clean up crew. The 3 little fishies seem to do quite well in the 10 gal. It was sad to see them in the 5.

My ph is 8.2 from the tap as well as in the tanks.

 

High ph means a higher kh. Your only issue is acclimation should be very slow. I take over an hour to drip acclimate fish and snails. Shrimp get at least 90 minutes at a drop per second, especially my store that uses ro water.

 

How do you do a proper drip acclimation? I've heard about it but not sure how to donit

 

I take a 1 quart Mason jar and fill it halfway with water from the bag the fish come in and the fish. I take an airline tubing and tie a slip know in it. Put one end in the fish tank, and the other in the Mason jar. Then I put the Mason jar in the bucket and start a siphon in the tubing. When the water starts flowing I tighten the slip knot down until only a drop or two a second comes out the end of the tubing. To make it easier to adjust some people use one of those things that adjusts air flow so they don't have to play with the knot. I leave the tube going and check it every 15 minutes or so to make sure the flow is still good. Once the Mason jar starts overflowing I dump half of the water out and do it again. For fish I do this for an hour, usually overflowing the Mason jar twice. For shrimp I do it for 90 minutes, usually 3 overflows. Make sure the temp in the Mason jar is the same as the tank, I dump the water through a net to catch the shrimp or fish and transfer them into my tank. I have a tiny holed net and make sure the seams are not on the side touching the fish or shrimp. This has given me great success.

 

Wonderful thank you! I have all the supplies including the air flow adjust valve. I will use this technique from now on!