Snails With Chilis And Cherry Shrimp?

[Loulou betta]

HI everybody, I have a 10 gallon planted tank and I was planning on getting chilI rasboras and cherry shrimp for it. I would also like a nerite or two to help with algae clean up. I was just looking up ideal water parametres for all of them and noticed that the chilis and shrimp do better with a lower Ph, and that snails need a higher Ph for their shells. Is there any way of having a snail in with the chilis and shrimp, or not possible? Thanks for your help.

 

[skar]

Don't worry about the ph.
Unless your ph is extreme it should be okay for all of them.

Biggest thing imo is a stable environment/ parameters and a mature tank with available biofilm.

Good luck

 

[MrBryan723]

Feed them a calcium supplement. It will help the shrimp as well, especially during molting. Nerite snails are a saltwater species so you might look into mystery snails or possibly even assassin snails.(both are gendered and grow large so if you do manage to get 2 different sexes they are easy to remove and can be sold.)

 

[richiep]

Nerite snails are quite happy living in freshwater it's only when the breed that the eggs need to be acclimatised to salt water to hatch as for the rest I agree with skar

 

[Loulou betta]

Nerite snails are quite happy living in freshwater it's only when the breed that the eggs need to be acclimatised to salt water to hatch as for the rest I agree with skar

Okay, I had read that a lower Ph could effect the snail's shell, but if I keep the Ph stable and add a calcium supplement (cuttle bone), they will be okay?

 

[richiep]

I believe more in the way of food for calcium like spinach or cooked broccolI stem at least that way they are ingesting calcium and being fed at the same time

 

[Algonquin]

What is your source water's Ph? Unless it's really extreme, it's probably fine as is.

I've got a 10 gallon with Chilis, cherries (blue) and a nerite. My Ph is 7.8, and everyone is happy & healthy. Hope that helps!

 

[JKC18]

Okay, I had read that a lower Ph could effect the snail's shell, but if I keep the Ph stable and add a calcium supplement (cuttle bone), they will be okay?

Yes, they will be fine. Keeping the Ph stable is more important than raising/lowering it to the "ideal" range.
I found this video incredibly helpful in understanding what Ph is and why stability is so important. Cheers!

 

[JKC18]

What is your source water's Ph? Unless it's really extreme, it's probably fine as is.

I've got a 10 gallon with Chilis, cherries (blue) and a nerite. My Ph is 7.8, and everyone is happy & healthy. Hope that helps!

Agreed! My source Ph is about 7.6-78 and my ember tetras, nerites, and everyone else are happy.

 

[Loulou betta]

I believe more in the way of food for calcium like spinach or cooked broccolI stem at least that way they are ingesting calcium and being fed at the same time

Okay, that make sense.

What is your source water's Ph? Unless it's really extreme, it's probably fine as is.

I've got a 10 gallon with Chilis, cherries (blue) and a nerite. My Ph is 7.8, and everyone is happy & healthy. Hope that helps!

I'm using the strips so it's hard to be exact, but between 6.8-7.2

Yes, they will be fine. Keeping the Ph stable is more important than raising/lowering it to the "ideal" range.
I found this video incredibly helpful in understanding what Ph is and why stability is so important. Cheers!

Thanks for this.

 

[richiep]

As near as you can get that ph is neutral which is fine, JKC18 is correct in what he's saying

 

[Loulou betta]

As near as you can get that ph is neutral which is fine, JKC18 is correct in what he's saying

Thanks everybody for your help. My water tests look good, but one thing that is strange is that when I test the water straight from the tap, it is showing alkalinity (KH) at 0, and same when I test the water in the tank. Is this normal?

 

[richiep]

If your water is neutral and kh is 0 could you do a gh test out of interest and a tds reading if possible, it dose sound as if your water is to pure,

 

[JKC18]

I’m curious about your water source. Are you using well water or municipal water? You don’t have a filtration system installed do you?
Where I’m from the water is very hard and it often has low nitrate readings (around 20-25ppm).

 

[Loulou betta]

I’m curious about your water source. Are you using well water or municipal water? You don’t have a filtration system installed do you?
Where I’m from the water is very hard and it often has low nitrate readings (around 20-25ppm).

It's municipal water and we don't have a filtration system on the tap. The GH is between 75-150 (hard to be accurate with the strips).

If your water is neutral and kh is 0 could you do a gh test out of interest and a tds reading if possible, it dose sound as if your water is to pure,

GH on the strips is showing between 75-150(on the strips) in the tank (after a 25% water change yesterday). Straight from the tap, it tested as softer, between 25-75.

 

[richiep]

Your tap water is soft on the first readings but looks like something is leaching into the tank water making it rise 75-150 some rocks do this naturally, ideal for shrimp is minimum 107 and above, yet it will suite some fish and snails, if it stabilises outl at75 then minerals would need to be added to bring it up to (143ish safe zone) for shrimp, testing your tank water before a water change would give a better reading, as it is for shrimp there's to much fluctuation your water needs to be stable,

 

[Loulou betta]

Your tap water is soft on the first readings but looks like something is leaching into the tank water making it rise 75-150 some rocks do this naturally, ideal for shrimp is minimum 107 and above, yet it will suite some fish and snails, if it stabilises outl at75 then minerals would need to be added to bring it up to (143ish safe zone) for shrimp, testing your tank water before a water change would give a better reading, as it is for shrimp there's to much fluctuation your water needs to be stable,

Okay, thanks for this. I'll monitor the water parametres more closely for awhile. Seeing as my tap water is soft and low alkalinity, is it possible to create a stable tank with the rocks etc and 25% water changes, or do you think the weekly water changes are going to create too much fluctuation?

 

[richiep]

At the moment I'm not sure which way to go until you find out if you have high fluctuations or is it the strips or do you have something in the tank rising your gh I'm looking at this purely from the shrimp prospective, most fish and snails will be ok. Any fish people out there please jump in., any tank can be made stable from a given point when you know what your working with an API liquid test kit would be invaluable to you at this time to give you precise readings and from those readings minerals can be added to accommodate shrimp if that's what you want, on the other hand if it's just fish and snails and maybe ammano shrimp as they are as hard as nails its probably safe to put them in,

 

[Loulou betta]

At the moment I'm not sure which way to go until you find out if you have high fluctuations or is it the strips or do you have something in the tank rising your gh I'm looking at this purely from the shrimp prospective, most fish and snails will be ok. Any fish people out there please jump in., any tank can be made stable from a given point when you know what your working with an API liquid test kit would be invaluable to you at this time to give you precise readings and from those readings minerals can be added to accommodate shrimp if that's what you want, on the other hand if it's just fish and snails and maybe ammano shrimp as they are as hard as nails its probably safe to put them in,

Okay, a liquid test kit sounds like a good idea to get an accurate reading. I'll watch and record for a few weeks and then start a new thread asking for recommendations. Thanks for all of your help