cardinal shrimp weirdness ..?

[Lolster]

hi! anyone with any experience rearing cardinal shrimps? because i'm experiencing some real weirdness, the darker colored shrimps (black or really dark red) seem to be doing find but the ones that are red or lightly colored like my harlequin shrimp died off! i've had them for two weeks and counting, but i'm interested in adding more harlequinns but i cant bear to see them dying off! any help? PH 7.0 temp at 28 degrees celc, using ADA soil

 

[Fat Homer]

I'm definitely no expert when it comes to s/w anything, but i just wondering, could it be the temps are too warm? since don't most s/w fish / inverts need cooler waters?

I know some of my cherry red shrimp used to start popping off when temps hit 28'C and up...

 

[Lolster]

yea! my cherry shrimps are kept at 26 degrees and they're doing well and popping young ones like nobody's business! but cardinals are from Indonesia which have a warmer climate @.@ and apparently the black colored fella's are still doing well, with no changes to water parameters, so i was thinking it was something to do with pigment.... ;/ tempted to get replacement harlequins but cant bear to watch those beauties die off... ;/

 

[Crazed Demasoni]

I've noticed with my cardinal tetras that sometimes the lighter color ones are the weaklings/most susceptible to get sick or die. Can't speak on shrimp, my rams tore 15 ghost shrimp to pieces over a weekend...

 

[Lolster]

yea! its getting really frustrating ;/ just bought a new batch, 6 cardinals (2 dark red ones, 4 normal red ones, (all 6 spotted), 4 harlequins, and 1 transparent shrimp that has a blue tail @.@ not sure about the last one hah.

 

[VNCNT]

sulawesi shrimp (cardinals, harlequins, etc.) prefer high ph (8.0+) and hard water. i think the ADA aquasoil is the problem

 

[Lolster]

but the weirdness is the dark pigmented shrimp that seem to do very well in these waters! thats the baffling thing lol! i'll try pushing the ph up slowly and see if it improves! i've heard from aquaticinvertebrates.com that ADA soil works fine! thats why i tried it, its only the light pigmented shrimps that die on me

 

[VNCNT]

that is strange. in my experience with these shrimp, i've always felt that the lighter ones were weaker... not sure why, but they just didn't seem as healthy. color seems like a good indicator of health for these shrimp. perhaps the lighter ones just didn't adapt to tank life or ate properly. i kept mine in a tank with crushed coral sand substrate and even the light ones survived until my filter stopped working and all my shrimp died.... they are pretty expensive in my area, so i did whatever i could to replicate their natural habitat to keep them happy.