# Does high ph effect sex ratio



## killieman (Mar 27, 2006)

Hey gang,
It's known that sulawesi shrimp like high ph. But will the high ph result in a high percentage of males?
Why I ask is because I bought 6 Cardinals about 6 months ago, only 1 was a female. She"s passed away now but when I had her she gave birth twice. I know have about 20 shrimp and to me they all look like males, long and skinny. She was easy to sex as she was more heavy bodied.
Its well known that high ph will result in more males in fish, especially west african cichlids and killifish but what about shrimp?
Gary


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

Sorry I don't know the answer to your question, but could you share your set up for your Cardinals?


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## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

Since sulaweisi shrimp are supposed to be in high ph environments, I'm going to take a guess that sex ratios for these shrimp are probably more temperature and nutrient related rather than ph; assuming you've housed them in the proper high ph 8+ environment.


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## killieman (Mar 27, 2006)

My setup was very simple. A 5.5 gallon tank with a small hydrosponge and a couple pieces of tufa rock to keep the ph up. Occupants included some large tylomelania snails and some babies. Temp was around 80-82 F.


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

Thanks for sharing your set up with us! Did you use sand for substrate? Also did you use tap water or RO or a mix of the two?
Thanks Matt


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I too had the same thing happen, but I have had 2 births since I got mine over 9 months ago. I only have crushed coral and some lava rock with sponge filter and small HOB. They share the tank with some Yellow Fire shrimps and seem to be quite happy to co-exist with them. Temp is kept at 27C and PH is 8 - 8+.

I am bringing in from the US some more of these Cardinals next week, so if your looking for any, drop me an email before Monday.

I need to build up my stock, as I only have about 8 of them.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

I've asked this question about another specie of dwarf freshwater shrimps I have. It was 'Neocaridina heteropoda var. yellow' shrimps.

Look here at the discussion here: Male/female Ratio
There is no clear answer 

But my problem was that I had too much females. And that yellow shrimps have been born in a high pH sulawesi aquarium  So, high pH didn't turn them into males 

Thank you for sharing your set up.

Where did you get your shrimps from?


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## killieman (Mar 27, 2006)

I have no substrate in the tank and I'm using straight tap water.
My cardinals were bought at Big Al's in Hamilton.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

killieman said:


> I have no substrate in the tank and I'm using straight tap water.
> My cardinals were bought at Big Al's in Hamilton.


I'm shocked that BA had cardinals. How much were they?


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

They are usually $12-$13 + tax.

Sometimes they are $19 + tax or even $8 + tax


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