If it aint broke, don’t fix it! Your shramps are happy and breeding in your water as-is, so leave it alone! Stability is more important than chasing some random “ideal” number you saw online. using your tap water as-is is so much less work.
Also, the shrimp will adapt to your water as they build their colony, with the next shrimp being even better adapted to your water than the first.
Mine hovers around high 7’s or 8.0 as well, and I think ALL of my females are berried right now, and they seem to be happy campers.
You have an extremely small tank, so you could pretty easily manage your water by using distilled water and remineralizing or whatever, but… what for?
Also, Fluval stratum lowers the PH… I don’t know how long the tank has been up for, and I see you have it capped, so it might take a while, but it will probably eventually start affecting your water chemistry a bit.
Just know, Neos can do well in hard water. If they’re breeding and babies are surviving, that’s clear. Your substrate will lower the pH as well. Nothing to worry about
It’s much easier to make do with what your tap water is than chasing a specific target. Let’s say you lowered to 7, then when you top off it’ll jump back up
Going with what the other said: don’t mess with it if they do fine.
On a side note: test strips are very unreliable. If you are interested in determining your water parameters, drop tests are the best accuracy/cost trade off for most hobbyists.
You’ll stress and eventually fail at fighting what’s natural. My pH is 7.6-8. I have 6 total, and my 2 females are both berried in just a few weeks. They’re happy and I’m not gonna mess with it. Hope this helps.
Like what others say, you dont need to change anything if they are already thriving. But your water is probably pretty hard, and thats why you have difficulties bringing the pH down. If you really want to change this, either you need to purchase an expensive RO system just for this (not recommended), or perform water changes using bottled distilled water from your mart from now on. Thankfully, shrimps also require less water changes, so this probably is the most economical solution for you. Neocaridinas actually need harder water and higher pH however, you might have gotten it confused with the caridina requirements.
I’ve kept neos in liquid rock water and am currently keeping some on low (5.6) ph caridina conditions.
They both seemed fine. Haven’t seen any molting issues or development issues.
Key things are keeping parameters stable and consistent and feeding a good diet. I’ve never been one to add crushed coral or shells or other calcium boosters to my tanks. Never had molting or carapace issues.
> I got my neocaridina cherry shrimps a couple weeks ago and I’ve been struggling keeping the PH low. It’s around 8.0 or higher when I would prefer if it was lower.
Why? FWIW my shrimp live in 7.8-8.2 tap water and it hasn’t been an issue.
> I use dechlorinated tap water, so it could be something to do with my tap waters hardness/parameters where I live.
What are the parameters of your tap water pre and post dechlorination?
The KH and pH are absolutely fine for Neos. No need to change it.
However, I see that your GH is possibly rather low. Those test strips are really difficult to read, but for Neos I would not want to have a GH less than 130 ppm. Ideally I’d want it up at 150 ppm or more. You could get a liquid GH/KH test (API make a good one) or take a water sample to your LFS and they could test it for a small fee. If its at all possible, its worth doing. If the GH is too low you’ll start to notice when they moult. Often the first moult is OK, as they have reserve minerals from their previous existence in other tank water. But its the 2nd moult they often seem to come unstuck at. Failed moulting = death unfortunately.
GH can be raised so its not a disaster if it is a bit low. Most good LFS (or Amazon !) will sell shrimp-specific GH+ remineraliser which adds GH. Just remember that for shrimp any changes in GH must be done slowly.
it should be ok, but for messing with ph i usually ise baking soda to raise and epsom salt to lower. baking soda will raise kh and epsom salt will raise gh so you have to be careful tho
ashlexithymia 
Id just roll with what you have if I were you. Neos will be fine in that. Stability is more important than hitting a specific number.
Just came here to say your cat is cute. I don’t have any idea what we’re talking about.
If it aint broke, don’t fix it! Your shramps are happy and breeding in your water as-is, so leave it alone! Stability is more important than chasing some random “ideal” number you saw online. using your tap water as-is is so much less work.
Also, the shrimp will adapt to your water as they build their colony, with the next shrimp being even better adapted to your water than the first.
Mine hovers around high 7’s or 8.0 as well, and I think ALL of my females are berried right now, and they seem to be happy campers.
You have an extremely small tank, so you could pretty easily manage your water by using distilled water and remineralizing or whatever, but… what for?
Also, Fluval stratum lowers the PH… I don’t know how long the tank has been up for, and I see you have it capped, so it might take a while, but it will probably eventually start affecting your water chemistry a bit.
I got the same pH. Shrimps are fine with higher pH. Just keep it stable.
I just asked a very similar question on r/aquarium and got similar answers: don’t mess with it.
My water looks very close to yours. My tap is 8.4 and I didn’t want to be constantly chasing pH with chemicals.
I think I’ll go buy some almond leaves.
Good luck to you and tell your cat I said pspspsps.
Just know, Neos can do well in hard water. If they’re breeding and babies are surviving, that’s clear. Your substrate will lower the pH as well. Nothing to worry about
it’s better to adjust your shrimp to your water rather than having to keep adjusting the water
It’s much easier to make do with what your tap water is than chasing a specific target. Let’s say you lowered to 7, then when you top off it’ll jump back up
Going with what the other said: don’t mess with it if they do fine.
On a side note: test strips are very unreliable. If you are interested in determining your water parameters, drop tests are the best accuracy/cost trade off for most hobbyists.
Stability >>>>
You’ll stress and eventually fail at fighting what’s natural. My pH is 7.6-8. I have 6 total, and my 2 females are both berried in just a few weeks. They’re happy and I’m not gonna mess with it. Hope this helps.
Mine looks like this (I got the same test strips) and every day I see newborn shrimp. I also use bottled natural spring water. Never distilled or tap.
Like what others say, you dont need to change anything if they are already thriving. But your water is probably pretty hard, and thats why you have difficulties bringing the pH down. If you really want to change this, either you need to purchase an expensive RO system just for this (not recommended), or perform water changes using bottled distilled water from your mart from now on. Thankfully, shrimps also require less water changes, so this probably is the most economical solution for you. Neocaridinas actually need harder water and higher pH however, you might have gotten it confused with the caridina requirements.
I’ve kept neos in liquid rock water and am currently keeping some on low (5.6) ph caridina conditions.
They both seemed fine. Haven’t seen any molting issues or development issues.
Key things are keeping parameters stable and consistent and feeding a good diet. I’ve never been one to add crushed coral or shells or other calcium boosters to my tanks. Never had molting or carapace issues.
> I got my neocaridina cherry shrimps a couple weeks ago and I’ve been struggling keeping the PH low. It’s around 8.0 or higher when I would prefer if it was lower.
Why? FWIW my shrimp live in 7.8-8.2 tap water and it hasn’t been an issue.
> I use dechlorinated tap water, so it could be something to do with my tap waters hardness/parameters where I live.
What are the parameters of your tap water pre and post dechlorination?
I never trust those strips
Try driftwood
I posted the samp peramiters for my nano shrimp tank and all the comments said I was a bad person for having hard water and 7.8 Ph. Go figure.?
Your pH will be fine, but get a liquid test kit and toss the strips.
The KH and pH are absolutely fine for Neos. No need to change it.
However, I see that your GH is possibly rather low. Those test strips are really difficult to read, but for Neos I would not want to have a GH less than 130 ppm. Ideally I’d want it up at 150 ppm or more. You could get a liquid GH/KH test (API make a good one) or take a water sample to your LFS and they could test it for a small fee. If its at all possible, its worth doing. If the GH is too low you’ll start to notice when they moult. Often the first moult is OK, as they have reserve minerals from their previous existence in other tank water. But its the 2nd moult they often seem to come unstuck at. Failed moulting = death unfortunately.
GH can be raised so its not a disaster if it is a bit low. Most good LFS (or Amazon !) will sell shrimp-specific GH+ remineraliser which adds GH. Just remember that for shrimp any changes in GH must be done slowly.
it should be ok, but for messing with ph i usually ise baking soda to raise and epsom salt to lower. baking soda will raise kh and epsom salt will raise gh so you have to be careful tho