Beginner - quick questions

[Noraelle]

I recently bought an open ecosphere (5 shrimps) and would like to rehome them into a bigger environment. I have a few questions:
-What is the purpose of calcium carbonate for the shrimps? I cannot afford to buy real coral (isn't that illegal?), I found these Sungrow Mineral Rocks on Amazon, would that work? Or would a cuttlebone (yes for birds) work in the same way? If not, where can I find a link to get cheap calcium carbonates.
-People often reference nitrate levels in their tank and acidic levels. What causes changes in those levels? Is it a matter of too much waste? And is it correct that too much nitrate means I need a snail and too much acid means I need to get more calcium carbonate?
-Which is better to get between the macroalgae and the moss ball if I only get one of them?
-Finally is there a safe way to "glue" a fake decoration to the bottom of the glass tank so it doesn't slide around when the tank is moved? If so, what kind of "glue" can I use?

Thank you so much for your help! I'm hoping I won't lose any of my 5 friends in the process!

[Varanus]

I can't answer all your questions, but one part of the importance of calcium carbonate is that it provides the shrimp nutrients they need to build their exoskeletons.

Dead coral, crushed and otherwise is readily sold in pet shops and elsewhere. Its quite common and relatively cheap. But you can use eggshells or limestone, they all work just as well.

I think acidity is a reference to how hard or soft the water is, and the level you want will depend on the creature you are keeping. Nitrate is a byproduct of waste after bacteria has turned it from ammonia into nitrite and finally nitrate, and you want to keep the levels from getting too high as its toxic at high levels. Generally the levels won't ever get that high though unless you overfeed the tank.

I don't know if the macroalgae is better to start with or not, but it does grow faster than the moss balls.

[mike.d]

For glue you can use aquarium silicone/sealant. I've also heard of people using a hot glue gun.

I had a cuttlebone in a freshwater shrimp tank. It floated for about a month then sank. If I was going to do it again I'd crush it up. I have aragonite as the substrate in my Opae tank which is supposed to do the same thing.

Macroalgae vs mossball/marimo: I think it depends on your lighting and the look you're going for. I saw a video where someone had macroalgae under a strong light and it was yellow except for the stuff on the inside of the clump. (Someone with macroalgae correct me if I'm wrong please. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDJAvBXHaeo She talks about the lighting at 2:40.) A mossball/marimo should work under any lighting conditions.

[Noraelle]

Thank you both so much! That was very helpful. Mike-D, I looked up aragonite and crushed coral. For crushed coral, one of the reviews mentioned something about PH level rising and to test the PH when using it. Is there an ideal amount of crushed coral that I should use for 5 shrimp? What's the ideal PH level? And Do I replenish it every so often? This is so interesting and I'm so excited to rehome them even though I know it'll probably take me a month to set it up.

[mike.d]

You're very welcome! Glad I could help.

Regarding the pH and aragonite/coral question I didn't even think about it when setting up my tank. This page - http://amazonsand.com/indexcoral.html - says that aragonite will get the pH up to 8.2 and coral will take it to 7.6.

My setup is a generic 10-gallon aquarium. I bought 10 pounds of aragonite from the local Petco and used that as substrate. I added about 65 shrimp 10 days later. They've been doing fine ever since. I don't test anything. That was June 22nd. Right around the 2 month mark I noticed that 3 or 4 shrimp were berried. I have a bit of algae in my tank and haven't fed them. I got in there once to remove a batch of hair algae, but other than that I've just topped off for evaporation.

The typical amount of substrate to use for fish is 1 pound per gallon. That gives you about an inch on the bottom of the tank. Opae live in all different size containers but I'd try to stick to 1 pound per gallon or an inch or less on the bottom. That was the look I wanted. Opae seem to do fine with any aquarium substrate or none at all.

Here's a link to my setup process and a picture: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6067

If you do go with aragonite, it takes a long time to rinse clear. I ended up buying paint filter bags from Lowe's and rinsing it that way and it still wouldn't clear. In the end I filled the tank with tap water and dropped in a large sponge filter where I replaced the sponge with a strip of polyfiber pad that I cut to size. (I tried running the sponge filter in the tank but that just circulated the dust.) The polyfiber/sponge filter cleared it up in a day or two.

[Mustafa]

Is there an ideal amount of crushed coral that I should use for 5 shrimp? What's the ideal PH level? And Do I replenish it every so often? This is so interesting and I'm so excited to rehome them even though I know it'll probably take me a month to set it up.

The great thing about these shrimp is that you don't have to worry about "ideals" as there is none. At most there are "ideal" ranges. So, throw away the measuring equipment and just follow the instructions on this website for setup and you're good to go. No, you don't have to replenish crushed coral...put in a handful or less ( depending on your tank size) and forget about it. The amount doesn't depend on how many shrimp you have really but on the tank size.