Halocaridina rubra care
Moderator: Mustafa
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badflash
- Master Shrimp Nut
- Posts: 2542
- Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:06 pm
- Location: Wappingers Falls, NY
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That was what i was asking about, if you had succeeded in breeding them. I have a 10 gallon tank I keep about 25 in. I've had them about a year I think. They are reproducing slowly, but very slowly. I don't do water changes, I just add R/O water and sometmes some marine green water. I'm going to re-do this tank and move them to a different tank that uses a sponge filter rather than an under gravel filter. They all go under the filter and I rarely see them.
Re: Bad Flash
He wasn't asking to buy or trade as that would be against the rules. As he said, he just wanted to know if you are breeding them. Just a friendly reminder from your friendly neighborhood admin.Ray1214 wrote:I do have some, how many are you looking for. I don't really sell them.
Hmmm Breeding notes
BadFlash,
I am thinking that the feeding has illicited a feeding response for me. I use green water, or prepared phytoplankton (DTs), Sea Veggies (I got some from Julian Sprung some time ago and still have bottles left that I freeze), nori sheets, and my coral mix.
I use very minute amounts and if I see an explosion of algae or I see nitrates creep up at all, I cut back. Also remember it is more dramatic to see 200 shrimp have babies than 25 or so. The weird thing to me is when they molt. Every day I look in the tank and there are hundreds all over the rock and the live rock that I had put in there. Every so often, maybe every other month after an iodine add (Remember like a drop of iodide per 20 gal) it looks like all the shrimp disappear and I see in the areas where white sand is exposed some 5-20 moltings. (There are probably more but the white sand is in an area where I think the currents create a deadspot and it is hard to spot the pale red shells against red lava rock.) I have kept cherry shrimp, bamboo shrimp, Fire Shrimp, coral banded shrimp, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, tiger shrimp and thousands of ghost/grass shrimp and even though I would see one or two moltings at the same time, I am surprised that it looks like 80 percent of the rubra molted at the same time. And I don't see much any other time.
Also with the babies. I see them when they are about 1/4 inch or so. You can tell they are new and smaller than half size of the adults but I don't see the really really tiny ones rarely and assume they live under the lava rock.
Something I don't understand though, they turn red and I have fed them red gracileria about 4 times but other than that the algaes that grown in this tank is green. Sprilina and Phyto is also green. Sometimes the nori sheets have green/purple sheets but how do they get their color?
Also, Mustafa, would you know if it would be bright idea to dose iron since it seems they normally live in iron rich water that makes their red coloring .
Ray
I am thinking that the feeding has illicited a feeding response for me. I use green water, or prepared phytoplankton (DTs), Sea Veggies (I got some from Julian Sprung some time ago and still have bottles left that I freeze), nori sheets, and my coral mix.
I use very minute amounts and if I see an explosion of algae or I see nitrates creep up at all, I cut back. Also remember it is more dramatic to see 200 shrimp have babies than 25 or so. The weird thing to me is when they molt. Every day I look in the tank and there are hundreds all over the rock and the live rock that I had put in there. Every so often, maybe every other month after an iodine add (Remember like a drop of iodide per 20 gal) it looks like all the shrimp disappear and I see in the areas where white sand is exposed some 5-20 moltings. (There are probably more but the white sand is in an area where I think the currents create a deadspot and it is hard to spot the pale red shells against red lava rock.) I have kept cherry shrimp, bamboo shrimp, Fire Shrimp, coral banded shrimp, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, tiger shrimp and thousands of ghost/grass shrimp and even though I would see one or two moltings at the same time, I am surprised that it looks like 80 percent of the rubra molted at the same time. And I don't see much any other time.
Also with the babies. I see them when they are about 1/4 inch or so. You can tell they are new and smaller than half size of the adults but I don't see the really really tiny ones rarely and assume they live under the lava rock.
Something I don't understand though, they turn red and I have fed them red gracileria about 4 times but other than that the algaes that grown in this tank is green. Sprilina and Phyto is also green. Sometimes the nori sheets have green/purple sheets but how do they get their color?
Also, Mustafa, would you know if it would be bright idea to dose iron since it seems they normally live in iron rich water that makes their red coloring .
Ray
Re: Hmmm Breeding notes
Not a bright idea. Where did you hear/read that they come from iron rich water? The anchialine ponds are basically diluted ocean water. If there is iron in the volcanic rock, then I can't imagine it leaching all that much in such water. If you have any trustworthy references, feel free to mention them. I would not dose anything at all. If you type "iodine" in the search here you will also find out why the "necessity" of dosing iodine for shrimp is a myth. It does not do anything at all. Your lava rock is not needed either. It's ok to use it as decoration, but nobody should get the impression that it's necessary to keep and/or breed these shrimp. I wouldn't fiddle too much with these shrimp anyway. Just let them be, don't overfeed, refill their evaporated water and they will do fine and breed eventually. Keeping them is not drastically different from keeping other shrimp, such as red cherries, actually.Ray1214 wrote:
Also, Mustafa, would you know if it would be bright idea to dose iron since it seems they normally live in iron rich water that makes their red coloring .
Ray
As for the red color...the food does not have to be red for animals to be able to express red. Carotenoids can play a major role in coloration (especially reddish color) but lots of things that aren't red can have carotenoids (such as green microalgae) and lots of things that are red don't have any carotenoids. Color is a poor indication of carotenoid content. There is also a genetic and mood component to coloration which complicates generelizations about coloration of shrimp further.
Iron
Darn, I can't find the article but I think a study done by auburn university where it was remarking the iron rich content of the lava pools and the bacteria mats that they typically feed on.
Oh well, I will stay away from iron, I am doing an experiment with gracileria in a 5 gal tank where I am trying to use certain planted tank additives to try to encourage growth of the Red Gracileria. Mainly because I like the Red Grape and Red Gracileria in my tank as decorative algaes and my surgeonfish seem to go nuts over it. I have a piece that is super slow growing in a nano tank and when I clip some pieces into the rubra tank, the rubra seem to enjoy it.
The lava rock works pretty good as a biological filter. For years I knew of a couple of reef enthusiasts that used to use it in their sump as live rock. I personally shy away from that, but in the Halicondra rubra tanks they sure do seem to "nest" inside it. I have not added or removed any significant amount in over two years and it seems to work, and it sure was cost effective. I have a 120 gal and 65 gal and a 40 gal breeder culturing live rock and two of them are subject to different additives with one having none. I added a 3 pound piece of live rock to get the tank cycled before I added the shrimp but the coralline algaes are completely gone with just a bone white piece of tonga branch left in the tank.
Oh well, I will stay away from iron, I am doing an experiment with gracileria in a 5 gal tank where I am trying to use certain planted tank additives to try to encourage growth of the Red Gracileria. Mainly because I like the Red Grape and Red Gracileria in my tank as decorative algaes and my surgeonfish seem to go nuts over it. I have a piece that is super slow growing in a nano tank and when I clip some pieces into the rubra tank, the rubra seem to enjoy it.
The lava rock works pretty good as a biological filter. For years I knew of a couple of reef enthusiasts that used to use it in their sump as live rock. I personally shy away from that, but in the Halicondra rubra tanks they sure do seem to "nest" inside it. I have not added or removed any significant amount in over two years and it seems to work, and it sure was cost effective. I have a 120 gal and 65 gal and a 40 gal breeder culturing live rock and two of them are subject to different additives with one having none. I added a 3 pound piece of live rock to get the tank cycled before I added the shrimp but the coralline algaes are completely gone with just a bone white piece of tonga branch left in the tank.
Re: Halocardina Rubra update
Okay,
It has been over 7 months. A new baby girl keeps daddy busy.
Anyways I had a "Triops" kit. the triops food ran out so I got the (Tetra and the Wardley Shrimp Pellets) bottom feeder pellets and crushed them up to feed them. Well they died after their expected lifespan. No worries.
I found the food and it was old but I dropped a few crumbs into the tank.
Shrimp went nuts.
New schedule.
Weekly water changes. About 2 gallons.
Daily crushed shrimp pellets and flake (a very small pinch but release under water so it floats to the bottom)
Every other day, kalkwasser and di water replacement. (Just to keep the buffering up)
Once a week 1/4 iodine dose.
I have culled out about 200 of them and put them in a new tank. (Old reef tank.)I have about 500 or so in the existing tank.
It has been over 7 months. A new baby girl keeps daddy busy.
Anyways I had a "Triops" kit. the triops food ran out so I got the (Tetra and the Wardley Shrimp Pellets) bottom feeder pellets and crushed them up to feed them. Well they died after their expected lifespan. No worries.
I found the food and it was old but I dropped a few crumbs into the tank.
Shrimp went nuts.
New schedule.
Weekly water changes. About 2 gallons.
Daily crushed shrimp pellets and flake (a very small pinch but release under water so it floats to the bottom)
Every other day, kalkwasser and di water replacement. (Just to keep the buffering up)
Once a week 1/4 iodine dose.
I have culled out about 200 of them and put them in a new tank. (Old reef tank.)I have about 500 or so in the existing tank.
Re: Halocardina Rubra update
Ray1214 wrote: floats to the bottom
Re: Halocaridina rubra care
Majority of what people said are correct.
Here's my experience
20 Gallon Tank. 3 Lava Rocks from (Petco), and a home made sponge filter.
Started with about 50 Opae Shrimps about 3 year ago, now have about 200-400 (estimate).
I use to do regular water changes, but have stopped for over a year. I only top off the water once every 2 weeks and feed it occasionally with crushed up algae wafers.
Salinity in my tank have ranged from 1.010 to as high as 1.023 (fully salt water) at one point and they seem to survive through everything.
They're super easy to take care of and will reproduce if you keep them happy.
Here's my experience
20 Gallon Tank. 3 Lava Rocks from (Petco), and a home made sponge filter.
Started with about 50 Opae Shrimps about 3 year ago, now have about 200-400 (estimate).
I use to do regular water changes, but have stopped for over a year. I only top off the water once every 2 weeks and feed it occasionally with crushed up algae wafers.
Salinity in my tank have ranged from 1.010 to as high as 1.023 (fully salt water) at one point and they seem to survive through everything.
They're super easy to take care of and will reproduce if you keep them happy.