Halocaridina rubra

[mikedmatthews]

ok, so i keep seeing these self sustaining eco thinga-ma-bobs and they say there are 4-5 Halocaridina rubra in them. the price isn't too bad so i was thinking maybe i could get a couple and cut them open to get the shrimp out. what do you suppose the odds of me getting both sexes from that would be? slim to none? i'm guessing they would keep all the females for their breeding.

thanks
mike

[badflash]

They are not self sustaining.

[mikedmatthews]

how about 100 of them to start with? sounds like a cycling nightmare!

yeah, i didn't figure to leave them in that thing. so i was just curious if i could get both sexes out of one of those setups and put them in a 10-20 gallon to colonize.

[sstimac]

The simple act of buying the ecospheres support those who make them. I would love some rubras, but will not be buying any of the ecospheres.

[mikedmatthews]

good point.

[badflash]

That is the nice thing about these shrimp. Don't sweat the cycling. Set up a saltwater tank about half seawater, put in a sponge filter, a little sand from an active tank and by the time the shrimp arrive, you are ready. You need to understand how tough these guys are. They live in environments that kill most anything else. They go from almost straight rainwater to sea water, then live in pools that dry up almost entirely.

A 10 gallon tank can handle 100 of these with no issues. I've seen nano tanks with live rock and 50 or more doing great.

[mikedmatthews]

that's good to know. i contacted our local saltwater wholesaler and got them interested when they found out people use the to feed seahorses. i think they are going to try and get me some without it costing a ton.

[aberfitch]

had mine for a while now about 2 months but all they do is eat and swim arround. no babies so far.

[Baby_Girl]

had mine for a while now about 2 months but all they do is eat and swim arround. no babies so far.

yeah, they're slow to start breeding and once they do, they aren't very prolific (only 8 eggs or so at a time).

Keeping them alive for a few months is definitely a step in the right direction! I'm sure an open-air container of adequate size (at least 2.5 gallons, 5 even better) with biological filtration - whether the sponge filter, or live rock - does wonders to create an environment more conducive to their reproduction. All of which just means better water quality and natural food source for the shrimp.

Hiding places help, too. That's where the live rock can perform 2 functions at once. I've read in their natural habitat, and in tanks, you often see the berried females rush in and out of the dark areas of the volcanic rock. One member on this site wrote that once he got live rock in the correct configuration to allow some dark shadowy nooks among the pile, the opae ula started getting berried and finally having babies.

[Neonshrimp]

Hiding places help, too. That's where the live rock can perform 2 functions at once. I've read in their natural habitat, and in tanks, you often see the berried females rush in and out of the dark areas of the volcanic rock. One member on this site wrote that once he got live rock in the correct configuration to allow some dark shadowy nooks among the pile, the opae ula started getting berried and finally having babies.

Great information. Maybe this is how the mating process workds in their natural habitat.

[Baby_Girl]

Great information. Maybe this is how the mating process workds in their natural habitat.

thanks, pal. I think, perhaps more than anything, it just replicates their natural environment better and makes them feel secure enough to start breeding.

[mikedmatthews]

Great information. Maybe this is how the mating process workds in their natural habitat.

thanks, pal. I think, perhaps more than anything, it just replicates their natural environment better and makes them feel secure enough to start breeding.

perhaps then if you are trying to optimize this effect, you could use lava rock chunks as your base beneath the live rock. i would think it would be extra craggy underneath then.

[Neonshrimp]

Not being familiar with live rock I just googled it and found a great article. The link has advertisement on it so I chose not to post it here. If we want to have live rock in the tank should the water be full strength salt water?

[Baby_Girl]

If we want to have live rock in the tank should the water be full strength salt water?

you know, I was actually thinking of just using plain lava rock instead of actual live rock. That way, it's closer to what they actually live in, in the wild. Plus there are lots of crags and nooks for bacteria and algae to grow on. I was just planning on buying plain old lava rock from a landscaping place and then growing my own 'culture' on it by setting up the saltwater tank several weeks in advance.

I also need to acclimate some trumpet snails to the brackish conditions, so that transition time of gradually increasing salinity should grow the appropriate nitrifying and de-nitrifying bacteria as well as the algae which do best at about half-marine conditions.

[badflash]

If we want to have live rock in the tank should the water be full strength salt water?

I also need to acclimate some trumpet snails to the brackish conditions, so that transition time of gradually increasing salinity should grow the appropriate nitrifying and de-nitrifying bacteria as well as the algae which do best at about half-marine conditions.

MTS don't need a very gradual acclimation. Mustafa taught me to put them in 1/3 salt, 2/3's salt, then full salt. You wait each time until they move & feed. It takes about a week and they are in full salt.