Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp

[CrabbyShrimp]

Hello there, it's been a long time since I considered starting the shrimp hobby. I recently gained a renewed interest when I saw this clip on YouTube of a guy's 5 gallon Opae Ula setup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZoYFFm4_9c

Now, because these shrimp are the abused EcoSphere inhabitants (and they somehow manage to resist toxic poisoning and food deprivation for years), I realize that they must be a good starter shrimp, not to mention they look gorgeous. The "starter" thing is important, since the only fish I ever owned was a betta, consequently I know very little about how to run a *real* aquarium. I understand that the Opae Ula do well in brackish water and was considering purchasing some for a 2.5 gallon aquarium setup. Now here's where being a newbie brings up questions:

Unlike betta tanks, I know that real tanks need to be cycled. I read that you can buy starter bacteria to add to your tank water, then you leave the aquarium running for a month to allow the bacteria to flourish. Is this correct, and if so, what brands of bacteria are the best for these shrimp? Are there any preferred brands?

Secondly, I checked some websites that sell these shrimp and they implied that adding purchased shrimp to the new tank is a very touchy process- aka not just letting them float in the bag for awhile like a betta, but carefully adjusting the salt levels of the bagged shrimp and the tank so that salinity doesn't come as a "shock" to their systems. Can someone explain this process more thoroughly?

Finally, even though the EcoSpheres are billed as no water change/no feed units, I know that's a load of bull Once you have the opae ula added to the cycled tank, how should one properly maintain and care for these guys- what kind of water changes, cleanings and so on?

Thanks so much for putting up with a newbie, I am hesitant to ask the pet store people as my experience with them is that they will tell half-baked truths to try and get me to buy -whatever they're selling- and make pet ownership sound as rediculously easy as possible

[CrabbyShrimp]

Well, I did more digging into the archives and answered two of my questions: apparently these guys actually don't need water changes (! sweet !) and the way to start cycling is to get some "filter gunk" from a store ("please, store manager, can I have some filter gunk?"). Gross but very interesting/ hopefully very cheap way to cycle.

I still wonder about the particulars of tank maintenance for these little guys (searching through the database for tank maintenance gets me lots of maintenance discussions for other species) and about how to introduce them to a cycled tank without "shocking" their system. A lot of discussions on freeing these guys from EcoSpheres seem to suggest that they can be switched to a new tank with very little "shock" but I want to make sure!

[dthomasi]

Unlike betta tanks, I know that real tanks need to be cycled. I read that you can buy starter bacteria to add to your tank water, then you leave the aquarium running for a month to allow the bacteria to flourish. Is this correct, and if so, what brands of bacteria are the best for these shrimp? Are there any preferred brands?

It is important that if you use the 'starter bacteria' or 'filter gunk' from your pet store that you have some living creatures (snails, guppies, etc) to keep the tank cycled until you put your shrimp in there. If you add the bacteria and let the tank sit for a month w/o anything else then the bacteria will die off, leaving you with the equivalent of a brand new tank. Research the 'nitrogen cycle' on here or fish websites for more information.

As far as your other questions, you are on the right track researching this site. If after your research you still have questions, then ask.

[Baby_Girl]

how to introduce them to a cycled tank without "shocking" their system. A lot of discussions on freeing these guys from EcoSpheres seem to suggest that they can be switched to a new tank with very little "shock" but I want to make sure!

with regards to this, and your question about salinity shock - do you know how to acclimate aquatic livestock?

You can use either the drip method, where one uses airline tubing to gently drip tank water into a bucket on the floor. Or you can float the bag in the tank and add 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every few minutes. When the bag gets full, dump out half of it and continue until the bag is full again. The acclimation process should take at least one full hour, to prevent 'shock' from changing water parameters (including ammonia, salinity, temp, hardness, etc).

You can always test the water they came in for exact salinity and hardness. Then make your tank close to it, to make the acclimation process easier.

If you have questions, just do an internet search for 'acclimation' and the word 'aquarium' or 'fish'. You'll get tons of hits.

You might notice that for saltwater acclimation, sometimes hours of acclimation are recommended. But that's more for very sensitive fish and all corals. Since these shrimp come from ponds which are constantly getting tidal input, they are used to fluctuations and are very hardy. However, I would still take care not to rush the acclimation process. No sense causing them unnecessary stress, especially if shipping already has them depleted.

[CrabbyShrimp]

Thanks for the good information and tips, I will definately look into the nitrogen cycle and other basics some more

[Baby_Girl]

Thanks for the good information and tips, I will definately look into the nitrogen cycle and other basics some more

you're most welcome. Great job and attitude toward doing some more research on your own.

If you have any more questions after combing the internet (and there are LOTS of great resources and articles out there), please don't hesitate to ask the specifics here

[CrabbyShrimp]

Okay, I found some more info on cycling, but it sounds a little... "weird." Let me see if I got this straight:
One site highly reccomended "fishless" cycling in the following manner:
either a.) dropping a few fish flakes into the tank every 12 hours or b.) dropping a piece of raw fish into the tank, then testing the tank regularily until nitrate levels rise while nitrite levels drop (after several weeks). Now, is it just me, or did this site just tell me to let fish meat rot in my tank? Sounds kinda unhealthy to me, but I could be wrong...
What are your thoughts on these two cycling methods? Of course there's always the option of buying nitrifying bacteria in a tube... but why not use the creative (and free) method of rotting fish meat?

Second, I noticed that fukubonsai uses undergravel filtration and aeration in its 2.5 gallon opae ula units to maintain a large population (125 opae ula per 2.5 gallons or 250/5 gallons), however I remember reading a post in the discussion forms here stating that opae ula do not actually require aeration, filtration or water changes. If you are going to keep a large population of opae ula is aeration and filtration generally reccomended or not necessary?

Thanks guys!

[Baby_Girl]

I have done fishless cycling and like it. I use snails in all my tanks so there's not much food leftover to get nasty. I haven't tried using a cocktail shrimp or fish flesh. You can also use pure ammonia in a bottle, but that stuff is getting harder and harder to locate. These days, most ammonia for cleaning contains soaps and fragrances which should NOT go in our tanks.

Buying 'bacteria in a bottle' may not be a good idea. For one, the good one (Bio Spira) is only formulated for marine water, and freshwater. No brackish formula. Also, the other ones (StressZyme, Cycle, etc) are already dead. Think about it: if they are sitting at room temperature with no food, how are they surviving? BioSpira is different in that it includes the correct species of bacteria AND must be refrigerated in order to remain effective. However, it's always possible to get bad batches of BioSpira which were not properly handled before you bought it.

So I personally like to fishless cycle, or borrow filter media from one of my cycled tanks. Since this will be my first salty/brackish tank in a long time, I wn't have the right bacteria so will establish that tank using the fishless method.

I plan to have a little filtration/aeration for my opae ula. I was just going to put a small sponge filter in there and put the air flow on very low, so as not to knock the little guys and their babies (I pray) around. But if you have plenty of lava/live rock in there, the surface area of the rock will probably be enough to support a biological filter. The sponge will just provide an extra surface for them to graze on. I can't imagine that some extra filtration could hurt, as long as it's not blowing the shrimpies around and hurting them.

[CrabbyShrimp]

Thanks for the info
PS: are you using nerite snails or some other kind? Those were the first ones that popped up in my search for brackish water snails. Apparently the people at fukubonsai use pipipi snails.

[Neonshrimp]

Thanks for the info
PS: are you using nerite snails or some other kind? Those were the first ones that popped up in my search for brackish water snails. Apparently the people at fukubonsai use pipipi snails.

I think we are taling about MT snails, what are pipipi snails?

[CrabbyShrimp]

Hey neonshrimp,
I just looked it up myself, pipipi is a nickname for a black nerite snail

[dhavoc]

pipipi are not nerites, they just look like them and are marine surge zone grazers. i used to eat them as a kid (tons of work for small amount of meat). they are found on rocky shorelines around the islands right at the wave splash zone. the fukubonsai guys can use them only because the pools they get their opae ula from are probably full strength sea water. most nerites are brackish, but can be converted to live in fw. if you really want to have them, try and find a nerite supplier that has brackish specimens. MTS are fw, but can tolerate some salt if acclimated. honestly, just be patient and cycle the tank without the nerites (they produce alot of waste), once you get a good algae layer over everything, thats all they really need. you should be feeding with crushed flakes or similar only sparingly.

[Neonshrimp]

Good info, thanks dhavoc. How was it eating them, Chewy?

[CrabbyShrimp]

Thanks dhavoc

[dhavoc]

they taste like salty escargo, but thats only because we used to cook them in salted water. they are only about 3/8 - 1/2" in size and you actually need to use a needle to pry them out with. i dont know many people that eat them anymore as its just a PITA to get them out of the shell.