Population Explosion!

[JoeG]

Update: Another female released fry today, we are 70+ floaters now! Counted 72 one time and 74 another, so we will just go with 70+. There are still four berried females to go.

[JoeG]

Update: counted 85+ floaters tonight. Only see two berried females and there is one still releasing some fry! Unbelievable.

[JoeG]

Update Saturday morning: count at least four berried females. The house has been cooler recently and the amount of daylight is shrinking each day so not sure if those two things had an effect on the amount of breeding going on. The only other possibility I can think of is that the number of females has grown and they are just ready to breed. The parameters of light and heat must still be within the range to breed and so they are going for it.

[JDillon]

That’s awesome. Since I raised my temp I have seen a bunch of molts. One was right in front of me. I noticed they swarm around afterward and so I hope this means I’ll be seeing some babies soon. Not sure if related to the increase in temp or the fact I have dimmed the lights on the tank. Will have to wait and see!

[JoeG]

Feb 9 the last of the floaters morphed yesterday. This is the first time since last summer that there are no floaters and no berried females. According to my records there are a total of 292 shrimp (260 babies since August 2019)! It’s great looking in the tank, there are the originals, the year+ shrimp which are still smaller than the originals, and there are lots of little ones walking and swimming around. The tank is very active now and there is always something to watch.

[Opaeula_mama]

Any updates JoeG?

[JDillon]

Joe, how large is your tank? I have had 3 females this summer get berried. One dropped all of them in the Macro algae which I later removed, one carried 2 to full term and the third one is heavily berried.my tank only holds 21 shrimp as of now and it’s a glass jar. Wondering if a larger environment will make them produce more? I have had my shrimp for over 1.5 years now. But am looking to setup another tank more for breeding. I really like watching these guys. So more is better right? I did increase the temp in my office to 75. The tank thermometer says 72 so not too hot nor too cold. I do keep the light to the lowest setting if I’m in there working. I don’t think they really like the bright light. I just got some film when I had my car tinted so I’m going to try and rig it so some of it stays darker. Any thoughts on promoting more frequent breeding?

[Vorteil]

Personally I'm a fan of temps around 70 degrees. I feel that's the ideal temp. I've got my 5+ year old quart jar that started with 15 not there's over 60+ opea in there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/shrimptank/com ... quart_jar/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jarrariums/com ... of_shrimp/

[JDillon]

Vorteil, I just purchased a 5 gallon tank and plan to set it up next week. I plan to get some more shrimp shortly and keep my original tank separate. For a larger tank do you need to do some aeration in the tank or is it still good to skip that? I’d like to eventually get some of the small crabs but will wait till I get the new tank established first.

I was looking at the wood shrimp cholla but not sure if that wouldn’t affect the levels in the tank adversely? Have you ever used it in any of your tanks? If not that what about driftwood. Just looking to add some decorations to this tank.

In my original tank, the castle I have that’s resin and supposedly okay in saltwater has lost some of the color over time. So trying to avoid that. So don’t want to waste money and possibly kill my shrimp.

Just looking for some advice.

[Vorteil]

If you're setting up a new tank and you already have an established Opae Ula tank take some of the established water from that tank. Add it to the new one and throw an air stone in there. It will create move movement which in my opinion will cycle the tank faster causing more algae growth all over the tank.

No cholla wood. Great in FW tank but not so much in OU tanks. No of driftwood. Keep it simple.

[JoeG]

Update: summer is over but the breeding hasn’t stopped. The five gallon tank was started December 1, 2017 with 33 shrimp, but one died the first week. As of today, November 12, 2021 (4 years), we have a total of 531 shrimp (number includes the original 32)! I count floaters and assume they all live. There are currently no floaters but saw two berried females this morning. It’s great, every section of the tank has large to very tiny shrimp. Lots of action.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the update! I definitely call that a success!