Heater recs please!

[Spikeschilde]

Hello all.
I have a small tank (1 gal) that I'm still cycling. I've added an algae ball and 10 tiny snails that I bought from this website.
I have 4 opae ula from an ecosphere that have not been added, as I don't see any visible algae yet.
My question is, it's about 68°-70° F in my house year round and the water is only about 64°
Do I need a heater? What is optimal temp for my little skrimp frans? I'm hoping they'll breed.
Thanks!

[Larry8]

You don't need a heater. My 1 gallon is 64 degrees and the shrimp are thriving since October. I believe that Mustafa reported that he even had breeding at temps below 50. Best,. Larry

[sliphorn]

Hello all.
I have a small tank (1 gal) that I'm still cycling. I've added an algae ball and 10 tiny snails that I bought from this website.
I have 4 opae ula from an ecosphere that have not been added, as I don't see any visible algae yet.
My question is, it's about 68°-70° F in my house year round and the water is only about 64°
Do I need a heater? What is optimal temp for my little skrimp frans? I'm hoping they'll breed.
Thanks!

..
I would go ahead and add the four shrimp that you have and maybe put a very small piece of flake food in the tank too. That should help things along nicely. How long has the tank been up and running?
..

[Dch48]

No heater is necessary. You really can't get one for a tank that small that would be reliable and safe anyway. The ones made for small containers do not have a thermostat in them and it's always a possibility that your animals could get cooked.

[JennyPenny]

No heater is necessary. You really can't get one for a tank that small that would be reliable and safe anyway. The ones made for small containers do not have a thermostat in them and it's always a possibility that your animals could get cooked.

I totally agree. OP, you don’t need a heater, and with a tank that small, you risk cooking them if it malfunctions. My house is about 64-68 in winter (we don’t keep the heater on at night) and last month I had about 6 berries shrimp release their larvae.

[Spikeschilde]

Thanks. My tank cycled for a month and I added the shrimp last night.
I have sinking shrimp pellets, but I think they're too big. I put one in last night and this morning it had swelled up with water and "poofed" when I tried to remove it.
I was thinking I should probably cut them in half, but they're so small, about 4mm. I could crush it but I'm not sure how much to give them. I was thinking of refeeding again in 4 weeks.

[sliphorn]

Thanks. My tank cycled for a month and I added the shrimp last night.
I have sinking shrimp pellets, but I think they're too big. I put one in last night and this morning it had swelled up with water and "poofed" when I tried to remove it.
I was thinking I should probably cut them in half, but they're so small, about 4mm. I could crush it but I'm not sure how much to give them. I was thinking of refeeding again in 4 weeks.

..
Easy does it when it comes to feeding. The snails should clean up the food mess. In the future you could crush one pellet and give a small portion of the crumbs/dust.
..

[Spikeschilde]

I just found out that the pellets I got contain copper.
So I'm returning them and getting a different brand. Will go smaller too (.5mm)

[Vorteil]

You might want to consider freeze dried spirulina powder. I'm not a fan of the ingredients of the shrimp pellets in the market. Just my 2 cents.

[Dch48]

The Omega One shrimp pellets are good.

[Vorteil]

@Dch48

You don't feel that there's too much protein in the Omega One pellets? Salmon, herring, & shrimp are some of the main ingredients . Especially in tanks without filtration? I know shrimp overall are scavengers.

[Dch48]

@Dch48

You don't feel that there's too much protein in the Omega One pellets? Salmon, herring, & shrimp are some of the main ingredients . Especially in tanks without filtration? I know shrimp overall are scavengers.

Not if you only feed a very small piece. I actually have never given any to my Opaes. I was just saying they don't contain any copper if you're worried about that. I gave mine a Crab Cuisine pellet yesterday and they loved it. Those have a lot more filler type material though. I feed the shrimp pellets to my Mystery snails and Red Clawed Crab in other tanks. I very rarely will scrape off bits of an Omega One Veggie Round with my fingernail and give the Opaes the small bits.