Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

For a calcium source I use pieces of cuttlebone broken off one that was intended for pet birds. They are readily available.

Personally I would stop completely covering the tank and allow for air flow at all times. A lid with holes or slots in the sides works well. Nothing can fall in.

Since my temperature has gone down to right about 70, I have not seen any more breeding activity. No floaters and no berried females. So for me, I would have to say that higher temps promote more breeding.

I've never seen that brown spiky stuff before. Do the shrimp graze on it?

I had the same thing during the summer when the water temp hit 80-82. I only have a one gallon tank and there are shrimp everywhere now.

It's definitely the start of biofilm which probably contains some algae along with bacteria and other things that the shrimp will graze on.

From what I have read, the larval form or the floaters do well in higher salinities. In the wild it's said they actually seek it out and go into the deeper recesses of the pools. The adults can survive in a wide range of salinity including totally fresh but do best at the half seawater level.

Average is like 28 days but it depends somewhat on the water temperature. They mature faster in warmer water.

These shrimp are native to Hawaii where vibrations of their entire environment due to seismic activity are very common. I wouldn't worry about it.

Seeing as we're using brackish water, I'm sure the product made for fresh would not work. The bacteria would be killed by the salinity. A saltwater product would have a much better chance. For freshwater, I swear by Tetra SafeStart. It works very well. For this half strength seawater, I don't think ...

I may be wrong but I would think using it for top off would eliminate the need to add other calcium sources like egg shells, cuttlebone, or calcium rocks. It might cause the mineral content to rise over time though so I'm not sure if I would do it.

For what it's worth, I ordered the gallon's worth of salt and the macroalgae first. I set up the tank and put in a small horned Nerite snail. I put in some fish food like every 3 days and waited until the tank was fully cycled and I saw biofilm developing. That took about 5 weeks. Then I ordered 10 ...

Safestart is made for fresh water and the bacteria in it will most likely be killed by the salinity of your tank. Don't use it.

You could probably get by without waiting. There should be enough beneficial bacteria on the transferred decorations to successfully handle the bioload. The new tank being bigger will help too as any toxins will be more diluted.

Vorteil wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 1:05 am You've got a long way to go. I have a quart jar that stated with 15 and now there's over 50+. Still going at 3 years

Wow 50 in a quart? I'm at that many or a little more in a gallon and was getting worried it was too many.