Ecosphere with one shrimp left, how to free it

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:11 pm

Before I joined this forum I got one of the larger oval ones for Christmas. My husband thought all the shrimps had died and put the sphere in our office a couple of years ago (actually the junk room). So it's about 4 yrs old.

I was starting to clean things out and found the ecosphere, very algae overgrown and amazingly there is one shrimp alive in there after all, and about a quarter inch long (might be smaller, distortion of the sphere).

I have a 3 gallon snail tank with java moss and plantlings in it that gets very few water changes that I could use it for the tiny Hawaiian Red Shrimp. Mustafa's varieties page says it needs brackish water and I have no idea what to do to make it brakish and maintain it (never done this).

I also have no idea if the water in the Ecosphere is brackish or fresh. Will I be able to tell if it's brakish by smell? or do I need a test kit? What kind? I don't want to break it out only to kill it by putting it in an environment that is to different from the sphere.

Finally, has anyone else freed these shrimp from an Ecosphere? I don't know how to open the dam thing without killing the shrimp.

zapisto · Post by **zapisto** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:37 pm

brake this stupid sphere in a bucket.
save the shrimp and analize the water.

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:59 pm

Can someone point me to simple test kit for brakish water? and zapisto, the sphere is quite thick, if I just shatter it the shock is liable to kill the shrimp. there is a rubbery seal around a small circle of glass on the bottom but I don't know how to unseal it without damaging the shrimp.

I am hoping someone has done this!

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 3:27 pm

You can get a sinple swing arm hydrometer at any pet store that sell saltwater supplies. They run about $10 and are well worth it.

The easiest thing though is to just mix up some brackish water, about 1/4 cup per gallon of sea salt. Over a day or so add a cup at a time, then tansfer the entire contents to a new tank.

These animals can handle big swings in salinity, so don't worry too much, but a slow change is better.

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:21 pm

thanks Badflash, I'll get it. I have decided I need to replace the black gravel in the tank with white or I will never see the little shrimp again. So, does anyone know if they prefer sand or gravel?

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:44 pm

zapisto has the right idea. Just break it in a bucket of the water you are going to add the shrimp to and then tranfer the shrimp over. Be sure to place a towel and/or thick plastic over the sphere first so you dont get cut.

badflash has been raising these little guys for a while and knows what they can handle so I would go with what he said.

Your can seach under the key words "hawaiian red shrimp" and "opae ula" for the many threads and post that are present on these little shrimp

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:57 pm

If I were to do my tank over I'd go with a sponge filter and black lava rock, no sand at all. My problem is that I have an under gravel filter. Guess where all the shrimp are? I only see them when they come out to spawn.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:02 pm

I only see them when they come out to spawn.

That is unfortunate

It is such a hassel to take sand out of an established tank. I think I will have to try it soon with one of my tanks though

.

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:04 pm

thanks for the info, that little tank has a so called under gravel filter, I'll remove the grate and just use an airstone until I can get a teeny tiny filter. Although I have read somewhere a filter is not needed for these guys?

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:30 pm

sorry to keep posting my own thread, the more I look around the more questions I have.

Is it true that java moss will do OK in brackish water? If not, what plants will work. I've never tried any brackish tanks before.

Anyone have a recommendation for a sponge filter to use in a 3 gallon tank? And/or do I need a filter for them?

And to those who tell me to wrap a towel around the ecosphere and shatter it, I'm sorry. That sounds like dead shrimp to me. It is less than a quarter inch in size, probably closer to half that. I don't want to end up with a shrimp stuck and dead on a towel. I'm calling the ecosphere ppl this week to ask about how to open the thing from the bottom.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:56 pm

Yes Java moss will do OK in brackish water. I have small brackish tank that was set up 6 months ago when I was expecting to receive some hawaiian red shrimp. The moss is still green

Sorry about the breaking suggestion, I thought you had one of the larger oval (egg shaped) spheres. Let us know what they tell you when you contact them.

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 8:04 pm

thanks Neonshrimp on the java moss.

I do have the larger oval size ecosphere, it's the shrimp that is less than a quarter inch in size

. The sphere is very thick and I'm afraid if I shatter it in a towel the tiny shrimp will end up stuck to the towel and killed.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:00 pm

Neonshrimp wrote:Yes Java moss will do OK in brackish water. I have small brackish tank that was set up 6 months ago when I was expecting to receive some hawaiian red shrimp. The moss is still green

You can't really generalize like that. Keep in mind that "brackish" covers everything from almost freshwater to almost sea water. That's a huge range. Java moss and other "brackish tolerant" freshwater plants will only do well at the very low end of brackish (i.e. 1.003-1.004 SG or 4-5 ppt). At the salinity levels I am keeping my shrimp (see species description on my shrimp varieties page), no freshwater plant would survive. So when making statements like the one above about java moss, one should always state what the salinity level in the brackish setup is.

The only plant I am keeping with my hawaiian reds is a type of string algae that's been taking over the hawaiian reds' tanks. Works great. Grows whenever there happen to be excess nutrients and needs no fertilization whatsoever. My advice when setting up a hawaiian red shrimp tank is to just let the tank be and not mess with it. Algae are the only plants needed. No filter, no air bubbler and no water changes are required. Just top off the tank to make up for evaporated water. And before you do all of this...you need to of course cycle your tank to make it livable for your shrimp. If you are not familiar with saltwater, cycling, etc..etc.. you can search this forum or use google or any other search engine for more information.

DatDamWuf · Post by **DatDamWuf** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:34 pm

Never done anything but freshwater. So what is the optimum conditions for the Ulae, what salinity should I shoot for?

your species page says:
In my tanks salinity ranges from 12 to 23 ppt (specific gravity of 1.008 to 1.016 ) for breeding purposes. Will probably live and breed under a much wider range of salinity conditions.

Also, I've searched but can't find much on converting a fully cycled small freshwater tank to brackish. Especially one that has no filtration of any kind. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Current plan:
get the test kit badflash recommended.
get aquarium salt mixture (preferred type anyone, does it matter?)
take out the pitiful undergravel filter/airstone
do a partial water change/siphon because this tank has not had one in a year and when I take out the undergravel there will be fugley mess everywhere
remove the java moss and other plantlings (mustafa, where do I get algae that will grow in brackish? I'm assuming from what you said that the freshwater algae will suicide once I add salt)

by then should know how to open the ecosphere, test the water in it and acclimate the shrimp in container then to new home.

of course then I have one lonely Ulae but I won't worry about that until I see if I can successfully keep it.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:59 pm

Shoot for 50% full sea water. This is a rescue mission. Cycle if you have a cycled tank. If not do the best you can. These are super shrimp or they would not be alive at all.

Their natural habitat goes from fresh water to twice (or more) than full sea water in a very short time. Think about the conditions close to shore that may get waves from the ocean, or rain water depending on the weather. These are super shrimp, so just save them.