Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp

[Mustafa]

Where did you hear/read that you need to replace your tank water with RO water first? No matter who said it, it's total nonsense. Just increase the salinity in your tank with the water that's already in it. Look at what I wrote above on June 16th.

[southerndesert]

Flat out missed that and would have saved a little work No harm done I guess and I found several different methods for changing over an picked that one. There was still some water in the tank when I filled it back up...

Bill

[dhavoc]

never tried to convert an existing fw setup to brackish before, seems like alot of work just to acclimate a few snails. as for plants, your right, there are NONE in their natural pools, some terrestrial grasses grown along the edges of some pools but for the most part its algae only. the algae that colonizes my tank is the same red/brown one you see in most sw tanks, i wish it was greenish, but the shrimp love grazing on it and the micro-orgs living on it. let it grow on 3 of the 4 sides of your tank to give them maximum grazing areas while you keep the front clean for viewing.

i am really liking the metas, they are much more interesting to watch as they dart in and out of their hiding places at feeding time, kind of like lightning fast dwarf crays. they move so fast though that getting a clear shot of one is proving beyond my limited camera capabilities so far..... i have yet to see any of them eating an opae ula either (no partially eaten carcasses), though it could be happening. i feed them regularly with crushed spirolina flakes.

[southerndesert]

Howdy Darrin,

It actually went pretty quick and my salinity is at 1.012 and the snails are fine and I just figured having them to help move the substrate around a little would'nt hurt, truth is I like snails too

So now I will just give the tank some time to mature before ordering my shrimp. Yes good advise on the algae and that is how my freshwater tanks look as well.

Cheers, Bill

[Guba]

Okay Bill, now you have my curiosity. The snails in this tank are ramshorn snails? Is that what I'm reading in the posts? If that's true, then how long can they remain in a braskish set up?

[southerndesert]

They are not Ramshorn, but MTS-Trumpet Snails and they are fine so far in the tank with salinity 1.012 all the small Pond and Ramshorn I was unable to catch prior to adding salt have now passed.

Bill

[Guba]

Oh! Okay MTS- malasian trumpet snails! Sorry Bill I didn't know that's what it stood for. Now it all makes sense. Thank you for the insight

[zeniam]

Good call with the black sand...if laid out nicely enough, it looks absolutely gorgeous!

I wonder if anyone can help out with a situation I have. I have had my shrimp for about 2 months now, so Im just a beginner really- but as per everything I've read, I'm doing everything right. Recently I've noticed my shrimp have become overly active- swimming rapidly around and not as calm as they usually are. In addition, a few aren't as red as they used to be and may have infact gotten smaller. I can't figure out what the problem is.

Could it be insufficient light? I'm very unsure about the amount of light. The tank I use is rather old and doesn't have the capacity for a light fixture inbuilt in the lid. Additionally I would prefer if they get some actual SUNlight rather than artifical light. A friend of mine keeps her tank in a shady spot in her house and her shrimpa re doing brilliantly, even though I think they recieve far too little light for sufficient algae growth.

Any comments on maintaining good shrimp health?

[RMDelete]

Hello! I am new to this too but I have read about this. When these shrimp get stressed out they shrink in size and change color. Has anything new happened recently? New move, tankmates bullying? Did you provide them with enough hiding places? Have you done any water changes?

I just set mine up so I may experience your same issue in the near future (hope not) cross my fingers!

As far as the lighting for algae, there shouldn't be a problem with algae growth with low lighting if you have rocks that have algae already impregnated into them, otherwise you should try feeding them a wee bit. ONLY if you think they are hungry, otherwise too much food with make too much waste and cause an ammonia spike which (without adequate filtration) end up killing your shrimp.


Also just FYI sudden LOUD noises will frighten these shrimp and cause death. They are strange sensitive creatures.