I first discovered Opae'ula a couple years ago at a craft fair that was selling little jar "habitats". I kept a jar of 3 shrimp at my desk at work and fed them a smidge of spirulina powder weekly (after hearing that contrary to claims, there's not enough algae in the jar to keep shirmp fed and happy).
But I liked them so much I ordered some more shrimp, about 15-20 and set up a tank for them and put my office shirmp in with them.
It's a 3 gallon cylindrical plastic tank with coral gravel, sea shells, and egg sized red lava rock and a bubbler. I think the salt level is okay. I got a really basic hydrometer from an aquarium store and I"m not quite certain of the accuracy. I don't know the exact level but it's at the very LOW end of the device. where it barely moves. I've had these shrimp for a year and a half and they're not reproducing. at ALL.
They seem happy. They swim laps around the outer edge of the tank. the bubbler is in a column in the center of the tank and causes a slight down current along the sides and the shrimp like to swim against the current to reach the top, and then ride the current back down and go again like an ammusement ride. I used to feed them every other day when the tank was first established. now there's green spots of algae all over the tank so I feed them spirulina flakes only once week.
What should I do? How can I get them to reproduce? I keep thinking if they're not reproducing they're not "happy".
I do confess I do also have plastic flowers glued into the lava rock (since that's what came with the original "envirosphere" jar and I liked the look of them but they're all darkened with algae).
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I just want my shrimp to have babies.
Moderator: Mustafa
Re: I just want my shrimp to have babies.
Do the shrimp a favor and perform some research on this species in this forum and on their species description page. Stop feeding them, turn down the bubbler so that it doesn't bubble too violently and increase your salinity. If the arm of your hydrometer barely moves then there is is barely any salinity in your water. I have mentioned adequate salinity levels for this species before, so some research should uncover all the information already mentioned. The rest is just patience...it can take months before you see any results.
Re: I just want my shrimp to have babies.
I researched this species as thoroughly as possible before buying them, including research on your website. But the scarcity of this particular breed of shrimp has not exactly provided an abundance of information on it's care. I could not even find an aquarium store anywhere near my area (and I live in a pretty large city) that had even HEARD of them. So I was forced to research them online.Mustafa wrote:Do the shrimp a favor and perform some research on this species in this forum and on their species description page. Stop feeding them, turn down the bubbler so that it doesn't bubble too violently and increase your salinity. If the arm of your hydrometer barely moves then there is is barely any salinity in your water. I have mentioned adequate salinity levels for this species before, so some research should uncover all the information already mentioned. The rest is just patience...it can take months before you see any results.
Since posting my original query, I have retested the salinity of the tank and found it to be too high. I have since adjusted it to the 1.016 level that you yourself have previously recommended. The bubbler is not "violent". It is isolated away from the shrimp inside a column. If you think it would help I would be overjoyed to turn the thing off. It doesn't exactly have a way of adjusting the flow. (added to note that the bubbler is part of the undergravel filtration for the tank. It's a bubbler with an airstone at the end that circulates the water in the tank. I realize this may not be neccessary for the shrimp but I thought it may have some benefit. Feel free to comment further if you think the shrimp would be better off without it.)
Also I'm not overfeeding my shrimp. I feed them once (and occasionally twice) a week with a minute ammount of spirulina flake. And that's it. According to the fukubonsai website spirulina is a nutritionally superior algae than what normally grows in tanks. So if you have any disagreement with that assessment I'd be glad to hear it.
Thank you,
Re: I just want my shrimp to have babies.
Even once or twice a week can be too much for this species. They need extremely little food. As long as algae are still growing inside your tank the shrimp will be more than ok. I've bred thousands of these guys (and continue breeding them) and haven't used spirulina even once. Spirulina is not superior or necessary at all. There is absolutely no scientific or empirical evidence for that claim. You can feed with just normal flake food once in a while (don't just let it float on the surface but make it sink). Once every two weeks or so should be enough. As a rule, only feed if you do not see any additional algae growth in your tank (e.g. on the tank walls).
You can regulate the flow of bubbles by using a plastic air valve that you install between the pump and the air stone. They are cheap and widely available in pet stores. Here is a picture:
You can regulate the flow of bubbles by using a plastic air valve that you install between the pump and the air stone. They are cheap and widely available in pet stores. Here is a picture:
Re: I just want my shrimp to have babies.
Ah thank you very much. I will look into that.
Re: I just want my shrimp to have babies.
One thing I noticed is that you are using an undergravel filter. UG filters have fallen out of favor in recent years due to the nitrAte factories that occur below the substrate surface. They draw down particulates and detritus that rots and fouls the water much faster than a canister/hang-on-back filter. Cleaning requires complete teardown of the tank and can release anaerobic compounds such as hydrogen sulfides that are extremely toxic to fish/inverts (this can also happen if the pump stops for a short period of time and then restarts). UG filters are not recommended but OK for fish tanks but invert tanks (being so much more fragile) would not be advised. Even though Opae'ula are very hardy for shrimp it could be a factor in them not reproducing (they are small to begin with so it's possible they have reproduced but the young do not survive or could get into the UG system and die there).
HTH
HTH