New Setup for Halocaridina rubra

[davrx]

Hi, I'm planning on setting up a 3 gal. fish bowl for these shrimp. I plan on using R/O water with reef salt at half strength per this site. As far as substrate and rocks are concerned I can go with inert sand meant for freshwater tanks and lacerock which should leach enough CaCO3 into the water or Cichlid Sand which has crushed coral in it with Seiryu stone which is a Japanese volcanic rock which also leaches CaCO3 into the water but at lower levels than the lacerock. I'm going to use an LED light which is 6700K. I have a small titanium heater that I can use if need be. I heat my home with wood and in the middle of Winter it can get into the high 50's in our house but is usually 60 or above. I read that they can survive temperatures down to the high 30's so my temps won't kill them but will this make them sluggish? If so then I'll use the heater. I plan on getting 25 of these shrimp to add to the fish bowl after it has sat for a couple of weeks. Which substrate/rock scenario should I pursue and does this sound like a viable setup?
I currently have Sulawesi Cardinal and Starry Night shrimp in an 8 gal. tank and they both are breeding. These shrimp can be quite difficult to keep so I think it will be nice to have some shrimp that aren't so sensitive. Plus I like the fact that they are low maintenance, no water changes or filters.

[Mustafa]

Welcome to the forum! It seems like you have a perfect setup in mind there. I don't see anything wrong with all your plans. So, get it started and come back and report on your progress with them. There are still way to few hobbyist reports out there. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask ahead.

As for sluggish behavior at low temps...that has not been my experience at all. They may slow down a little, but really not much. They still run around and pick at things even when the temps are in the 40s. In some parts of their habitats (cave environments) the temps are pretty much permanently in the 50s. I don't know how they would react to huge day/night swings in small aquaria, though, so to stay on the safe side I would still use a heater if your temps dip too low and your tank temps fluctuate too much. Only experience will show if a heater is needed in your case.

[davrx]

I have the shrimp bowl cycling right now. Have had it set up for about a week now. I went with inert sand, lace rock, seiryu stone, and some Chaetomorpha macro algae. I used Instant Ocean mixed 50% with reverse osmosis water and I have it setting next to an eastern window. I had been going without a heater but the temperatures were dropping to 66 at night and up to the low 70's in the sun so I was afraid the temperature fluctuations would be detrimental to them as Mustafa said. So I placed a small 50W titanium heater in the bowl and set the thermostat to 78 degrees.

[davrx]

Mustafa, what temperature do you keep your shrimp at?

[Mustafa]

77-78 is actually perfect. But depending on the placement of the tank on my racks (high or low) the temps can fluctuate between 68 and 88-89 on any given time of the year. I experimented keeping these shrimp outside during the winter here in San Diego (days warm, but nights and mornings can get colder...no freezing where I am) and the shrimp were regularly in water that was in the low to high 50s. Once I observed both adult shrimp and a few larvae going about their business (albeit slowly) at around 39 degrees Fahrenheit. So...they have a wide range, but they seem quite happy in the 70s. Exact temperature is not critical for success in my opinion and experience. By the way, not all Chaetomorpha spp. grow in brackish water, so if it does not grow, just chuck it. In my experience the thick, wiry stuff does not grow. I have a very thin, softer species of Chaetomorpha that grows like gangbusters, though, even at very low salinities.

[davrx]

Thanks, I have the heater thermostat set to 76 and when the sun shines on it the temp gets a little over 78. The Chaetomorpha I got is the thick, wiry kind so probably won't survive. Can you give me a source for the thin, soft variety?

[davrx]

Just removed the Chaetomorpha and replaced it with some Sagittaria subulata which I have way too much in one of my tanks. I am using it based on the recommendations of this site on brackish plants:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubW ... plants.htm

[Mustafa]

Remove the Sagittaria. None of the plants recommended on that website will survive. Some will just stay green, but slowly rot over time (java moss e.g.). They are not making it clear, but when they say "brackish" they are just talking about really low salinity brackish, like up to 1.004 SG salinity. Supershrimp tanks have anywhere between twice to four/five times as much salt. No freshwater plant, no matter who says what, survives under such conditions.

The thin, softish Chaetomorpha is not usually sold in stores. It may sometimes be tangled in with the coarse Chaeto, but not sold on purpose. It grows both in very low salinity (almost freshwater) and even under hypersaline conditions (twice that of marine salinity). That's been my experience with it. I may start selling it in little portions since I have tons of it. It grows very quickly when conditions are right, even under very low light.

[davrx]

Thanks, I'll do that. Where did you find yours? Can I purchase some of your Chaetomorpha?

[Mustafa]

I literally "found" mine tangled in with the coarse stuff. It must have been a tiny fragment. The coarse Chaeto never grew, but one day I noticed this thinner, softer Chaeto grow out of the coarse stuff and take over. I must have harvested pounds/kilos of that stuff over the years. In any case, yes, you can purchase some. Just contact me privately.

Thanks, I'll do that. Where did you find yours? Can I purchase some of your Chaetomorpha?

[davrx]

PM sent

[davrx]

Got the special Chaetomorpha today and it arrived in great shape. You're correct in your description, much finer/softer than the other Chaetomorpha that I bought off ebay. It was like a brillo pad and yours is more like hair with some hairspray to make it kind of stiff. Looks almost like a completely different kind of algae than the other Chaetomorphas I've seen. Thanks again for selling me some of yours, I doubt I would have been able to find this anywhere else.

[Mustafa]

You're welcome. I've never seen it anywhere else, either. I really just got lucky that a tiny fragment of it was entangled with the wiry Chaetomorpha. It's very resilient, too. I've tried removing all of it from my tanks several times in the past years (for various reasons, such as making space for the shrimp in the tank), but it always came back from the tiniest fragments. Really cool stuff.

[davrx]

I see a couple of tiny snails in my bowl since adding the Chaetomorpha. Looks like some Tarebia granifera may have tagged along? This is the type of snail you keep with your Opae Ula right?

[Mustafa]

Looks like you got a few hitchhikers there. They should be T. granifera. If they are brown/dark, they are for sure. I do have some brackish/salt water populations of M. tuberculata in my tanks, too, so if they are thinner and more ornate looking, they are M. tuberculata. If you get any pictures of your tank in the future, please share with us. I am always curious about other people's setups and experiences.