Starting an Opea Ula Tank

A forum for discussing everything about the Supershrimp (Halocaridina rubra, Opae ula).

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Moonspeckle
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Starting an Opea Ula Tank

Post by Moonspeckle »

I have recently obtained an Ecosphere, and from what I have read, those orbs are more of torture chambers than environments. I have decided to venture and attempt to make a new, improved home for my shrimp!

I have read the forums on here for a while obtaining information, and I would like to ask a person familiar with the little guys to critique my compilation for me before I begin to set the tank up (and I thank the community for all the information on here as well :) )

So far I have decided to get:

*2 gallon tank (or larger, depending on price)
*Calcium Carbonate Rock or Eggshell
*Distilled Water
*Aquarium Systems Instant Ocean Aquarium Salt
*Aquatic Gardens Aquarium Hydrometer with Thermometer
*Algae Eater Pellets
*Small Bubbler (For movement)
*Macro Algae or Chaetomorpha Algae
*Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite Tests

And I would also like to ask a few questions:

What type of sand/substrate do you think is best? (In your opinion)
What types of decoration should I have?
Would it be safe to have Mollies/Guppies in the tank with the shrimp?
Is there a type of item I can put in the tank to allow younger shrimp to hide? (If I am lucky enough for them to breed)
What should the Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite levels be in the tank?
Are there other breeds of shrimp (i.e. Ghost Shrimp) I can add from my local pet store without conflict?
Are there any decorative no-no’s you can warn me about?
What is the average time for a tank to acclimate before adding the shrimp?

I greatly appreciate anyone taking the time to read this and give me any insight :)
dan d
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Re: Starting an Opea Ula Tank

Post by dan d »

I can answer a few of your questions,

I don't think a bubbler is needed, but it probably won't hurt anything.

Ammonia & nitrite need to be 0, I have some old coral live rock I just placed in my tank & it must of had some old junk on it as it spiked my ammonia, I removed my shrimp.

My tank is taking a while (going on 2 weeks) for the ammonia to 0 out, I have read a cold water tank takes longer to cycle than a tropical (78 degree) tank as the good bacteria grows slower. I bet if you use clean store bought crushed coral ( or Calcium Carbonate Rock) substrate you would not even get an ammonia / nitrite spike, good to confirm with your test kit though. Overfeeding can cause a spike, if you left any raw egg protein on the egg shell substrate that for sure would cause an ammonia spike.

My shrimp hide in the chaeto algae mass I got from Mustafa.

Dan
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Re: Starting an Opea Ula Tank

Post by Mustafa »

Just to add to what Dan said:

-- no bubbler, not only is it not needed..the shrimp don't like all that water movement at all.

-- you can't just buy any macroalgae or Chaetomorpha species. My research and experience has shown that, at the salinity levels the Supershrimp are usually kept, only the Chaetomorpha species that I call "Supershrimp Macroalga" grows and thrives, even at very low salinities. The normal marine Chaetomorpha will just sit there and do nothing...and probably disintegrate over time. All other commonly available macroalgae are just gong to disintegrate right away, or not grow at all at best.

-- substrate does not matter. You can have any substrate that won't acidify the water. There is really no "best" substrate...I've used all kinds of substrates in the past and found no difference in suitability. The shrimp really don't care. I mostly use a type of very course sand now, though.

-- Any decoration is fine, as long as it does not release harmful chemicals into the water or acidify the water. That means..no driftwood or similar organic stuff, no leaves either. Just stay away from any organic decoration....

-- After you successfully set up your tank, you really don't need to worry about ammonia, nitrate, nitrite etc.. I have not measured any of these parameters in my Supershrimp tanks in years. Just observe the behavior of your shrimp (active?), the algae growth (to decide how much to feed), Chaetomorpha growth (ditto), and stick with the once every two week feedings, and you don't really have to worry about anything else. In short...just follow the advice given on the various pages linked here:

http://www.petshrimp.com/hawaiianredshrimp.php

If you follow that, you, and the shrimp, will be fine.

-- Mollies will eat larvae, juvies, and probably even most adults. With guppies you will lose all larvae and most juvies...and you won't ever see your adults out in the open. In other words, you won't ever be able to observe natural behavior. I don't recommend any fish at all if you want to observe the shrimp out in the open....and alive. In their natural habitats the Supershrimp have no fish. If fish somehow enter their habitats (usually introduced through humans), the shrimp disappear deep underground into the lava rock crevices, caves, connections etc.. They only come back out after the fish have been removed.

-- I have not tried any brackish species of Palaemonetes/Palaemon ("Ghost/Glass/Grass shrimp") with the Supershrimp, but I would think that they would go for the larvae and very small postlarvae if they have a chance...depends on the species. Brackish water ghost/glass shrimp are not commonly available anyway. The freshwater species of Palaemonetes ony have a limited tolerance to salt...they may be able to survive at the very low range of Supershrimp salinities.

-- There is really no average "setup" time for a tank before adding shrimp. It can take a few days to several weeks depending on your situation. Waiting one to two weeks should be safe for most people. With the Supershrimp Macroalga you can pretty much instantly set up a tank as the Macroalga takes care of ammonia and also introduces beneficial bacteria and algae from my breeding tanks.

Hope this helps. :)
Moonspeckle
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Re: Starting an Opea Ula Tank

Post by Moonspeckle »

Thank you very much for the quick responses!
I purchased a 10 gallon tank today (Which actually cost $30 cheaper than any smaller tank I saw, go figure) and I will get the distilled water within the next few days.
I purchased crushed coral for the substrate.
Hmm…so basically I cannot have any fish in the tank.. Would there be any other species of creature I could add to the tank to add variety that you have seen have success?
If I do not have a bubbler, is there any chance the water will stagnate and have an odor? (I’ve had to deal with that before)
In their natural habitat are there any other live creatures? Any I could find captive bred?
About how many shrimp (if they breed of course) do you think would populate a 10 gallon?

And yes, it has helped a lot, thank you very much :)
Mustafa
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Re: Starting an Opea Ula Tank

Post by Mustafa »

Moonspeckle wrote:Would there be any other species of creature I could add to the tank to add variety that you have seen have success?
If I do not have a bubbler, is there any chance the water will stagnate and have an odor? (I’ve had to deal with that before)
In their natural habitat are there any other live creatures? Any I could find captive bred?
About how many shrimp (if they breed of course) do you think would populate a 10 gallon?

And yes, it has helped a lot, thank you very much :)
Where these shrimp occur naturally they are, by far, the most numerous species. There are other inverts, including some other shrimp species, but they are quite rare compared to the Supershrimp. I have not done any experiments with other species, except for an Isopod species and Metabataeus lohena. Both live just fine with the Supershrimp, but neither is commercially available (nor should they be, unless they are captive-bred, which they are not). I may start a captive breeding program for M. lohena in the future, but commercial availability may be years away even then. Snails are your best bet right now if you want something else in the tank.

Even without other animals a tank with hundreds of Supershrimp is a sight to behold. And yes, you can keep hundreds of these guys in your 10 gallon tank. And, no, there will be no odor. Odor only occurs in tanks if you feed too much, and that's not going to be the case with these shrimp anyway. So, there is really no chance of that if you follow the instructions presented here. When it comes to breeding, it's not a matter of "if they breed" but more a matter of "when they breed." It can take many months, but you will eventually see larvae floating around. The most important thing is to strictly follow the instructions here. Then it's just a matter of time.
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