A pic or two of my Opae Ula

[BostonJill]

Hi Jill... There's around 300 +/- in this tank.

Rob did you buy the 300 or so shrimp all at once? What size tank are they in? One last question how long did it take from when you bought your Opae Ula till you saw your first berried shrimp? I just want to compare what you have experience to what's going on in my tank.

[danzel]

A dinner "prepared" by a snail. (If you know what I mean...)

How long did they took to finish the snail? Mine pulled it out from the shell before swamping it. Was it the same for you?

[Rob in Puyallup]

Hi Jill... There's around 300 +/- in this tank.

Rob did you buy the 300 or so shrimp all at once? What size tank are they in? One last question how long did it take from when you bought your Opae Ula till you saw your first berried shrimp? I just want to compare what you have experience to what's going on in my tank.

Jill... All of the shrimp in this tank have been in it since early December, most since November. Started with 50 and quickly added more over the month. Bought them from several sources. I noticed the first berried females (the two photographed here) on January 14th. So they would've been in the tank for a maximum of just over two months.

They are fed regularly, every other day, rotating foods, a different one at each feeding. SG of about 1.012. Temperatures in the mid 70's. Occasional, about once a month, water change of about 1 gallon. The aquarium itself is a Petco Bookshelf Tank. I believe it holds 6.6 gallons of water, empty.

The tank has aragonite sand and live rock. The latter controversial to some as it's from a full marine environment. I bought it fully cured, free from all obvious life, aged in an aquarium at the store for several weeks, never sold until the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are at zero. I placed in my tank and within a couple days added the shrimp as the water still measured zeroes.

The tank (a bit out of focus! LOL!):

[LeShrimp]

That's an awesome tank!

[Rob in Puyallup]

Thanks... It needs a bit of maintenance. At least a scrub on the front.

[Rob in Puyallup]

How it was when I first set it up, plus a week or two. Naturally occurring algae have since sprouted from the live rock.

[Rob in Puyallup]

Tonight... a group of pics...

From the right end:

[Rob in Puyallup]

the left end:

[Rob in Puyallup]

Left end with flash.

[Rob in Puyallup]

A close up of the left end.

[Rob in Puyallup]

The mama I could find tonight:

[AndyH]

Great pictures! And I like the tank setup a lot too!

[Mustafa]

Hey Rob,

Looks like you have a serious nutrient problem at your hands there judging from the algae growth. I bet there is already, or soon will be a cyanobacteria outbreak in your tank, which messes up all kinds of things (especially when you try to kill it off instead of cutting down on feeding). I used to have problems like that when I was overfeeding over half a decade ago. I would really stop feeding every other day, stop the water changes, and let the tank just settle. Yes, you have berried shrimp, and that may seem like it's a vindication of your methods, but shrimp berry even if they are not doing all that well as long as they find enough food. "Enough" with this species means really very little. The problem with overfeeding is that your shrimp are more likely to die of even tiny amounts of ammonia (that you won't even detect with test kits). That's chronic ammonia poisoning (i.e. over longer periods of time) as opposed to acute ammonia poisoning (immediate death). Bacterial blooms (even of the invisible kind) are another problem that comes with overfeeding. Yet another problem that you will probably notice soon is that, although your shrimp have eggs, you won't see all that many larvae (if any) and pretty much no offspring. That's because larvae and young shrimp are a lot more sensitive to nutrient pollution than adults. The filter won't help either as it usually creates water movement...usually way too much for larvae. It drains the nutrient resources of the larvae. Plus, it's not just that "filters are not needed"; it goes a step further: filters are NOT recommended!

Of course everyone is free to do as they like, but there is a reason why I (and others like Cotigirl, who also tried all kinds of setups over the years) are recommending very little feeding and no filters. In the end patience really gets rewarded, even if it takes just a tad bit longer to see some berried shrimp. A stable tank that does not need to be messed with at all (besides the occasional feeding) is priceless.

[Rob in Puyallup]

Hi Mustafa,

Please see my reply under the thread "Compatible Tankmates and Plants".

[Rob in Puyallup]

A few of the opae ula from the 10 gallon tank. Some unusual colors, not in the best focus, unfortunately:

A couple of the yellow orange...