Opae Ula Experience

[eightoeight]

Home Tank 1 - Deep Blue Professional 2.5 gallon :
Occupants: Opae Ula
Hardscape: Coral
Substrate: Eco Complete
Plants: Macroalgae

Home Tank 2 - Deep Blue Professional 2.5 gallon:
Occupants: None (Planning for Opae Ula)
Hardscape: Coral
Substrate: Eco Complete
Plants: None

Home Tank 3 - Eheim Aquastyle 6 gallon:
Occupants: Pipipi
Hardscape: Seiryu Stones
Substrate: Eco Complete
Plants: None

Gallon Jar:
Occupants: Opae Ula
Hardscape: None
Substrate: None
Plants: 2 Marimo, Macroalgae

Office Tank 1 - Aquarium Masters 1.5 Gallon:
Occupants: None (Planning for Opae Ula)
Hardscape: Coral
Substrate: Eco Complete
Plants: None

Office Tank 2 - Aquarium Masters 1.5 Gallon:
Occupants: None (Planning for Cherry Shrimp)
Hardscape: Mopani Wood
Substrate: Eco Complete
Plants: Java Fern

Water:
I used bottled distilled water and Instant Ocean salt (not Reef Crystals).

Filtration:
Initially I had a HOB filter that had it's flow reduced to a trickle, but I figured why even bother. The water is very still and the opae ula can just glide through the water undisturbed. I see the value in Mustafa's recommendation of no filtration.

Buddies:
I had a few pipipi in the tank with opae ula, but they rarely went below the water line while I was watching them. I moved them to another tank by themselves and they frequently eat algae on the glass and stones...and a lot of it. When I first introduced the opae ula to the tank, they cleared the stones and glass of most of the algae. I can definitely understand why Mustafa may not recommend pipipi as the amount of algae I've seen them eat.

Plants:
It's very difficult following instructions, and even though I've learned many lessons along the way...there's still some defiance in me that wants to try marimo. I currently have some with opae ula in a gallon jar along with macroalgae and marimo. I guess even though it's not recommended, I may see how it goes and learn the hard way I did purchase macroalgae from PetShrimp.com and the opae ula seem to like it well enough. They do hang out on the marimo more though.

Feeding:
In the gallon jar I do feed spirulina, and a pellet or two of Fluval Shrimp Granules now and then. For Home Tank 1 I feel like it is unnecessary because they are constantly grazing and there is a lot of surface area on stones, macroalgae, and substrate for algae/biofilm to grow on. When I did put in food or spirulina in the tank, they do eat it, but not as quickly as the opae ula living in the jar.

Lighting:
I currently have a Marineland Double Bright, but I'm not sure if I like how strong the lighting is because of the small size and depth of my tanks.

I'm guilty of wanting to do too much, which is why I do see value in Mustafa's recommendations. For those interested in starting Opae Ula tanks, I would suggest following his instructions from the start. Though few will I suspect.

The challenge of having the fiery passion we have for Opae Ula is that there seem to be so many limitations and less options for their environment and tank mates. It's a little discouraging to have less options, but it's still very enjoyable to observe them in a "simple" and "minimalistic" environment.

That's all for now

Made a short video of my tank with opae ula using my iPhone 4 and iMovie just for fun. . . :
http://youtu.be/ClB7xkVR8mk

Here's a video testing out a macro lens:
http://youtu.be/qgTNTwkdwF8

[Rob in Puyallup]

Hi Eightoeight...

Curious which of your tanks is in the video. Liking it and the substrate. Video and music is fun, too.

[eightoeight]

Hi Rob,

It's tank #1 with Seiryu stones. I like the substrate as well, I tried UP Aqua Shrimp Sand because I thought the round shape would be nice, but it clouds the water a lot with it's very fine particles and was driving me crazy. I'm pretty happy with Eco Complete because I think it's inert, comes in a 20lb bag from Amazon, and is relatively clean. I did still wash it though.

I'm thinking of changing the stones out for coral though. I want to provide them more crevices to hang out and feel safe in. Potentially for them to breed in as well.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Rob in Puyallup]

I use Up Shrimp Sand in one of my crystal tanks. Works fine in there, keeps the pH down like they prefer. Thinking that wouldn't be very good for our guys, which live the brackish lifestyle with a much higher pH requirement.

I have aragonite sand in two of my opae tanks, a mix of it and black sand in the new tank. It buffers the water, keeping the pH up where it should be and the shrimp love the fine particles. They carry the individual grains in their "mouths" sucking all the goodies off.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for sharing your various setups and the video! The marimo ball may be able to hang in there for a while (kind of like java moss) but it will not grow at all, and then probably die...UNLESS it's one of those hair algae species that has a wide salinity tolerance...they are out there. Keep the updates coming!

[eightoeight]

I removed the Seiryu Stone and replaced it with coral. I'm not sure why I choose the largest pieces of coral that will fit in my tank More surface area? More hole things for them to crawl in maybe. Waiting for any sign of algae growth on the coral. I'm curious if the dark green algae I've seen on other people's coral is a good type, or bad type. It looks nice though.

Picked up an inexpensive macro lens for my iPhone and tried to focus in on them but it's very challenging since they need to be close to the glass or else they're just a blur.

It turns out my mom has always wanted to buy an ecosphere/biosphere with Opae Ula in it (but they are actually quite expensive) so I told her I'd help her make a habitat of her own. She and my dad picked up the smallest Aquarium Master tank at Petland (Kahala) that must be a gallon or gallon and a half. We also picked up a piece of coral from Kalihi Pet Center. I plan to mix the water for her and give her some substrate for her to use in her tank that she will assemble on her own at work. Looking forward to how that turns out. I'm excited she's excited!

Here's a video testing out the macro lens:
http://youtu.be/qgTNTwkdwF8

[jonlz]

Wow.. Done with an iPhone you say, that's pretty cool. And the Coral looks great

[eightoeight]

If you check ebay for 'iPhone Macro Lens' there are relatively inexpensive ones available. I got the 3 in 1 version. It's just a challenge to get things in focus and to have them cooperate when you're trying to film them.

[Mustafa]

It turns out my mom has always wanted to buy an ecosphere/biosphere with Opae Ula in it (but they are actually quite expensive) so I told her I'd help her make a habitat of her own. She and my dad picked up the smallest Aquarium Master tank at Petland (Kahala) that must be a gallon or gallon and a half. We also picked up a piece of coral from Kalihi Pet Center. I plan to mix the water for her and give her some substrate for her to use in her tank that she will assemble on her own at work. Looking forward to how that turns out. I'm excited she's excited!

Here's a video testing out the macro lens:
http://youtu.be/qgTNTwkdwF8

That's great! I'm glad you helped your mother avoid the mistake of buying one of those torture chambers.

[eightoeight]

Finally I've spotted some berried females in my tank at work. Hard to tell how many, but I've seen around 2-3 simultaneously.

[Mustafa]

Awesome! Looks like you're on the right track. You should see larvae in about 4-5 weeks. Keep the updates coming!