Setting up new tank

[Otter]

Ok this might seem like a strange question but here goes.
I have had 3 Opae Ula tanks going now for over 7 years they have been breeding and doing well and for the most part I have been pretty happy. When I bought the tanks they came with water, rocks and food all I have ever done is top off with distilled water fed them and have had great success. I would like to move them to a new setup glass with lights but am nervous to change anything. I thought maybe I would try to move one and see how it goes. I am looking at the Fluval Spec tank I like the size and the Led lights and overall look of the tank is pretty cool I also like the fact that is does have a filter and would like to add a little movement to the setup as one of the things I have not liked about my little setups is they kind of get a scum on the top and I am thinking a little water movement would help with that. I am a bit worried about the spec filter system as I would think Opae could get drawn into the filter. Does anyone use a fluval spec and have a fix for the filter? Next question my LFS sells salt water for tanks by the gallon I was wondering if I just bought that and mixed it half and half with distilled water if that would work? Could I then take some of the lava rocks out of my existing setups to seed the new tank? and how long would it be until I could move the shrimp over.

Any thoughts or Ideas would be great I have become kind of fond of these guys and would hate to kill even one tank of these little guys.

Thanks for your help,

John

[Mustafa]

Hi John,

I'm glad to hear/read that you have had your shrimp going strong for that long. The types of filters that are built into products like Fluval Spec are very hard to probably nearly impossible to make shrimp safe without risking some kind of water leak due to plugged overflow holes. In any case, I know surface scum can irritate people, but the organisms that form the scum are actually quite important for the health of your tank. Not only do they serve as food for your shrimp, but they also purify the water (by consuming nitrates, phosphates, ammonia etc.) and thus help keep your shrimp healthy. Plus, these shrimp really do not like much water movement. They simply won't breed if there is a current in the tank. So, the best thing to do would be to just setup something similar to the Fluval tank without a built in filter. Yes, you can use saltwater from your store and mix it with distilled water to reach the desired salinity, if you can be certain that their salt water is actually of good quality. Most stores seem to just give you water from their own system, so it should be fine as long as the fish and corals in their system look healthy.

I would move the shrimp over once you start seeing algae growth on the glass and other surfaces. I would also recommend getting the brackish snails at the very least so they can help establish the tank and keep it clean afterwards. Snails (and macroalgae) can play an important role in a Supershrimp tank as they eat/compete with algae, and thus prevent excessive algae growth, which in turn could cause deadly bacterial blooms.

If you follow the instructions as presented on this website, it's really no big deal to move your shrimp over. They will be just fine.

[Otter]

Thank you for your information that is very helpful I will let you know how it goes and will put in an order for the macroalgae and snails I think they would make a really nice addition to the tank.

[LeShrimp]

Research the nitrogen cycle. Once the cycle is complete and you have beneficial bacteria than it is safe to move them.

[Iwantshrimp]

The salt water is a yes I believe just use a hydrometer to test salt amount probaly seed the new tank I would wait about a month before adding shrimps