Nexus6 wrote:
Theres probably no difference whether you use filters or without, etc. I might have to skip the canister filter altogether due to the water flow it creates. I just worry about ammonia buildup, especially when feeding them. Im at a loss at what to do, i want to take out that huge black HMF sponge filter ive got in the tank, but worry that by doing so, i will have taken out a heavy chunk of beneficial bacteria. Thus creating a mini cycle. I ordered a gallon of cultured water, so hopefully that will help. Ill update with pictures once i change things around.
Regarding your concern about ammonia if you don't implement some level of filtering - because Opae Ula are so small (this also goes for the small black snails that many of us include in our tanks), there will never be enough waste generated to crash the cycle. It's not like when a tank includes fish or even larger species of shrimp where there will be much more excrement (and therefore, ammonia) released into the water column making filtering absolutely necessary or else the tank will crash. Many folks who are new to keeping Opae Ula are so accustomed to the fact that filters, air pumps, heaters, etc are without question necessary for nearly every type of aquatic set-up that when they come across this particular animal, they just can't believe that you can sustain a healthy aquarium indefinitely (possibly forever) without any of that equipment and without ever doing water changes. Just top the water off whenever the water level drops an inch or two due to evaporation, and that's it.
It is simply because these guys are so small that 1) there will never be enough ammonia generated to overwhelm the cycle, 2) there will always be enough oxygen for them without ever disturbing the surface of the water at all, and 3) they will always (or at least for a long time) have enough to eat without ever feeding them. I've been doing this for a couple of years now, and I have literally
never fed them once. The reason I included "at least not for a long time" in there is because, if/when your tank ends up with so many shrimp (and I mean hundreds, even for relatively small tanks) that they (along with any snails) have eaten all the various growths in there (algae, cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, etc - it's all edible to them), only then you might have to drop an algae wafer (or whatever) in there every week or two. But it could be years before your tank, or any newer tank, gets to the point where any additional food is necessary. If you still feel you need or simply prefer to implement a filter, something that moves the water as little as possible is definitely best (as you know), and it sounds like the pump you're considering, on the lowest setting, will be fine (but again, not at all necessary, especially if you never feed them, which again, you don't need to).
So, no need to be at loss with all this - just keep it simple - no filter, no food. Also, be careful with adding any type of "special" water such as the cultured water you mentioned or products such as that instant-cycle water. Those types of things can sometimes lead to an over-abundance of cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, or other growths of the like. If that were to happen, it won't hurt the shrimp (as mentioned), but it just doesn't look that nice in there. Ideally, you just want a thin layer of nice green algae on everything, which is more likely to happen if nothing special is done to the water, and if you do not feed. You just need to let the plain ol' untouched RO or distilled water naturally cycle (if it hasn't already), and you're done - nothing else to do or worry about. In my very first tank, which I set-up without first coming across the info on this website/forum, I used that CaribSea instant-cycle water, and I put an algae wafer in there for a bit on the first day I added the shrimp, and it lead to a lot of aesthetically undesirable growth, as you can see here:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5199 (gotta scroll down for the pictures which I had to re-upload to the post).
If you haven't already, read through all this Opae Ula info and tank setup instructions that Mustafa has included on this site:
http://www.petshrimp.com/hawaiianredshrimp.php. Very informative, and based on my and many others' experiences, very accurate.
Hope that helps some with the decisions you're mulling over! I'll look out for the photos of what you end up doing!
