It has been a year since I first purchased my Opae'ula. Ten from Mustafa along with some snails and macro algae. They have been in a lovely little 2.5 gal tank with some lava rock and shells picked up from OBX while on vacation (well cleaned, of course). Shrimp were purchased two weeks after the macro algae and snails were introduced. Months later was gifted some more from a different source and they were put in a 5 gal with algae and snails from the 2.5 gal. The 5 gal had a few berried several months later, and there were three little larvae. Then no activities.
Couple weeks ago I noticed in my 2.5 gal two berried females, wonderful. Then last week, five. Awesome. Then two in the 5 gal. Better and better. Now in my original tank, home to ten of Mustafa's finest opae'ula I have seen two that are still berried and at last count... sixteen little red larvae floating around. My tank is now a hotbed of baby shrimp activity. For those who are new, listen to Mustafa about how to take care of your tank. It may take months, but you will be rewarded.
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One year in...and going strong.
Moderator: Mustafa
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JennyPenny
- Shrimp
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Re: One year in...and going strong.
This is wonderful! I added shrimp to my tank in February and am very much looking forward to them reproducing. My family is also looking forward to it so I can supply them, lol. Have any larvae turned into shrimp yet? Would love to see some pictures of your tanks!
Re: One year in...and going strong.
I haven't seen them, but I am hoping that my first three are now shrimp and hiding in their great rock mountain until they feel big enough to brave the wide spaces of the 5 gal.
The first image is my original 2.5, macro algae and snails from Mustafa. The shrimp did not arrive for a couple weeks more.
And the second is the tank now... yes, there is a heater. Winters are cold in Idaho... And if you look closely at the heater...babies!
And last the great 5 gal. I am thinking of combining the two, but I want to re-scape with black aragonite.
All the macro algae came from my one little bunch I originally got with my snails. More than enough to go around... getting to the point I am going to have to throw some out before it overtakes the tank.
On another site that sells opae'ula (located in Hawaii) they have little dwarf hairy leg hermit crabs, and I was thinking of getting a couple for the five. At a half-inch they should be fine. The same store has sea fans to decorate the tank, and I have been looking for one for a while. Was planning on getting the hermits and the fan in one go. But that won't be for several more months...
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The first image is my original 2.5, macro algae and snails from Mustafa. The shrimp did not arrive for a couple weeks more.
And the second is the tank now... yes, there is a heater. Winters are cold in Idaho... And if you look closely at the heater...babies!
And last the great 5 gal. I am thinking of combining the two, but I want to re-scape with black aragonite.
All the macro algae came from my one little bunch I originally got with my snails. More than enough to go around... getting to the point I am going to have to throw some out before it overtakes the tank.
On another site that sells opae'ula (located in Hawaii) they have little dwarf hairy leg hermit crabs, and I was thinking of getting a couple for the five. At a half-inch they should be fine. The same store has sea fans to decorate the tank, and I have been looking for one for a while. Was planning on getting the hermits and the fan in one go. But that won't be for several more months...
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Re: One year in...and going strong.
Love the rocks in the five gallon. The shrimp must love all the space they give to scrub for food.
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And yeah, don't worry if you don't see the metamorphosed shrimp for a while. Not only do they like to hide but they also stay very still most of the time unless an adult or a snail bumps into them, which makes it even harder to see them. Once they increase in size a bit they will become as active and bold as the adult shrimp.
But if you want to look for them, try staring really carefully into the macroalgae as that seemed to be where many of my metamorphosed babies spend a lot of their time (the first generation of babies at least, the second are still larva). Obviously it provides hiding spaces, but I think the dense strands also provide a surface for biofilm that the larger shrimp and snails can't normally get to.
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And yeah, don't worry if you don't see the metamorphosed shrimp for a while. Not only do they like to hide but they also stay very still most of the time unless an adult or a snail bumps into them, which makes it even harder to see them. Once they increase in size a bit they will become as active and bold as the adult shrimp.
But if you want to look for them, try staring really carefully into the macroalgae as that seemed to be where many of my metamorphosed babies spend a lot of their time (the first generation of babies at least, the second are still larva). Obviously it provides hiding spaces, but I think the dense strands also provide a surface for biofilm that the larger shrimp and snails can't normally get to.
Re: One year in...and going strong.
It has been several days, and now on the side of the tank two itty bitty baby shrimp! The number of larvae has gone down, so I am assuming the first to hatch have matured into shrimp, two of which like hanging out on glass. Haven't seen the other berried shrimp, but then I usually don't see all of the shrimp at any given time. Still expecting to see more little larvae though.
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KenCotigirl
- Senior Shrimp Master
- Posts: 759
- Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:46 am
- Location: Old Bridge, NJ
Re: One year in...and going strong.
Great news! Keep your updates coming.
Kenp
Kenp
Re: One year in...and going strong.
Still have a few larvae floating around, doesn't look like any new ones, though I did confirm I still have at leas one berried shrimp in the tank. I cannot believe how much smaller the new little shrimp look compared to the larvae form. Wee little things. Have two who are not shy or anything, always hanging out on the glass. I am sure the others are hiding in the macro algae (just because I want to prune it).
This has put my rescape of the tanks on hold for quite a while. I was thinking of combining the two, working on my MTS by having only one opae'ula tank. The 5 gal would have plenty of room for everyone for quite a while. but now I want to wait until the little ones get bigger, and I don't want to do anything that may cause the two berried ones in the 5 gal to drop their eggs. I want all the babies I can get. It does give me more time to plan things out though...
=^._.^=
This has put my rescape of the tanks on hold for quite a while. I was thinking of combining the two, working on my MTS by having only one opae'ula tank. The 5 gal would have plenty of room for everyone for quite a while. but now I want to wait until the little ones get bigger, and I don't want to do anything that may cause the two berried ones in the 5 gal to drop their eggs. I want all the babies I can get. It does give me more time to plan things out though...
=^._.^=
Re: One year in...and going strong.
Thanks for the experience report and the pictures, Aennedry! 
And congrats on the babies! I wouldn't worry about space even in the 2.5 gallon. My first Supershrimp tank ever was a 2.5 gallon "kritter keeper" that went from just a handful of shrimp (and snails) to several hundred (my memory is foggy about the exact numbers as this was over 10 years ago but I think there were 300-600 shrimp plus larvae...I counted them because I had to catch all of them to move across the country). As long as a population grows over time it's fine. I wouldn't recommend sticking a few hundred shrimp in a newly established 2.5 gallon tank of course.
And congrats on the babies! I wouldn't worry about space even in the 2.5 gallon. My first Supershrimp tank ever was a 2.5 gallon "kritter keeper" that went from just a handful of shrimp (and snails) to several hundred (my memory is foggy about the exact numbers as this was over 10 years ago but I think there were 300-600 shrimp plus larvae...I counted them because I had to catch all of them to move across the country). As long as a population grows over time it's fine. I wouldn't recommend sticking a few hundred shrimp in a newly established 2.5 gallon tank of course.