Hello!
I am preparing to keep some Opae Ula Supershrimp (first time). And I am finding this site very useful. I am now setting up a 10 gallon tank. I have a large piece of deal coral I sanitized (pressure washed, scrubbed, boiled, bleached, dried and boiled again with baking soda to neutralize any remaining bleach). I understand this will affect the pH as well. It will take up a large portion of the tank. Would this be too much coral or is it okay to put in pretty much any dead coral of any size in a tank?
Too much coral?
Moderator: Mustafa
Re: Too much coral?
I am not an expert but given the extremes the shrimp can live in I would think that at worst the coral's size would only limit how many shrimp you can keep in the tank due to all the room the coral takes up.
Re: Too much coral?
Dont worry about the size of the coral, it will only buffer PH when the water becomes acidic. If it makes you feel better i have ocean rock (limestone) in my tank and it takes up 2/3rds of the floor area. This has the effect that coral has 
Re: Too much coral?
Actually, I'm hoping they'll really take to the coral, given all the nooks and crannies it has.Varanus wrote:I am not an expert but given the extremes the shrimp can live in I would think that at worst the coral's size would only limit how many shrimp you can keep in the tank due to all the room the coral takes up.
Thanks for the reassurance! Looks like I'll be fine.Mech wrote:Dont worry about the size of the coral, it will only buffer PH when the water becomes acidic. If it makes you feel better i have ocean rock (limestone) in my tank and it takes up 2/3rds of the floor area. This has the effect that coral has
I just added the sea salt and finished setting up the tank. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the tank to cycle (and maybe testing once in a while to check if it finally has).
Re: Too much coral?
I'd recommend getting the macroalgae and snails available on the site to speed/smooth things along. I attribute doing so to be a reason I haven't had a single loss in the weeks since getting my group of twenty shrimp. Watching the snails makes the waiting easier too.Cameron wrote:I just added the sea salt and finished setting up the tank. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the tank to cycle (and maybe testing once in a while to check if it finally has).
Re: Too much coral?
I just added my shrimp a week ago, and they settled in immediately! My understanding is that you can't have too much coral. I also have a huge piece in there and it provides a ton of surface area for algae growth. My shrimp love picking over it, and I love how they stand out on the white background. I think the most important thing you can do is be patient! Time helps things settle and stabilize.
Also, welcome!!! This is a tremendously fun hobby!
Also, welcome!!! This is a tremendously fun hobby!
Re: Too much coral?
That's great. Exactly my thoughts. I think they'll really take to the little nook and crannies of the coral.NYCShrimp wrote:I just added my shrimp a week ago, and they settled in immediately! My understanding is that you can't have too much coral. I also have a huge piece in there and it provides a ton of surface area for algae growth. My shrimp love picking over it, and I love how they stand out on the white background.
Sounds like a life lesson.NYCShrimp wrote:I think the most important thing you can do is be patient! Time helps things settle and stabilize.
Thank you!NYCShrimp wrote:Also, welcome!!! This is a tremendously fun hobby!
Re: Too much coral?
Welcome, and hope you'll enjoy the hobby as much as we do in the future!
Re: Too much coral?
I 'm sad to report that my tank was not successful. I gave it a little over six months. In that time, I hardly saw the shrimp, because they got lost on the large coral I placed in the tank, there was a lot of algae, but no reproduction. I lost four out of the ten shrimp I ordered, so I have only six left now. I cleaned out the tank and have them in a a plastic jar now with some algae, sand and a light source. I'm thinking of getting a nano tank for them now.
But either way, I don't know why they didn't thrive in the previous tank. I prepared it and let it cycle for months before putting the Opae Ula in. The salinity was within range of what is recommended here, the temperature was always good and everything else seemed fine. I was a little slow in replacing evaporated water, but from what I understand, that isn't a big deal.
But either way, I don't know why they didn't thrive in the previous tank. I prepared it and let it cycle for months before putting the Opae Ula in. The salinity was within range of what is recommended here, the temperature was always good and everything else seemed fine. I was a little slow in replacing evaporated water, but from what I understand, that isn't a big deal.
Re: Too much coral?
The shrimp you got may simply still be too young to reproduce, as they take quite a while to grow up (my first babies are over six months old now and still only a little over a quarter the size of my adult shrimps).
Or you may have simply gotten too few, my starting number was twenty and it still took them months to breed (and only a few of those first twenty actually bred that first time). And even with twenty in a six gallon tank it was rare to see more than ten of the shrimp at a time even during feeding. It doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't often see a mere ten shrimp in a tank nearly twice the size of mine.
Having so few even raises the possibility (albeit a small one) that you have all males or all females, hence no breeding.
But given six have survived I wouldn't say your tank failed. Admittedly putting them in a smaller one should make them easier to observe.
Or you may have simply gotten too few, my starting number was twenty and it still took them months to breed (and only a few of those first twenty actually bred that first time). And even with twenty in a six gallon tank it was rare to see more than ten of the shrimp at a time even during feeding. It doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't often see a mere ten shrimp in a tank nearly twice the size of mine.
Having so few even raises the possibility (albeit a small one) that you have all males or all females, hence no breeding.
But given six have survived I wouldn't say your tank failed. Admittedly putting them in a smaller one should make them easier to observe.
Re: Too much coral?
Thanks for your reply, Varanus.
I'm intrigued- So your shrimp reproduced even in a six gallon tank? I thought the minimum they reproduced in was in a ten gallon tank. I am thinking about what size and shape tank to put them in. I am leaning towards a traditional rectangular tank, but much smaller- something like 1.5-5 gallons. I'm thinking of them of giving them a small space to hide- so some can hide some of the time, but not have them hidden all the time.
I'm intrigued- So your shrimp reproduced even in a six gallon tank? I thought the minimum they reproduced in was in a ten gallon tank. I am thinking about what size and shape tank to put them in. I am leaning towards a traditional rectangular tank, but much smaller- something like 1.5-5 gallons. I'm thinking of them of giving them a small space to hide- so some can hide some of the time, but not have them hidden all the time.
Re: Too much coral?
Well 6.6 gallons but its not fully filled with water so I approximate, but yup. I hadn't heard anything about a minimum tank size for breeding. Rather, even in very small tanks they will reproduce until they reach some kind of plateau in numbers at which point they cease or greatly reduce breeding. I've read of tanks a good deal smaller than mine ending up with over a hundred shrimp. They are so tough and their needs so small that they can thrive in such small environments.Cameron wrote:I'm intrigued- So your shrimp reproduced even in a six gallon tank? I thought the minimum they reproduced in was in a ten gallon tank.
Indeed when setting up my tank I was told a mere ten shrimp would get "lost" in a six gallon tank, hence why I started with twenty. You can read the story of my tank post set-up here, which also has a link to the topic where the details of the tank were decided on: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5771
It may just be my experience, but it seems to me that having a lot of hiding places is fairly important to the supershrimp. Berried females and newly metamorphosed babies in particular like to hide most of the time. No idea if only having a small space for hiding would inhibit breeding, the shrimp are great at taking advantage of small spaces, but perhaps others can chime in on this matter.I am thinking about what size and shape tank to put them in. I am leaning towards a traditional rectangular tank, but much smaller- something like 1.5-5 gallons. I'm thinking of them of giving them a small space to hide- so some can hide some of the time, but not have them hidden all the time.
If you get a good number of them then at least a few should be visible most of the time provided they have reason to go out and about. Namely if there is enough food that they don't have to move around to get it then they won't. That's another reason to get a good number of them, food competition. Indeed my observations suggests that a feeding shrimp's movements attract other shrimp to itself (i.e. mine will often get chased by other shrimp while holding a food pellet despite other pellets being available nearby).
Re: Too much coral?
Sorry to hear about your experiences! From what you tell us it sounds like your tank definitely had too many nutrients. Algae shouldn't be growing all over the place even months after as the shrimp (and snails) will eat it. So, either you overfed or there was already some kind of biological material in the rock or substrate.
In any case, I can confirm that these shrimp even breed in half a gallon, and more reliably in 1 gallon of water. However, with such little volume you have to be extra careful with not overfeeding and maybe feed once every month or two (or three).
So, what did you do with the rest of the shrimp?
In any case, I can confirm that these shrimp even breed in half a gallon, and more reliably in 1 gallon of water. However, with such little volume you have to be extra careful with not overfeeding and maybe feed once every month or two (or three).
So, what did you do with the rest of the shrimp?