New Tank (Cycled!) LED Timer

[i<3Opae]

Hi everyone! I too, recently completed cycling a new 12G tank. Glad the waiting part is over! It took me about 5 weeks to get Nitrite down to 0, altho my API saltwater master test kit never showed ammonia. I added 10 opea ula that were originally in a pint-size bottle (1 month) to the tank then purchased 20 more from a local pet store. 30 in a 12 gallon tank might seem a bit sparse according to some folks, but that's how I like it right now. It's been 1.5 weeks and the shrimpees have gone from being really shy/scared/whatever-you-have-it to being more lively. I can see 7-8 swimming around at any given time. A fun fact I noticed was these little shrimps love to *surf* the current put out by the filter, well, my husband doesn't believe me but I'm convinced! They will either avoid the center zone of the tank where there is current, or they purposefully swim into it, drift with the current wherever it takes them, then gently and gracefully land on something...Coolest shrimp - EVER! I just installed a simple ramp timer today for the factory LED light that came with the tank, since we'll be going on vacation soon and I don't want to risk anything funny happen to the tank while I'm not able to turn on/off the lights.

Here's a little more info on the tank:

Salinity: 1.005-1.010. I mixed the brackish water by using Instant Ocean sea salt and bottled water (half distilled, half normal bottled water - that's just what I got - going forward I think I'll only use distilled)
pH: 8.2-8.4
Temp: 84-86F
Substrate: Black sand
Decorations: Drift wood, fake plants, a medium-size coral, small lava rocks. I didn't know at the time, but apparently drift wood lowers the pH, and coral raises it. My decorations created a ton of hiding places, which is good for the shrimp but vexing for me trying to watch them!
Plants: Two anubias, enough java moss to cover the drift wood, one java fern. It's been two months and the plants are doing okay, there were definitely some adjusting initially.
Lighting: 12h light, 12h dark (or with moon light aka blue LED). I set the ramp timer on a 12-hour lighting schedule with a built-in 15 min sunrise/sunset mode.
Shrimps: Opae ula in various sizes, all adults, no juveniles. There are definitely a few different shades of red. Most aren't as red as the cherry shrimp, just a pinkish red. I got them (all 30) from the same pet store, so possibly from the same source.
Feeding: I haven't fed the shrimp since they started living in the tank. I'm going to wait at least one month before feeding as there should be enough plant matters/algae for them to consume.
Cycling: I'm still adding 10-12ml of Nutrafin Cycle every day so I can know for sure they're ok.
Water change: I haven't done water changes since the cycle was complete. The water has a brown/gold tint to it because of the driftwood (didn't have a pot to boil them, I only soaked them in scalding hot water for a couple of hours). So I'm planning on a 15-20% water change once the shrimp are settled.

A lot of the stuff above I learned from Christine Ha's youtube videos. She's great! I also read around the internet, including this one. So thanks for all your helpful articles/comments out there!

[jonesinfershrimp]

defiantely going to follow the progression of this tank. good luck!

[i<3Opae]

Thanks jonesinfershrimp!

The LED light timer worked this morning. I got to see the tank being gradually lit to full brightness which was really cool. Less shocking for the shrimp I suppose. I'm very happy with the turnout, considering I didn't even know that the out-of-box tank light would be compatible with the timer. I wasn't able to find a lot of info online about timer accessories. Some youtube videos showed elaborate customized lighting upgrade with additional lights and other gadgets - but I only wanted a simple and inexpensive solution to automate the lighting schedule. What I now learned is anything with a DC transformer that has a male and female DC plug would work with the ramp timer.

[Mustafa]

Plants: Two anubias, enough java moss to cover the drift wood, one java fern. It's been two months and the plants are doing okay, there were definitely some adjusting initially.

Hi and welcome to the forum! At those salinities the above plants are slowly dying...very slowly. It will be a problem in the future as they dead/dying organic material will pollute the tank maybe a bit too much over time. I'd take them out.

Also, you can do water changes if you want, but there is really no reason for it at all. Most of us are using a method here that is pretty much "hands off" and it works great.

[i<3Opae]

Thanks Mustafa!

You're probably right - the plants aren't doing as well as I expected - so I might take them out slowly. My shrimp like to go through the decaying leaves lol. Figured that could be a food source for them since I'm not feeding them.

I did more reading on the tannins and apparently they're good for fish/shrimp? Anyways, I kinda want the tank to be clear that's why I was contemplating water change at small increments. But past experience has taught me "no fuss no mess" with Opae Ula so I'll just chill for now. The brown/gold color doesn't look bad, just a bit hard to see the shrimp

[i<3Opae]

An interesting observation: my opae ula tend to hide low in the tank when there is a storm coming.

Here're a couple recent pictures of the anchialine ponds on the big island of Hawaii. There are preserved/restored ponds near Waikoloa Beach. These ponds fascinate me! A good read on anchialine ponds (by Conservation Council for Hawai‘i): http://www.conservehi.org/documents/CCH ... uide11.pdf

[NancyM]

Thank you for posting the link to the informative piece on anchialine pools. Most interesting read.

[Mustafa]

I did more reading on the tannins and apparently they're good for fish/shrimp?

With this species not really. They don't need nor want tannins or decaying organic material in their tank. However, if your shrimp are doing fine and not acting weird, I'd just take the plants out and and leave it at that (i.e. no water changes).

[uslanja]

Good day! I am very new to keeping freshwater shrimp and was wondering why you use salt? As well, would you tell me more about your ramp up timer and where you purchased it? I have so much to learn.......

Dave

[Varanus]

Good day! I am very new to keeping freshwater shrimp and was wondering why you use salt? As well, would you tell me more about your ramp up timer and where you purchased it? I have so much to learn.......

Dave

Supershrimp aren't freshwater shrimp, but specialized brackish water shrimp and thus require marine salt. You may want to go to the general shrimp forum if you're interested in freshwater species.

[i<3Opae]

would you tell me more about your ramp up timer and where you purchased it?

I got the ramp timer from Amazon, it's called "Current USA Single Ramp Timer for Aquarium". It's great for a simple sunrise/sunset gradual lighting change. I recommend checking the light you're currently using first, see if there is a built-in female/male DC connector. My light came with the Fluval Edge 12G and it has the said connector. I'll post a sunrise time-lapse video later.

Like Varanus mentioned, opae ula live in brackish water which is a mixture of salt and fresh water. They're amazing creatures!

[i<3Opae]

Link to a time-lapse of the "sunrise" effect using the ramp timer https://youtu.be/m0zN8a3n2lY

[uslanja]

I like the ramp timer! So if I have the correct connector plug than it should work. I need to check that out. Thank you for the video! Reading about the Opae Ula has made me want to follow along and see how things go for you......... a very unique shrimp!