The Opae Ula Palace

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

I probably should have waited for the water clarity to clear up a bit (plus lots of bubbles on the glass) but I wanted to share this today. I just finished filling my 15 gallon tank with water. I can't wait to fill it with shrimp. I am thinking of starting out with 40.

About the tank:
There is about 1 inch of substrate in the bottom, with 13.5 gallons of water (specific gravity 1.011)

The back piece is glued onto the back with coral glue so I knew it was aquarium safe.

The back panel is also hollow and filled with water. There are 3 small holes I hope the shrimp will use to crawl inside as a nice place to hide should they want to. There is a big circular piece cut out of the back, so I can see inside a little bit.

There are also two large shells in there I hope they will crawl inside of.

So let me know what you think! Also I want a cool name for my new Opae Ula palace. Give me your suggestions!

[i<3Opae]

It looks fantastic! You have all that space in front of the coral piece to admire your shrimp.

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

thank you! Yeah I really didn't want to overcrowd it up in the front. I just hope they will enjoy thehollow portion of the backwall. Do you think the holes are large enough?

[i<3Opae]

Definitely, they can maneuver seemingly the smallest crevices and cracks. Very skilled!

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

That's awesome! I guess now all I have left to do is wait for the tank to cycle. It's going to be a long 4-5 weeks.

Any name suggestions for the tank? It's a bit of a tradition of mine.

[i<3Opae]

Haha I'll leave that in the capable hands of other forum members!

[jcfrank922]

Your tank is beautiful!

[Vorteil]

Looks great. I guaranty the opae will go in the holes. In both my 3 & 6 gal. cubes the majority of the opae are in the back. In mine I have lots of lava rock. 40 is a good amount to start out with. Can't wait to see the picks of the opae in there.

[SuperProofer]

Maison de la Petite Crevette (House of the Small Shrimp).

[Wendy]

Wow. Is that all real coral?
Can any coral is alright to fit into the tank? Or must be any specific coral?

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

Wow. Is that all real coral?
Can any coral is alright to fit into the tank? Or must be any specific coral?

Nope, not real coral. It is artificial coral from InstantReef. I guess there is a real piece of brain coral on the bottom that came with the substrate though.

I imagine most long dead coral would be fine. So long as it is cleaned of organic matter.

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

Maison de la Petite Crevette (House of the Small Shrimp).

I love it! Unless a better name surfaces, that is the name I will go with. Thank you!

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

Thank you for all the compliments on the tank. I will absolutely keep updating this thread with pictures once I get my little shrimps!

[Fiore de'i Liberi]

Disaster strikes! The coral glue I used to secure the piece to the back wall has failed. With only 2 weeks remaining until I was going to order my shrimp this happens...

I have completely taken the tank apart, cleaned it, and re-secured the back wall to the glass with a massive amount of GE Silicone 1. I am going to wait about 2 weeks for a 100% cure, then rinse the whole set up. Looking like 6 or 7 weeks until I will order some shrimp now.

[i<3Opae]

Oh no! Sounds like it didn’t break the tank, at least that’s good...

Sorry that happened and you have to wait longer.