Questions about getting started

[Ula Hula]

Hi! I'm very excited to become a shrimp keeper. I've had goldfish and other freshwater fish in the past and missed having water creatures around but I wasn't keen on maintaining a big tank and I feel it's cruel to keep fish in a small tank. Opae ula seem like a great way to have a small tank and still give the critters a good life.

I've got a 5-gallon tank with arabonite sand, lava rocks, sea shells, and eggshells. (I also added a few glass marbles just for decoration.) I ordered salt for a 5-gallon tank from petshrimp.com and mixed all of it in a separate bucket with 5 gallons of distilled water. I poured that into the tank and put in the little clump of algae that I'd also ordered from the site. I've been turning the LED light on in the morning and off at night. After two weeks, there is already a lot of algae! It's covering the shells, a lot of the lava rock, some of the tank sides, and it's also floating on the top of the water. (See attached photos.)

My questions:

Is it okay to go ahead and order shrimp now? (There seems to be a lot of algae for them to eat.) I was thinking about starting with 10 and then ordering more if the first batch does well.

Is there ever a problem in having too much algae?

Once I get the shrimp, should I continue to turn the light on in the morning and off at night?

Does it seem like I've set up the tank correctly? I'm a bit nervous!

Thanks for any feedback!

algae on surface of water

[Varanus]

As a general rule, once you see algae growing the tank is ready for shrimp. You could also get some of Mustafa's snails if you want the visible algae to be cleaned up more quickly.

The tank itself looks fine as far as I can tell, but does it have a top? Without one you'll have to replace evaporated water more often, and potentially the tank water could get dirtier from loose hair, fur, etc. landing in it.

[Ula Hula]

Yes, it has a glass top but I lifted it to take a picture of the algae on top of the water. But I’m going to get more distilled water to have on hand to top it off as needed. Thanks for the info!

[Enzo]

Looks good to me. Off hand without proper test kits, i waited 1 month b4 i put a snail in to try put and then all the opae ula.

No visible algae but plenty of biofilm

[sabbylina]

I would wait three weeks before putting in shrimp, just to make sure it's fully cycled. I didn't wait as long and my shrimp were not happy at first. However, I didn't have the ball of algae in there as soon as you did. Since they take a few days to get there, you'd probably be fine if you ordered them now. And yes, keep the light cycling unless you find you just have way more algae than you can deal with, then maybe lessen the hours. i recommend a timer. They're like 10 bucks and super easy to program.

Just my personal 2 cents: Ten shrimp in a five gallon tank is not a lot. These guys are social. I had ten in a 1 gallon tank and they started getting happier when I made it 20.

[Ula Hula]

I decided to order 25 and also some snails. Yes, it should be about three weeks when I get them, so I think it will be enough time. Thanks for the recommendations about the light.

[Ula Hula]

Looks good to me. Off hand without proper test kits, i waited 1 month b4 i put a snail in to try put and then all the opae ula.

No visible algae but plenty of biofilm

Thank you. It’s good to get reassurance that I’m on the right track.

[Enzo]

You can always put 1 or 2 into the tank first and keep the rest in tje original water they came with until you are sure. I send a commando in for 1 day b4 putting the rest in.

[Ula Hula]

Thanks -- That's a good idea! I'll send a canary into the coalmine.

[Ula Hula]

Update: So far so good! 25 shrimp plus one freebie and 10 snails plus a baby arrived safely. They all seem to be thriving in the tank and most of the opae ulas have turned red after recovering from the stress of traveling. They love the chaeoto algae clump and the lava rocks (and I put some more small rocks in to increase the amount of hiding-place nooks and crannies). Yesterday I saw my first "ghost" from a molting. I'll probably order another batch of shrimp in a couple weeks, and maybe spring for a moss ball, too. Also, I'm sending my sister supplies to help her properly spring her shrimp from an ecosphere.

[Mustafa]

Also, I'm sending my sister supplies to help her properly spring her shrimp from an ecosphere.

Glad she decided to free those shrimp from their misery! Feel free to post pictures of your tank with your new shrimp by the way. People love pictures here.

[Ula Hula]

Sure ... I posted some of the tank in the original post but here are tank-with-shrimp pics. I added small lava rocks since the previous pics because they love the nooks and crannies.

[Mustafa]

Thanks!

[Ula Hula]

You’re welcome! I just got a bonus shot of four on the lava rocks.

[Mustafa]