Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

A forum for discussing everything about the Supershrimp (Halocaridina rubra, Opae ula).

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DN1
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Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by DN1 »

Hello

https://aquaticarts.com/products/orange ... bee-shrimp

This website claims to keep these shrimp in slightly brackish water. Would these be suitable tankmates for Opae Ula?
Varanus
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Re: Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by Varanus »

I'd say simply being brackish water shrimp isn't enough (the 1.006 specific gravity it mentions is also lower than the range Mustafa keeps his shrimp at), as there are other issues to consider ("brackish" covers a huge variety of environments). These shrimp are substantially larger than the supershrimp (and thus probably have bigger appetites), and I doubt they could handle the low-oxygen, low nutrient environment that supershrimp do well in, given how few creatures in general do well in such a environment.
DN1
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Re: Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by DN1 »

I see that's interesting.

You mentioned low O2, low nutrient, does this mean that feeding and aerating the tank will kill Opae Ula? If that's the case why would ecospheres be controversial? I can see that it'll be good to not overdose on nutrients as that can lead to ammonia spikes, but how does low O2 help?

Right now im trying to set up a tank for the new shrimp by using some sponges I took from my other tank. I'm currently using an airstone to help improve mixing, and planning on using a very small one to aerate the tank as well as to add a little bit of bubbles to the tank
Arnold
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Re: Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by Arnold »

Interesting but thats a pretty low salinity I always hear that Halocaridina do best around the half salinity of the ocean, I dont know if the larvae can develop in those low salinitys of course Mustafa can give us the answer

Also are the competition for the food, if the Caridinas breed more they probably will overtake the Halocaridinas over time, also those shrimp will need more food than Halocaridinas and if you overfeed can cause lots of problems
Varanus
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Re: Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by Varanus »

DN1 wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:52 pmYou mentioned low O2, low nutrient, does this mean that feeding and aerating the tank will kill Opae Ula?
Aeration won't kill them as far as I know, but they are adapted to quite still waters so water movement can potentially stress them out, and since they thrive on just the oxygen that comes from normal gas exchange with the surrounding air, there isn't any particular reason to aerate the water. Further, overfeeding can kill most any aquarium animal, the Opae Ula just need even less food than some others. Feeding the proper amount won't harm them, but it often amounts to little more than a treat as once enough algae and bacteria grows the shrimp can subsist on that for years (though it depends on the tank, some grow less algae and need more food than others).
If that's the case why would ecospheres be controversial? I can see that it'll be good to not overdose on nutrients as that can lead to ammonia spikes, but how does low O2 help?
The key difference there is that there is a big difference between low oxygen (i.e. what they get from just having a non-sealed tank) and low extra nutrients and NO oxygen exchange and NO extra nutrients. The shrimp are so tough and adapted to spartan environments that they can endure ecosphere conditions for years, but they in the end are still deadly to them.
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Re: Tankmates for Opae Ula, Sunkist shrimp

Post by Mustafa »

As was suggested, it's not going to work. That website makes it look like those shrimp are easy to breed...basically "just add some salt and the larvae will grow into adults." The larvae of most freshwater shrimp are very finicky and about 99.9 percent of the people out there can't breed them. In addition the adults need *lots* of food and will outcompete the Supershrimp and then....die off. Plus...this particular species is about 4-5 times the size and about 10 times the mass of an average SS. If you read through the feeding regiment recommended on this website you'll realize that other shrimp or "normal" animals not used to extreme environments (like no additional feeding for weeks, months, or even years) are not suitable.
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