Opae Ula & BacterAE?

[DieselWeasel]

Has anyone successfully used BacterAE with Opae Ula? With Cherry shrimp I saw a drastic change in baby survival numbers after I started feeding it. I see a lot of shrimp larvae floating around but it doesn't seem many are making the transition. I'm wondering if the larvae are finding enough food. Tank is a 1 year old 2.5g. No losses that I've noticed. My shrimp were berried near immediately after introducing to the tank and I've had berried females pretty much continuously but I only have about 5 babies that have switched in a year. Substrate is aragonite, there's a barnacle piece, several chunks of coral, and 2 plastic plants. ~20 Opae Ula and 10 snails. I feed Omega One algae micro pellets once a week. There's a bunch of algae on the coral so I'm not concerned about the adults, they seem to be happy and healthy. Extra question: is the occasional piece of snowflake food acceptable? I'd like to vary their diet some.

https://youtu.be/WIVAs4YMRdo
Clip of some of my shrimp.

[attygirl]

Hello: From what I read on this forum and others, you do not need to feed the floaters because they carry food in their yolk sacs. Are you sure the floaters did not make it? They are good hiders. I have 55 shrimp in my tank and no one would know ever know it. The most that I see out and about at one time is 20.

[sliphorn]

Has anyone successfully used BacterAE with Opae Ula? With Cherry shrimp I saw a drastic change in baby survival numbers after I started feeding it. I see a lot of shrimp larvae floating around but it doesn't seem many are making the transition. I'm wondering if the larvae are finding enough food. Tank is a 1 year old 2.5g. No losses that I've noticed. My shrimp were berried near immediately after introducing to the tank and I've had berried females pretty much continuously but I only have about 5 babies that have switched in a year. Substrate is aragonite, there's a barnacle piece, several chunks of coral, and 2 plastic plants. ~20 Opae Ula and 10 snails. I feed Omega One algae micro pellets once a week. There's a bunch of algae on the coral so I'm not concerned about the adults, they seem to be happy and healthy. Extra question: is the occasional piece of snowflake food acceptable? I'd like to vary their diet some.

https://youtu.be/WIVAs4YMRdo
Clip of some of my shrimp.

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The floaters have a yolk sac so no feeding required. When they go into the benthic stage you will rarely see them until such time that they are grown enough and swimming about, and even then, they will hide. I have a tank that has at least a hundred shrimp and I only see a few at a time. When I feed some spirulina powder is when they come out in droves. If you have enough algae on your coral I would not worry about feeding. Maybe once a month or so, but weekly is not necessary.

What is snowflake food? Never heard of it.

[DieselWeasel]

Ah thank you guys! I feel much better and I'll cut back on the feedings. I'm used to freshwater shrimp. Snowflake food is made of soybean hulls. You put a pellet (or in this case fraction of a pellet) in and as it absorbs water it turns into little white bits that look like a little pile of snow. Freshwater shrimp and snails love it.

[sliphorn]

Ah thank you guys! I feel much better and I'll cut back on the feedings. I'm used to freshwater shrimp. Snowflake food is made of soybean hulls. You put a pellet (or in this case fraction of a pellet) in and as it absorbs water it turns into little white bits that look like a little pile of snow. Freshwater shrimp and snails love it.

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Thanks for the explanation of snowflake food. I would not feed it ever. The best thing to do with opae ula is to ignore them.