Lid on or off with LED Light?

[brantman19]

So I have this really nice 2.25 gal jar that I want to start up my first Supershrimp jarrarium in. When I fill to the 8 inch marker, its right at 2 gals. I have a few questions about the setup before I order things.

1. Should I look to fill to the 8 inch marker or should I go higher/lower?
2. I plan to have an LED light on a timer above the jar as I don't have a good source of sunlight. Will I have problems with water temperature since that glass lid will be kept closed outside of feeding times and adding water? I normally keep my apartment around 68-72 degrees so the light would be the only variable to temperature changes.
3. I see people claiming that it takes only a month to cycle and it doesn't seem to take the usual cycle method to do so (add food, let bacteria grow, monitor levels, rinse, repeat for a few months, add livestock slowly). As I read it, it seems that I can just add water and plants, wait 2 weeks, add snails, wait 2 weeks, and then order my shrimp. Is that right? How is the cycle sped up so quickly?

I appreciate any answers anyone can provide.

[dglidden]

Personally I'd plan on about 2g of water, because rocks, gravel, decorations, etc, will take up the remaining space. So ideally you should be able to fill it to the top once you have enough gravel and rocks in there for the shrimp to be happy with. So for example, in my 1g jar, I have less than 1g of water in it because I have a bunch of lava rock piled up to give more room for helpful bacteria, algae, and place to the shrimp to hide out.

Pretty sure as long as temperature changes aren't TOO drastic, it won't matter if the lid is on or off, the shrimp are hardy. You may not get as much algae growth with the lid blocking some of the light, it might be fine, you'll have have to see. I'd worry more about CO2/O2 exchange with a stopper-top like that, if it'll block off the ability for the water to get fresh O2 saturated in it. Someone more expert than I should chime in though.

I ordered gravel, snails, macroalgae, and stuff from Mustafa all at once, put it all in there with brackish water and lava rock, let it sit for about three weeks, ordered shrimp, then by the time they got here, the tank was fine. They've been happily swimming around for about 9? months now with little care other than topping off with RO. I don't think it's so much that the cycle is so much faster, just that the shrimp are tough. If you're nervous about algae/bacteria growth, get the snails and algae up front and put them in right away. They'll include water from Mustafa's systems that'll include some of what you need, and the rest will just happen naturally. Then if you're still nervous, drop a sliver of spirulina flake in once every couple of weeks for like a month until you see visible algae growth if you don't get it fairly early on anyway. I've had my share of freshwater aquariums and understand how long and tedious getting the cycle right can be, but it's nothing like Opae Ula - they are tough and simple.

[brantman19]

Smacks head
Completely forgot that my substrate and lava rocks would take up some room in the tank.
Just another question on that though (and yes, I know I'm overthinking things). Did you build little caves/underpasses from your rock to help provide those hidey holes or did you just plop the rocks in? In the times I've kept shrimp, I've aquascaped caves out of rocks and I've also seen the shrimp move the substrate around a little to make their own homes. Not sure what these guys are going to do. I assume lava rock is rough enough to hold a position so I don't think I'll have to worry with it tumbling and crushing these guys UNLESS the jar gets moved around enough to dislodge the rock.

I'd worry more about CO2/O2 exchange

You know... I didn't even think about that. I saw so many people talking about using corks as tops that I figured it wasn't all that important to worry with the exchange. Might be one of those things that I take the top off at least once or twice a week while I allow the set up to get going and then just monitor tank conditions over the long term. If it or heat build up seems to be a problem, I saw where people are using those potted plant water drainage catches to put on top. I'm sure I could find something close to the right size and put some holes in it to allow both air movement and a release for any heat that would have built.

I ordered everything from Mustafa (I guess thats the owner?) yesterday but the snails and shrimp. I wanted to let the tank get a few weeks head start on plant and bacteria growth before introducing the snails and shrimp about 2 weeks after that. I've taken care of freshwater shrimp before and have had a tough time with them in tanks that just weren't quite cycled enough for them. I guess I'm just underestimating the hardiness of these little guys.

[dglidden]

I just dumped a big handful of lava rock into the jar. It's only a 1g jar (think like the thing you'd make tea in, at least in the South where I live anyway...) so it didn't take much. They went in all jumbled and made a lot of little hidey holes naturally. (Although I almost always see my shrimp zooming around the jar rather than hiding. YMMV.) I definitely recommend the lava rock for all the nooks and crannies for the beneficial bacteria to grow.

These guys are SMOL, smaller than the Neos/Cards you may have had in freshwater tanks, so they're not going to be moving the substrate or rocks around. Aquascape all you want, but yea, don't shake the jar or you could have bad results!

I honestly don't know how much of a gas exchange issue you'd have with that stopper-top if you took it off regularly, but if you left it on 100% of the time, you're creating the same kind of ecosphere environment that we're all trying to avoid where they have a closed, shuttered environment. A plastic lid with holes, or a cork top with holes, or something, just so there can be some air movement. I don't have a lid at all on mine, which means I have to top it off with RO more often, but I'm ok with that.

If you've already ordered the other stuff, then you should be fine, but I still would have recommended the snails just to start the bioload going. Again, as long as the water doesn't go funky, the shrimp should be fine. And like I said, if the algae/biofilm seems slow to develop, drop a sliver of spirulina flake every couple of weeks until you start to see some algae/biofilm going. I fed mine at Christmas to be festive, but that's about the only time I have since I've had them and they've been doing great even with only a three-ish week starting cycle.

I guess I'm just underestimating the hardiness of these little guys.

They are supershrimp for a reason! Naturally, don't TRY to kill them, but if you take simple care, they will thrive.

[sliphorn]

..
Fill it up, leave glass lid on to prevent excessive evaporation.
..

[Mustafa]

I'm a big fan of lids to control evaporation. I have had shrimp in a traditional half gallon mason jar with one of those lids that you close with a large clip (and it has a ring around the mouth to keep it sealed) for almost 10 years now, and the only time I ever open the lid is when I feed them every 1-3 months. However, my jar is not as sealed as it looks as water was leaking out of it during setup when I turned it upside down (without any substrate in it yet, of course...just for testing purposes). You can try to do the same...see if water drips out of your container if you turn it upside down. If, yes, then air can be exchanged too, so no problem. I'm pretty sure most lids out there do not vacuum seal their containers.

As for heat build up...I would not worry about it. These shrimp are hardy to about 100 degress Fahrenheit (they start dying at around 104). However, it's best to not let the temp get to the 90s for long term health. I doubt your LED will heat up your container anywhere close to that, though.

As for how high to fill up the water...you only need very little air in the container, so you can fill it up even higher than the 8 inch mark.

[brantman19]

Here it is 48 hours after set up. I threw everything in on Sunday and on Tuesday this is what it looks like. I pulled off the gasket so I know there is some air transfer as it’s glass on glass and really shifty. Unfortunately I must have measured or misremembered the size of this jar and it’s only 1 gal of water filled with everything in it. I tried my best to half the salt for that but I’ve got a hydrometer on the way to do some salinity tests and make sure I’m up to snuff.

I popped a pinch of Fluval Bug Bites Spirulina Formula in there to help with some bacteria build. Some of it was still floating (but considerably pale colored) this morning so I broke the surface tension of the flakes and let them sink.

Don’t think I see any algae yet but the light is on 12 hours a day right now. Hard to tell if it’s truly clear water or a little murky but I feel its clearer than the other day.
I really hope I can see that macro algae blow up a bit. A few strands appear to be pushing out but too early to tell if it’s really growing out.
Snails will be here Friday so looking forward to some livestock.

Any ideas on how to make algae and the macro algae grow a bit more?

[sliphorn]

Here it is 48 hours after set up.

Any ideas on how to make algae and the macro algae grow a bit more?

..
Yes, leave it alone. Algae typically does not show up for at least two weeks, and often times three to four weeks. Do not add any more food.
..

[dglidden]

Your photo looks remarkably like my jar when I started! The only thing I would suggest is that now, before it gets established, put a lot more lava rock in. You can go to the local home improvement store and get the red lava rock. Rinse it THOROUGHLY, then rinse it a few more times with distilled water. Then it should be ok to put in the jar. I only say this because I started with a small handful like yours, added about 3x as much more rock after the fact, and it looks so much more "natural" with more rock in it. Plus, more crannies for beneficial bacteria to form and places for shrimp to hide.

And don't worry about the chaeto, it'll fill in as the tank gets established. Mine looked like a sad little ball after a couple of weeks being in the jar, but now, several months after having shrimp, it's a large, healthy clump taking up a substantial amount of room.

[brantman19]

And don't worry about the chaeto, it'll fill in as the tank gets established.

I've been watching it since I put it in and I feel like it has grown but it's really hard to tell. In the first week, it had sent some offshoots towards the light and a little outwards. Now it seems to have taken on more of a clump look with a really dense piece. It's not a stem but it looks like a think green section. I don't think this stuff roots but I feel like it might be trying to take hold of the gravel a little. I think the snails inside might be slightly changing the way it looks as they climb up, over, and through it at times so it's hard to get a real gauge on how it's growing. It's just super green which I take to be a good sign.

[Mustafa]

I don't think this stuff roots but I feel like it might be trying to take hold of the gravel a little.

It doesn't root but it has some mechanism to hold on to small sand particles and gravel/rocks somehow. It's also pretty random, so you can't just tie a piece to a rock and hope that it covers it. The Mossballs, on the other hand, can cover a rock over time...slowly. Very cool plant.