Beginner, needs advice

[mikiec9317]

HI! I would like to try to build my own shrimp habitat. I have a .9 gallon enclosure (just under a gallon) I would like to keep Opae Ula shrimp. With my size tank, how many can I get. I was also thinking about putting two or three cherry shrimp on there for variety (I know that they don't live long).
Also
How much micro Algae should I get?

Does substrate matter?

What's with the calcium stones? Is that important?

How much salt should be mixed in the water?

And how long should I wait after setting the tank up before buying the shrimp?

[sliphorn]

HI! I would like to try to build my own shrimp habitat. I have a .9 gallon enclosure (just under a gallon) I would like to keep Opae Ula shrimp. With my size tank, how many can I get. I was also thinking about putting two or three cherry shrimp on there for variety (I know that they don't live long).
Also
How much micro Algae should I get?

Does substrate matter?

What's with the calcium stones? Is that important?

How much salt should be mixed in the water?

And how long should I wait after setting the tank up before buying the shrimp?

..
Buy some marine or reef salt such as Instant Ocean and mix it at HALF strength using distilled or reverse osmosis water. A calcium source is need as a buffer, so a thin layer of aragonite (1/2") as your substrate is all you need. Opae Ula like hiding places, so get some lava rock chunks at a garden center and add those. DO NOT put cherry shrimp in a brackish water tank, they are a freshwater shrimp and they will die pronto.

All the info you need can be found on the main area of this site. Please read every word on how to set up your tank. Buy some snails, macro algae, and shrimp (10) from this site and you will be good to go. You can add them about two to four weeks after you set up the tank. Others may disagree about the timing. I typically wait four weeks before I add anything.
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[mikiec9317]

Awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! For the algae, is there a recommended amount? Can you have too much? And besides snails, after there any other critters or shrimp they could hang out with?

I tried attaching a photo of the set up in starting with.

[dglidden]

Is that decoration resin or plastic or actual wood? Resin/plastic should be ok, but if it's driftwood or some other kind of real wood, and depending on what the green stuff is that's on it, it's gonna get funky and leak out tannins that will change your water chemistry and is probably not something you actually want to use.

Also make sure to still do like sliphorn said and have some substrate in there. Even if it's just some gravel and rocks, a bare tank floor is not going to make Opae Ula happy.

Your macroalgae will grow like a weed, so just order from this site the standard little bunch and you'll have enough to last a lifetime as long as the tank stays healthy.

As far as other friends, a few people on the site have had luck with Nerite snails and even tiny hermit crabs, but I'd do some serious research before looking at hermits to make sure you have something that will survive in brackish water and not die a slow (or quick) painful death. A few people on the site have also managed to get a couple other kind of macroalgae/plants sustaining themselves in the brackish environment, but again, not so common and depends on the health of your tank. The main thing to remember with Opae Ula is that they are _brackish_ and neither fresh nor salt-water animals. It's a specific environment that not many other animals and plants are adapted to! (And of course there are other issues with compatibility, like putting a 4" long carnivorous brackish-water archerfish in with your shrimp... not suggested. ) Read up and keep browsing the forums.