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Before I start: I'm from Holland, so my English may be not completely correct all the time, but now you know why
After reading your site I've just set my Opae'ula free into a new "tank". (it's only a small container (don't know if that's the correct word for it) but at least I can feed them now, and next week they'll get their bigger tank ) I didn't know that these "ecospheres" were such torture chambers. I've got one for christmas from my boss, so don't think I got it myself.
But I really like these little shrimps. The only problem is that I've only got five
So I was wondering: Is it possible to breed with just five animals? The only time you see these shrimp in holland is in these "torture chambers". But those are REALLY expensive....
Don't worry about your English, it's very good! I am glad that my website helped you rescue your Opae ula. Yes, they can be bred even if you only have five of them as long as there are males and females present. I assume that they are really tiny and starved so you will have to wait until they grow a little and are in better shape to see if you have both genders. The females eventually develop a dark patch ("saddle") on their backs where their ovaries are located. The males don't have that.
Feed them VERY lightly as they do not really consume all that much food. Once you have algae growing in your tank you only need to feed them very rarely (maybe once a week? once every two weeks? depends..).
welcome to the forum. I'm quite new as well. Your english is very good by the way . Many people here in Quebec(Canada)only talk french and there's a lot more english population than were you live lol.
The shrimp are now enjoying their new home. This new home is a little tank of about 12 litres. That must be enough for 5 shrimp. I've put two stones in the tank with lots of cracks and holes. The shrimp seem to really enjoy this new tank. They're much more relaxed. And gently swim about, and walk around on the stones. They also enjoy the thread algae in the tank.
Do these shrimp hate bright lighting? Because I've put a desk lamp above the tank to give the algea enough light, but the shrimp stay pale.... So far, I have only seen one shrimp that was bright red ( , but it looked really good )
Tim wrote:
Do these shrimp hate bright lighting? Because I've put a desk lamp above the tank to give the algea enough light, but the shrimp stay pale.... So far, I have only seen one shrimp that was bright red ( , but it looked really good )
This is it for now.
Bye,
Tim
It's best to provide some shade for these shrimp since their habitat is partly underground. It should be their choice if they want to be in the bright light or not. Their colors reflect their mood most of the time, the more red they are the better they seem to feel.
I am glad that my website helped you rescue your Opae ula. Yes, they can be bred even if you only have five of them as long as there are males and females present. I assume that they are really tiny and starved so you will have to wait until they grow a little and are in better shape to see if you have both genders. The females eventually develop a dark patch ("saddle") on their backs where their ovaries are located. The males don't have that. 
, but it looked really good