Have been lurking for a long time..... Now need help....

[Carolina]

Anyways, I am SO impressed!
The shrimp on tank #2 are doing GREAT! They were white at first with the transfer, but are all back to red and not swimming around like crazy anymore. To minimize the stress of the transfer, I turned off the filter (the one I was using to clean out the diatoms cloud) - so far so good - no signs of cloud forming at all.
They have settled down at this point, and for my surprise, no one appears to be sick from the cyano - on the contrary..... They are going at it eating away! Picking at everything...... They will have food for a looooong time!
Saw several snails out today too, which was nice
Hope this tank works out, even though it's going through a rough patch - this will be a no feeding, no filter (unless the diatoms cloud comes back), no plants, no crabsm no nerites...... Nothing but Brackish snails and shrimp - let's see how it does!

[mcdaney]

Oh boy, now I have a whole other issue....
See my last picture?
You will notice that my substrate is pebbles over aragonite sand.
Well, I just rescued a shrimp that was trapped in it for a couple of days.... Unfortunately I don't think it made it.
It did get out alive, but it's now a day later laying belly up
I am concerned about this subtract being trapping my little guys.
I have a super long tweezer that I can carefully pull one by one, but there is definitely algae in them.... Is there going to be food left for them to graze on? I don't want to move my lava rocks and risk smashing them up.
The lava has plenty food on them to graze.... The glass... It's a party!
What do you guys think? Do I remove this substrate and leave the aragonite sand as much as I can?

I think you should either:
- Remove the pebbles entirely or
- Remove the most of the pebbles, leave some around or
- Place them in such a way that they don't get stacked above one another. Cos there's a risk the pebbles shifting when the tank is shaken or something. Shrimp might get trapped if its at the wrong place at the wrong time.

If you want to re-scape/rearrange the setup, the safest way is to follow the steps below:
1) Remove all the the rocks one by one, the reason will be in point 2.
2) Catch all the shrimps (without the rocks in the way, it's easier to catch them). This way you can avoid the risk of hurting your shrimps while you do your re-scaping. Use a proper shrimp-catching net if possible.
3) Place the shrimps in a clean small bucket with your tank water.
4) Start your re-scaping. Take this time to clean your tank walls. Best is to clean the front and the 2 sides, leave the back wall alone with algae growth.
5) Let the stuff/debris settle down.
6) Release your shrimpies back!

To be safe, replace the water entirely (or 50% at least) after Step 4. Because there might be sudden water parameter changes due to the stuff/debris/poop/decaying matter floating around when doing the rock/substrate shifting.

To be even safer, (I would go for this) if you have an extra small tank, use it as your holding tank for your shrimps while you do the rescaping + clean up. A place for them to hang out and be comfortable, cos obviously the steps are going to take time. You can even let your affected tank cycle for a few days with a filter on. Once everything is settled after a few days, remove the filter, and return the shrimps.

[Carolina]

Oh boy, now I have a whole other issue....
See my last picture?
You will notice that my substrate is pebbles over aragonite sand.
Well, I just rescued a shrimp that was trapped in it for a couple of days.... Unfortunately I don't think it made it.
It did get out alive, but it's now a day later laying belly up
I am concerned about this subtract being trapping my little guys.
I have a super long tweezer that I can carefully pull one by one, but there is definitely algae in them.... Is there going to be food left for them to graze on? I don't want to move my lava rocks and risk smashing them up.
The lava has plenty food on them to graze.... The glass... It's a party!
What do you guys think? Do I remove this substrate and leave the aragonite sand as much as I can?

I think you should either:
- Remove the pebbles entirely or
- Remove the most of the pebbles, leave some around or
- Place them in such a way that they don't get stacked above one another. Cos there's a risk the pebbles shifting when the tank is shaken or something. Shrimp might get trapped if its at the wrong place at the wrong time.

If you want to re-scape/rearrange the setup, the safest way is to follow the steps below:
1) Remove all the the rocks one by one, the reason will be in point 2.
2) Catch all the shrimps (without the rocks in the way, it's easier to catch them). This way you can avoid the risk of hurting your shrimps while you do your re-scaping. Use a proper shrimp-catching net if possible.
3) Place the shrimps in a clean small bucket with your tank water.
4) Start your re-scaping. Take this time to clean your tank walls. Best is to clean the front and the 2 sides, leave the back wall alone with algae growth.
5) Let the stuff/debris settle down.
6) Release your shrimpies back!

To be safe, replace the water entirely (or 50% at least) after Step 4. Because there might be sudden water parameter changes due to the stuff/debris/poop/decaying matter floating around when doing the rock/substrate shifting.

To be even safer, (I would go for this) if you have an extra small tank, use it as your holding tank for your shrimps while you do the rescaping + clean up. A place for them to hang out and be comfortable, cos obviously the steps are going to take time. You can even let your affected tank cycle for a few days with a filter on. Once everything is settled after a few days, remove the filter, and return the shrimps.

Thanks mcdaney, you are responding to an old post.... understandable - this is a long thread - I took care of this issue a while back. No more shrimp losses due to the gravel.

[mcdaney]

Omg hahaha! So sorry! I'm an "Egg" using this forum Shall take a look at the page I'm on next time hehe.

[Carolina]

Omg hahaha! So sorry! I'm an "Egg" using this forum Shall take a look at the page I'm on next time hehe.

Hey, no problem! Coincidently it happened twice today

[Carolina]

Boy, I am just ecstatic! All the shrimp are doing fine and pickin at everything... They show no ill effects from the cyanobacteria at all! So are the snails. The are just eating it away. I turned the filter off.... So far so good. If something happens, I turn it back on for a few hours a day, but I think it won't be be necessary anymore.
Just so so happy!

[JasonG3333]

Hi,
Thanks for your comment..... Just to clarify..... Those plants were in my tank when I first set it up in December for a few days, and taken off.
Currently I have two tanks, the 5-gallon only has a macro algae, marimo ball and an algae ball from Mustafa, the 10 gallon only Marimo balls. No Plants....

Sorry - guess I should've been more specific. I was referring to any greenery / foliage you had in there generally as "plants". I just read your last post at the very end of this entire thread indicating that this whole issue is old news and that all is going well now, so it seems none of this even matters any more - which is a good thing! Glad it all ended up being ok!

[Carolina]

Hi,
Thanks for your comment..... Just to clarify..... Those plants were in my tank when I first set it up in December for a few days, and taken off.
Currently I have two tanks, the 5-gallon only has a macro algae, marimo ball and an algae ball from Mustafa, the 10 gallon only Marimo balls. No Plants....

Sorry - guess I should've been more specific. I was referring to any greenery / foliage you had in there generally as "plants". I just read your last post at the very end of this entire thread indicating that this whole issue is old news and that all is going well now, so it seems none of this even matters any more - which is a good thing! Glad it all ended up being ok!

No reason to be sorry! As I said, totally understandable... This is a super long thread!
As a piece of good news, both tanks are doing great! The shrimp and snails on tank #2, (Shrimp just added this week) are fabulous, and the snails are much more active. I am thrilled things are turning now all the way around.

[Carolina]

Both tanks are doing awesome - Snails, hermie, shrimp.... Everyone happy and healthy - hopefully turning a corner here!!

[Mustafa]

Looks like you *are* turning a corner! Congrats!

[Carolina]

Looks like you *are* turning a corner! Congrats!

Thank goodness, about time, huh?

[Mustafa]

Yep, just about.

[JasonG3333]

[/attachment]

Both tanks are doing awesome - Snails, hermie, shrimp.... Everyone happy and healthy - hopefully turning a corner here!!

Not sure if you already answered this question earlier in this post, but what species of hermit crab do you have that does well in brackish water? I am also a hermit crab (land) enthusiast. Have a 45 gallon terrarium with 3 hermies. Thought it would be cool to include them in my Opae Ula tank one day, but don't know anything about the effect that would have on the water or the health/safety of the shrimp. Thanks in advance for any advice / enlightenment...!

Jae Senji hermit crab terrarium crabitat 02

Jae Senji hermit crab terrarium crabitat 01

[Carolina]

[/attachment]

Both tanks are doing awesome - Snails, hermie, shrimp.... Everyone happy and healthy - hopefully turning a corner here!!

Not sure if you already answered this question earlier in this post, but what species of hermit crab do you have that does well in brackish water? I am also a hermit crab (land) enthusiast. Have a 45 gallon terrarium with 3 hermies. Thought it would be cool to include them in my Opae Ula tank one day, but don't know anything about the effect that would have on the water or the health/safety of the shrimp. Thanks in advance for any advice / enlightenment...!

jae senji hermit crab terrarium crabitat 02-1000.jpg

jae senji hermit crab terrarium crabitat 01-1000.jpg

Wow, you have spoiled crabs
The one I have is the Hawaii Dwarf Hairy Leg Hermit Crab... He came to me itty bitty, about 1/4" in size! He's much bigger now, well over 1/2". I don't feed him anymore as to not polite my tank, but he is a cleanup powerhouse. 100% of the time cleaning up detritus, algae, and any and everything in the tank. Always on the go. He's growing and doing well.... Another one that does well, is the Dwarf blue legged hermit crabs. They are cutecute, although a little bigger, and I hear not as peaceful as the Hawaiian ones (they supposedly live together in the ponds in HI. Anyway, I hope that helps!

[JasonG3333]

Thanks for the info!