New Opae Ula tank

[Obakemono]

Hey all, found this forum and thought I would try my hand at raising these shrimp. I set my tank (1gal) up with sand and dead coral/rocks from the bay here in Oahu, as I wanted to replicate the environment that these shrimp prolly would be in, but I used distilled water and slightly less than a 1/4 cup of sea salt for fish tanks to make the brackish water. I had 16 shrimp, but now I am at 13 or so since a few died (I bought them at a store that was selling them to tourists). They are molting now, as I watched one just today molt and I have seen some skins from others. The rock I got had some saltwater plants on them but are slowly turning brown, but all these guys are just eating away and are pretty active. I have an air stone that I use for about 5 mins a day to circulate the water a bit but they seem happy. Any suggestions? I'll post pics soon, I just had to re-format my computer today and need to upload the pics again.

Rob

[7Enigma]

The browning of the plants on the rocks does not sound good. Ula are very resilient in the shrimp world but probably cannot deal with the ammonia levels that rotting plants in the tank will cause. I would get a liquid reagent test kit and check the ammonia and NitrIte levels, and if you have anything other than negative results would get rid of the rock immediately and do a large water change. I'd really love to see a pic of the tank since I've always wanted to try out an Ula tank but have no access to the shrimp locally.

HTH

[Obakemono]

The shrimp seem to be really doing good so far, I have had at least 5-7 molt and they are always eating. The tank will get a water change here in a week of 25%, but I am trying to mimic nature by having a "pool" of some rocks that washed into it and the shrimp have to deal with it. I'll see how they do.
Rob