The New Supershrimp Owner Experience. (Long post!)

[MelWong]

I'd intended to lurk in this forum, mostly, but Mustafa kindly invited me to post my experience here after I thanked him for the prompt delivery and superb packaging of my supershrimp/snails/macroalgae order in PM after the form on the main website threw up an Apache server error, so here I am.

I'd discovered the existence of supershrimp only recently - I believe two months ago - and I came across them in the weirdest way. I'm an avid knitter, and a knitting magazine had a small mention of desktop marimo terraria. I'm a pretty curious person, so I wound up Googling and wikisurfing about Marimo, and then into freshwater planted aquaria. From there I bumped into the care and keeping of RCS and nodded, as I'd kept glass shrimp as a 10-year-old schoolgirl in Singapore (many years ago!), and then I found petshrimp.com.

Mustafa's description of the supershrimp was fascinating - and also a bit horrifying when I realized that the ecospheres I thought were so cool were actually inhumane, and worse still, further reading on where they sourced their shrimp informed me that the company making them refused to state whether or not their shrimp were captive bred.

I'd always wanted to keep shrimp, again, and had been reading up on red cherry shrimps for the longest time, but had also figured I didn't have the time and resources to tend a planted tank with RCS while also managing my commitments and workload. Supershrimp felt like a good compromise, so I decided to do a lot of reading and research before I did anything further.

I lurked on this forum for several days, reading up about the issues folks had had with their own supershrimp and noting common problems - overfeeding raising ammonia levels in the water, or inclusion of non-brackish acclimated plants or animals that died and caused ammonia levels to rise. After reading up on h.rubra and the care and keeping of such shrimp, I decided I could take care of them, and thus ordered a Fluval Spec 2 gallon tank, some fine black sand substrate, and some reef rock for dryscaping and to buffer the water with.

The Fluval Spec comes with a filter compartment in the back, powered by a 40gph pump. From reviews I'd noticed that it was much too strong for betta fish, and looking at it with the shrimp in mind, it was probably more of a hazard to the poor creatures than it was worth even without the pump installed, so I simply took the razorblade from the X-acto knife I use for drafting layout work and cut the silicone off, removing the plastic divider and scraping the last of the silicone off with the edge of the blade. I then set up the dryscape, mixed some brackish water with distilled water and sea salt, and waited a week before ordering my shrimp. I ordered 10 shrimp, 10 snails, and a clump of the macroalgae to help set up my tank.

Harry's thread on his hiding shrimp was very helpful when I planned the layout - I'm an artist-in-training (sculptor and printmaker) and have been fond of Iwagumi-style layouts, which I tried to mimic in my own tank setup.

My dryscape was fairly simple, given the small size of my tank - I'd picked two of the larger pieces of coral rock that had good-size (about the size of the eraser on the end of a number 2 pencil) holes in them and placed them upright in the sand so the shrimps would have hiding places when they needed privacy. A third, smaller piece of rock was laid sloping, lengthwise in the foreground, to balance off the height in the back of the tank and to give the eye places to roam in terms of composition. I added to that a cured sea fan that had been given to me as a souvenir from my honeymoon in Myrtle Beach as a surface for the shrimps to climb, between the foreground rock, and the two background rocks.

I got my ship notice May 6th, and fidgeted around like a MANIAC while I waited, mostly because I had never mail-ordered anything alive before. They arrived on the 9th. I stayed at home to wait for the postman and to my annoyance, the postman decided not to bother knocking since it was a weekday. Instead he left it at the apartment office shortly before lunch, and I wound up waiting until after the office opened after lunch to retrieve my package.

While I waited, I joked with my spouse that the shrimp had probably finished reading their magazines two times over while in transit and were probably kicking the backs of the seats in front of them and asking if they were there yet - but then, I have a very weird sense of humor. When I brought the package home, I opened it up carefully to find a sturdy styrofoam cooler, well-padded with wadded newspaper (In Chinese, which I can read!). Slitting the tape that held the cooler shut revealed three precious plastic bags, padded with more newspapers.

Water testing (with an API master saltwater test kit) showed no problems - the PH was about 7.7, zero nitrates, zero nitrites, and zero ammonia. The salinity (according to my hydrometer) was about 1.010, or 14ppt, and I had backup distilled water just in case anything had gone off the rails while I'd waited for the shrimp to arrive. (My spouse uses a CPAP, so we always have distilled water in the house.)

The macroalgae went in first - I teased it apart into three clumps, placing one behind the coral rock so the shrimps would have a sort of privacy screen when they wanted to hide. One went in front of the tank, over the foreground rock, and the third went in between, as a sort of visual lead-in to the sea fan. I noticed a little hitchhiker on the macroalgae - a tiny baby snail, its shell about 1mm in width. The snails went in next, and they were an entertaining lot as they were all busy clinging to the plastic of the bag, and did not want to let go even after I had perforated their bag and let the water mix with my tank water so they could acclimate. In the end I wound up cutting the end off the bag carefully with a pair of scissors and picking the snails off with my fingers, and then dropping them gently into the tank water, where they floated to the bottom.

I perforated the shrimp bag as well, letting the water in it mingle with my own tank water, and after a minute or two, one of the more curious shrimp swam out, followed by another one. As the water flowed out, I got more headspace in the bag, and then used a scissors to cut the top off and release the rest of the shrimp into the water. All of them had weathered their trip from CA to NC fairly well - they were pale but active, and explored the limits of their new home for the first three hours. After I added the shrimp (and all the water) to the tank, I marked the fill line with a piece of blue painter's tape, so I can fill the tank back up with distilled water when evaporation occurs.

That evening I fed them a single .5mm pellet of sinking fish food, crushing it and stirring it into a bit of tank water so it would sink, and most of them ate with gusto. Tiny strands of shrimp poo in the substrate showed that their digestion was working well, and I confirmed that visually by looking to see if the intestinal vein in their tail was full. By evening all the shrimp had clear intestinal veins, and two of them had started to blush pink.

This morning I left them alone and went on some errands, and when I came back I noticed that they had started hiding, making use of the nooks and crannies in the coral rock, and also the tangles of macroalgae. They seem to group up when resting, as observed in an earlier thread in this forum, but occasionally one or two would venture out into the foreground of the tank, busily picking at the substrate and macroalgae with their legs. The two pink shrimp had turned deeper red, albeit not as red as the sample photographs on this site and the paler shrimp have also started to blush. Only two of them have remained pale so far, and I'm just going to give them time to unpack their suitcases, so to speak, and for the bacteria and algae from Mustafa's water to establish itself in my tank. I noticed two saddled females, but also acknowledge that it will probably take time for them to actually start berrying.

Meanwhile, the snails have provided quite a bit of entertainment while the shrimp are hiding - they spent some time grazing the sides of the tank, and occasionally will crawl upside down on the water meniscus, relying on surface tension until their weight proves too much, at which point they fall off into the substrate and crawl back up again. I also noticed a tiny copepod swimming in an idle moment when I was watching one of the supershrimp swim across the tank - just one - but I'm sure there will be more eventually.

As I type this post two of the shrimp are grazing in the foreground of the tank while the others lurk behind the privacy screen of the sea fan, in the "cave" where the two background rocks lean against each other. Their intestinal veins have darkened up again, which means the travel didn't disrupt their digestion too much (I guess they didn't get motion sick), and that they're eating well.

To finish up, here's a shot of my tank. At the time this was taken there was a single shrimp sitting on the coral rock in the foreground, but it was hidden by the macroalgae clump. Eventually when the macroalgae grows more, I will redistribute it around the tank to give it more of an Iwagumi look. I was restricted somewhat by the rocks I had at hand and thus don't have a proper height relationship set up right now, but eventually if this tank does well and the shrimp breed, I'll get a bigger tank and get bigger rocks for a better layout, and seed it with some more shrimp and snails and macroalgae.

Apologies for the crappy shot. I need to get a better camera eventually.

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r416 ... 1e2366.jpg

[KenCotigirl]

Nice tank and interesting post. Wish you the best and hope to see more pictures.
Ken

[MelWong]

Nice tank and interesting post. Wish you the best and hope to see more pictures.
Ken

I've tried to take pictures of what I'll describe later as the Breakfast Shrimp Buffet, but as my camera is several years old, rather crappy and lacks a macro lens I basically got very disappointing results.

But: Day 3 AS, or Anno Squillarum. (I think I declined that correctly - squilla, feminine, plural genitive.)

There's been slight changes in the water, with a faint smell when I lift the tank lid. I have to go up close to actually smell it, but it's an oceanic sort of scent, lingering faintly bitter and iodine-y when I lift the lid and lean in close to look at what the shrimps are doing behind their sea fan privacy screen in the frosted back area of the tank where the filter compartment was supposed to be. I assume that's the sea salt. It's not unpleasant or unclean like rotten eggs, so I think things are going okay. There's also a faint, greasy-looking layer on top of the water that I assume is the beginnings of a biofilm.

The snails are active, and when I got out of the bath this morning I was greeted with what I'd describe as, well, the Breakfast Shrimp Buffet. Seven out of ten of the little guys were hanging around in the front of the tank, grazing and picking at the substrate for food. They have since dispersed somewhat, but they all seem active and busy. One of my saddled shrimp has been very shy - she's been hiding in the cave crevice I built for her most of the time, emerging to eat only when her fellows are busy elsewhere. She also hasn't colored up like the others have. Two of them are now almost as red as the website photographs, and the others are varying hues of pink. Very attractive and a good sign of their adjustment and the water's own bacterial/algal culture being underway.

On a rather tangential note, shrimp toilette has always reminded me of a lady's own efforts. First they reach up and clean their thorax and rostrum, and run their antennae through their maxilipeds, rather like face-washing and hair-brushing, and when they curl up to clean their tail and pleopods it looks like they're shaving their legs.

[KenCotigirl]

Very unique descriptions.
Ken

[yoster]

Nice tank! Mine used to look nice, but it looks like a swamp now with algae on everything...

[Mustafa]

Hi Mel,

I'm glad you made it out of the shadows of lurkerdom to share your experiences here. Thanks for your very detailed descriptions of your experiences. You almost said too much..exposing some trade secrets, such as the Chinese newspaper packaging material (if you use any other language newspaper, the shrimp will die! ) That's a really great looking tank you have there! I was actually thinking about offering something along those lines, but all decoration, possible substrate etc. somehow attached in place, so that the whole tank can be shipped as a whole unit to customers (even with the sea salt included in a little bag). Just add distilled/RO water...done! A lot of people would love to have a nicely decorated Supershrimp tank, but may not have the time or skill to actually accomplish results like yours. Some people enjoy decorating from the ground up, and others would love to just have a nicely decorated tank delivered to their doorsteps.

I'm glad to read that your shrimp are already running around and actively picking on various surfaces. The developing biofilm on the surface is also great! I don't know if I wrote it anywhere, but that surface biofilm actually aids in keeping the water "clean" (i.e. low in NH4, NO3, various phosphates..etc.). The various microorganisms in it eat up all the nutrients that they can get their "hands" on. And the shrimp eat them.

As you noticed, the water that the shrimp came in had pretty much no detectable nutrients at all. I found that that is a key to actually being able to have successful breeding going on (i.e. larvae survive to postlarval stage and start running around). It seems like as long as the instructions on the Supershrimp pages are followed, things progress pretty smoothly from the get go. Problems arise when organic materials are introduced, non-reef salt (i.e. normal salt for human consumption, or even kosher salt, "sea salt") is used instead of commercial reef salt mixes, and/or too much food is given. Another possible issue is, of course, the fact that some shrimp may not actually arrive in good shape after shipping. This is especially the case with wild-caught shrimp, but can happen with captive-bred ones, too. Packaging shrimp for multi-day journeys is more difficult than people actually think. Beginners have a hard time figuring out if their shrimp arrived in good shape or not, so when the shrimp start dying after a few days (or even the same day) the guessing game begins. Was it the decoration? The salt mix? The water? That's especially the case with freshwater shrimp, which are a whole lot more sensitive than Supershrimp.

The colors will develop over time. Pretty much all of those shrimp were a nice red (of varying intensities) right before I dipped the net in their tank to catch them. It's amazing how they can almost immediately lose their coloration. Also, although you see one saddled shrimp, mainly because it hasn't regained its coloration yet, you probably have many more females who have either not yet developed eggs in their ovary or the "saddle" is so small that it is hard to see with the red coloration covering it. Given some time and patience they'll start breeding eventually.

Keep the reports coming!

[Mustafa]

Nice tank! Mine used to look nice, but it looks like a swamp now with algae on everything...

I would just stop feeding altogether until your algae cover decreases noticeably, or even disappears almost entirely. The shrimp won't mind at all (quite the opposite), and you might actually start seeing some berried shrimp at some point...all without additional food. Just keep cleaning the front glass/pane to be able to see your shrimp. If you notice that no more new algae starts decreasing visibility a few weeks after cleaning the front pane, you know that most, if not all nutrients, have been used up. Depending on how much biofilm/algae is left in the tank, you may be able to feed again a few weeks afterwards.

[MelWong]

Day 5, Anno Squillarum 1: I had a bit of a fright/shock today, as I saw NO SHRIMP WHATSOEVER when I sat down to knit by their little tank. Had I somehow mistakenly murdered them all through incorrect water parameters and maintenance?

Nope. Instead, I found out I may have done too good a job at building them a place to hide in. The two rocks in the background of my tank, behind the sea fan, lean against each other to form a little cave. I provided that because I'd read from previous posts on the forum that the shrimp liked to hide when stressed. I thought having a hidey-hole like that would help them adapt better and faster, so I put one into place.

So I lifted the tank lid, looked in the hidey-hole, and counted about seven visible shrimp and a pale carpet of shrimp poo. Guess I know their prime hangout, now.

I've also spotted the little shrimps crawling in and out of the holes in the aragonite rocks themselves, so I suspect they might actually be hiding there as well. Nothing seems to have gone wrong - they're active when not resting in their rock cave, picking at the substrate and rocks, as usual. Sometimes two or three of them do laps around the tank before hiding back in their favorite spots.

Their increased shyness may have something to do with the tank's cycling, perhaps from the one pellet of shrimp food I gave them (seeing as they took the food away with them, they may have put the fragments where I can't reach with a turkey baster for removal and cleanup), but they aren't behaving as though they are in any kind of crisis, so I will leave them be, with water changes as a last resort in case they start dying. Given the fact that I've spotted all of them come out to feed at one time or another I think things will be fine, and I've resisted the urge to poke at them or do anything in particular except observe them visually.

I was actually thinking about offering something along those lines, but all decoration, possible substrate etc. somehow attached in place, so that the whole tank can be shipped as a whole unit to customers (even with the sea salt included in a little bag).

You could fix the rocks to the bottom of the tank with aquarium-grade silicone and just provide a substrate to pour in around the rocks - all you'd have to do would be to find, I think, a good source for 1 to 2 gallon acrylic tanks and a good source for the rocks.

I'm glad to read that your shrimp are already running around and actively picking on various surfaces. The developing biofilm on the surface is also great! I don't know if I wrote it anywhere, but that surface biofilm actually aids in keeping the water "clean" (i.e. low in NH4, NO3, various phosphates..etc.). The various microorganisms in it eat up all the nutrients that they can get their "hands" on. And the shrimp eat them.

I think I recall reading your comment on the biofilm in Jill's thread about the stuff floating on the top of her tank. I'd read a lot of the threads here before I even made my order so I knew what to do, and also so I wouldn't keep reposting questions that y'all had answered many times already.

Saddled Sadie, as I'm calling the one very obviously saddled female, is still shyer than the others. I spot her hiding in the little cave a lot. Another one of the darker shrimps might also be saddled, but it won't stay still long enough for me to study it properly, plus my eyesight is a little lacking. I may use a magnifying glass for a closer look and see if I can find the saddle. Visually there has been no change in color. The two ones who reddened up are about as red as the pictures on the website, and the paler pink and pale ones are still the same color they were when I received them in the mail. Patience, as always, is required. Fortunately, I knit lace, and I learned a lot of patience (and new swear words) from that, so I'll leave well enough alone and let them (and the bacteria/algae) take their course.

PS: As I've stated already, I'm a bit of a sucker for Iwagumi layouts, and eventually if the shrimp breed I may get a 5gal Fluval Spec and deck it out properly, using the same aragonite rocks, black sand substrate, and chaetomorpha macroalgae for the planted element - I'm already pondering the possibility of enmeshing the strands of macroalgae in a screen to make faux "moss mats".

PPS: Also, I recall you posting about your distaste for the harvesting of live sea life for tank decor, especially WRT sea fans... I just found a tutorial on a silicone mold-material/casting resin site that I use for sculpture work, on making sea fan replicas for tank use.

http://www.smooth-on.com/gallery.php?galleryid=488

[attygirl]

Hi Mel! Interesting posts. Thanks for sharing your adventures! Your tank looks great.

Lisa

[yoster]

Nice tank! Mine used to look nice, but it looks like a swamp now with algae on everything...

I would just stop feeding altogether until your algae cover decreases noticeably, or even disappears almost entirely. The shrimp won't mind at all (quite the opposite), and you might actually start seeing some berried shrimp at some point...all without additional food. Just keep cleaning the front glass/pane to be able to see your shrimp. If you notice that no more new algae starts decreasing visibility a few weeks after cleaning the front pane, you know that most, if not all nutrients, have been used up. Depending on how much biofilm/algae is left in the tank, you may be able to feed again a few weeks afterwards.

Haven't fed them in about two weeks when I noticed they stopped eating the protein pellets. They seem to be doing good though as I see a molting every other day. They are all bright red and are really hyper. Quite a few of them are always just swimming at top speeds like if they were racing. A few like to hide under the coral rocks. Probably taking a break to eat or rest. They are really taking advantage of the extra space from the smaller tank. Since I have seen a pile of poop, they are still eating.The coralline algae growth has pretty much stopped because of the green algae being more dominant. Still there though which is great. There is a lot of oxygenation going on as well with a ton of bubbles on the bottom. Hopefully they get berried so I can start giving these out as gifts.

[MelWong]

It's been a full week of shrimp keeping, folks, and my latest report involves feeling rather like the guy in the Michigan J. Frog cartoons. You know the one: bloke finds a frog sealed into the foundation of a demolished building, discovers it dances and sings ragtime tunes, but when he takes it to an audition it just sits there and croaks.

Well, my h.rubra are doing the shrimp equivalent of same. They seem to be getting over their shyness, which is a good sign, but they still are unpredictable when it comes to when they'll swim around in front of anyone. They'll do it in front of me, no problem, but whenever the spouse comes in to have a look at them swimming they all hide in the rock cave I built for them.

They haven't colored up much yet, too, which suggests that my water parameters are still not up to their liking. I'm keeping an eye on things, but they seem otherwise fine and active when they're not pulling the Michigan J. Frog act, so I'm just keeping an eagle eye on them and counting them while they're hiding.

The shrimp and the snails are also generating large amounts of poo, which I suspect is a good sign, because it means they're finding enough to eat in the tank. Sometimes when the snails crawl up to the water and feed on it upside down they leave a small trail of poo behind them, falling down like... well, like a rather nasty version of a snowglobe. Which is probably one of the least glamorous things one has to consider when keeping any kind of pet in the first place.

[Mustafa]

Day 5, Anno Squillarum 1: I had a bit of a fright/shock today, as I saw NO SHRIMP WHATSOEVER when I sat down to knit by their little tank. Had I somehow mistakenly murdered them all through incorrect water parameters and maintenance?

--Here's how to prevent such shocks: Do absolutely *nothing* until you see the shrimp run around the tank most of the time. It may take a month or two (or three....or more, or less...i.e. multiple interconnected factors play a role).

Nope. Instead, I found out I may have done too good a job at building them a place to hide in. The two rocks in the background of my tank, behind the sea fan, lean against each other to form a little cave. I provided that because I'd read from previous posts on the forum that the shrimp liked to hide when stressed. I thought having a hidey-hole like that would help them adapt better and faster, so I put one into place.

--Once they settle you probably won't be able to have hideouts that are *too* good (maybe if you fill the whole bottom of the tank with large rocks...even then...). They'll still come to the surface to graze most of the time, because that's usually where the food grows.

but they aren't behaving as though they are in any kind of crisis, so I will leave them be, with water changes as a last resort in case they start dying. Given the fact that I've spotted all of them come out to feed at one time or another I think things will be fine, and I've resisted the urge to poke at them or do anything in particular except observe them visually.

--You're doing everything correctly. And they won't suddenly start dying, *if* you don't do anything to "correct" a problem. So, you won't be doing water changes anytime soon. Things can only go wrong after you start feeding again...once the shrimp start getting hyperactive.

You could fix the rocks to the bottom of the tank with aquarium-grade silicone and just provide a substrate to pour in around the rocks - all you'd have to do would be to find, I think, a good source for 1 to 2 gallon acrylic tanks and a good source for the rocks.

--I thought of something along those lines before, but I wanted to provide a fully or mostly cycled environment in a *glass* container. Fully cycled, so that people don't have to wait in agony for their shrimp to become super active, and glass, so that cleaning the front pane does not end up diminishing visibility over time via scratches (both micro and macro), as is possible with acrylic. Having said that, there seems to be some better acrylic out there, so I may still go the acrylic route, especially since it is much lighter and not as fragile.

I think I recall reading your comment on the biofilm in Jill's thread about the stuff floating on the top of her tank. I'd read a lot of the threads here before I even made my order so I knew what to do, and also so I wouldn't keep reposting questions that y'all had answered many times already.

--Yes, I can tell.

I'm already pondering the possibility of enmeshing the strands of macroalgae in a screen to make faux "moss mats".

--That's a *very* interesting idea. Try it and let us know a few months from now. I can see how one could make macroalgae walls on the sides of the tank.

PPS: Also, I recall you posting about your distaste for the harvesting of live sea life for tank decor, especially WRT sea fans... I just found a tutorial on a silicone mold-material/casting resin site that I use for sculpture work, on making sea fan replicas for tank use.

http://www.smooth-on.com/gallery.php?galleryid=488

That is an *awesome* link, thanks! What a great idea (although it seems to take some work and chemicals). I'll have to take a closer look at that link once I get the chance (just browsed it).

[BostonJill]

"I'm already pondering the possibility of enmeshing the strands of macroalgae in a screen to make faux "moss mats".

I LOVE this idea. The mesh would have to be plastic. I don't think you can use metal screening. Would you know where to find plastic screening?
I might give this a try.

[MelWong]

"I'm already pondering the possibility of enmeshing the strands of macroalgae in a screen to make faux "moss mats".

I LOVE this idea. The mesh would have to be plastic. I don't think you can use metal screening. Would you know where to find plastic screening?
I might give this a try.

Well, the best place to find a good sturdy plastic mesh would be a craft store. Look for plastic cross-stitch mesh like this stuff.

http://crossstitch.about.com/od/wasteca ... canvas.htm

What you want to do, I think, is to find a brackish water safe plant weight and sew it to each corner of your mesh with low-test fishing line. A bent-tip darning needle might work better for the fishing line than a regular needle, and cotton thread would just disintegrate over time. Plus, fishing line is completely translucent so it'd blend in with the chaeto. Pick a plastic mesh about the same color of your substrate, naturally.

I think you could get a handful of chaeto, spread it out carefully on the mat to cover it entirely, and then hold it in place by stitching a sort of lattice over it so it can't float away - you probably won't have to stitch over every hole in the mesh, that'd strangle the chaeto, but if you know how to do a back stitch, I was thinking that would work best. A back stitch, each "stitch" about 1in long, and doubling back every 1/2 inch to hold it securely. When you end a "row" in the lattice you then knot your fishing line into the mesh, and then move about 1in to the right and start another one, then when you're done with lengthwise you can sew it crosswise.

I think more sewing might work more than less because of the springy nature of chaeto, and also because it's not loose and drapey like Java moss is, 'cos folks who make moss walls and mats from Java moss tend to use a sandwich of two meshes simply because of how fine it is. But the chaeto we use has this unique texture, so I'd be afraid of severe bald spots if I sewed it on more loosely.

I'd probably want to put a little bit of substrate over the mesh to hide the plastic, mostly over the edges, and then let the chaeto grow in normally afterwards. Extra height can be pruned, and the clippings saved for more chaeto mats, so yeah. That's how I'd do it, anyway, but I'm not getting a bigger tank for my shrimpies until they start breeding because the 2gal looks a bit lonely right now... so maybe later.

[BostonJill]

Thank you! I might give it a try. If you do end up doing this take pictures I would love to see how yours turns out.