My success story

[Mustafa]

At this rate you're going to double your shrimp population every few months!

[tooth]

How many will a 10 gal tank support? I assume the shrimp will naturally begin to limit reproduction at some threshold, if I don't interfere by adding food.
Would this be a good way to proceed? What I'm getting at is to never add food, so the population is determined by the algae growth.
Has this ever been tried? Is it even possible, or will I be required to add food eventually?
Are the pools in Hawaii closed systems like our tanks?

[Mustafa]

No idea how many a 10 gallon will support. You'll find out at some point. i'm pretty sure it's in the several hundred to well over a thousand range...(for anyone new to this thread: as a result of reproduction of course and not just 1000+ shrimp thrown in a tank which will cause problems and death).

The natural habitats aren't really closed systems per se, they do have a connection to the ocean through porous lava rock and probably also to groundwater. But the exchange of water is very, very slow.

[tooth]

Thanks for your reply, Mustafa.
Time for an update. Reproduction has slowed down from the spring-time burst. Now, only a couple of berried shrimp are visible in the tank at any given time.
Also, the tank has been experiencing an algae bloom (I think) the last few weeks--the water is a little cloudy. (Due to warmer temperatures and more algae 'food' from the greater number of shrimp? There are well over 300 now...). The shrimp do not seem to mind, as they go about their business as usual.
Has anyone had a problem with water cloudiness? Should I do a partial water change? At this time I'm of a mind to let the tank do its thing, and not interfere.
One last thing, I've had to change out the tank light. The T5 HO bulbs are no longer easily found, so I switched to LEDs. I assume it will make no difference to the algae. Anyone have a bad experience with this kind of change?
Hope everyone is having a great summer.
Brad

[tooth]

A quick update--the algae/bacteria bloom is subsiding. The water is much clearer. I decided to just watch and see, leaving the tank to its own devices.
I've had one female bear offspring since early summer. They are all benthic now. I see no berried females. This is the pattern the tank has followed since inception.
Brad

[Ace]

Very interesting. And ha, when in doubt, do nothing.

I have finished a six month experiment with not feeding. Baby production has been continuous.

Thank you for all the posts. As I have stated many times, this is my favorite thread.

[Mustafa]

You did the right thing. The "wait and see" approach is almost always the best with these animals. As for LEDs...there shouldn't be any problem with them. Thanks again for the update!

[tooth]

Thanks Mustafa and Ace.
The tank continues to clear. Since the algae still covers the entire substrate with no dead/dying/browning areas, the LEDs are just fine.
No berried shrimp currently.
I'm noticing the hair algae is greatly diminished even from a few months ago when I last mentioned it. I may never need to clean it out again.
4 1/2 years with no added food.
When the tank clears well enough I'll post a pic with the shrimp all over the bottom.
Brad

[JoanToBa]

Wow tooth, it really inspires me to see how your tank has evolved! Currently my first tank (1 1/2 gal) is cycling and it’s doing pretty well.

I don’t know what the little green algae that is growing is.

I’ve ordered a marimo moss ball to use as carpet for some parts of the rock. I want to try to slowly adapt it to the water’s salinity (hope that works )

BTW, could you upload a pic of how’s your tank now?

THANKS!!!

[tooth]

These pics show the remains of the cloudiness, which is about half resolved.
The shrimp remain at their typical, normal activity levels.

My wife's phone camera is not as good as her last one.

[JoanToBa]

Impressive! That's beautiful .
Thanks for answering!

[JoanToBa]

By the way, does anyone know if the shrimps eat hair algae? I have a very flimsy brownish hair algae in my tank and I’m not sure if the shrimps eat that, I hope they do because it looks nasty.

You can see it a little bit on the top right corner in person it looks very ugly.

[SGTSHEW]

You two are kind, but I know a lot of folks don't like the minimalist look.

Tooth love the super shrimp diary. I am another minimalist and believe in simplicity. Tank looks great. #roomtoroam

[SGTSHEW]

By the way, does anyone know if the shrimps eat hair algae? I have a very flimsy brownish hair algae in my tank and I’m not sure if the shrimps eat that, I hope they do because it looks nasty.
16447293-7EAA-4E3C-9AEE-FA298DF670F1.jpeg
You can see it a little bit on the top right corner in person it looks very ugly.

Joan I read on another post about hair algae taking over a tank and must be kept at bay or it will take over and smother out macroalgae. It was also a stated that the opas can get caught in it if allowed to get too long. Not sure how soon you should begin removing it. Maybe someone more educated than I can chime in. Good luck.

[JoanToBa]

Thanks! my opae arrived yesterday and they don’t seem to get tangled in the hair algae. There is not much of it, it seems to not thrive too well and remains inside its limits.
I will remove it someday but the shrimp don’t seem to get tangled in it. I don’t have a chaeto so I don’t have to worry too much about them getting caught in there

Pictures: (there are 10 shrimpies in the aquarium)