So here's an idea. Over the holidays I got one of those biopop Dinoflagellate aquariums; they're a bioluminescent kind that if you leave in the dark at night you can shake up and they glow for a bit.
Has anybody ever kept these in a brackish tank with super shrimp? I'm not sure what the salinity tolerance is for these "dino's", I did a quick search and read that at least some species die out at 0.14 sg, but that's still on the high end of Opae's. I can only imagine how cool it would look late at night with the bowl dark except for little bioluminescent "streams" as the shrimp swim through them. I imagine they could feed on them too, fitting into the overall ecosystem.
Thoughts? I'd be reluctant to run an experiment in my bowl since it's so small, but anybody with a larger tank?
Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
Moderator: Mustafa
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jonesinfershrimp
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Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
the idea sounds cool. i guess as long as it not a chemical and they dont die off in massive amounts causing an ammonia spike it should be ok. i suppose it cant hurt to give it a shot. got a link to these things? ill try it out.
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KenCotigirl
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Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
Must admit it sounded cool. I spent a few minutes reading up on it and got an idea on prices. Then I viewed a utube video and was disappointed that they glow for only a very brief amount of time. Basically only while being swirled. I thought they glowed for several minutes but that appears wrong. It is a novelty best left to others in my opinion. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Kenp
Kenp
Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
Sent you the link Jonesinfershrimp, didn't want to post on the forum.
Kenp: it's definitely not a vibrant glow all the time or for very long. But late at night, if I only lightly jostle the cabinet mine sits on top of there are definitely some swirls, or small pulses. So if there was constant movement in the dark, like with the Opae, I imagine it could be pretty cool.
What I'm also wondering is; are these Dino's so relatively low-luminescent (compared to how they would be in the wild) because they're in this self-contained aquarium with only occasional "nutrient" refills and no interaction from other organisms? Reminds me of the original ecospheres actually. Maybe in a proper little ecosystem they'd be a bit more healthy and vibrant and movement at night would be more notable.
I want to try and find a way to test the salinity of the "dino" batch I have, but there's not very much liquid so it's difficult to use my hydrometer without contaminating. I'm taking their own "suggestion" and instead of just disposing what's in there to refill with nutrients (I feel bad pouring them down the drain anyway) I'm going to pour excess into another container. Then I should have extra to test after a bit. If they're close though in SG, maybe an acclimation test would be a just one or two pipette full's at a time into an Opae tank to keep from there being a big die-off if they don't take.
Kenp: it's definitely not a vibrant glow all the time or for very long. But late at night, if I only lightly jostle the cabinet mine sits on top of there are definitely some swirls, or small pulses. So if there was constant movement in the dark, like with the Opae, I imagine it could be pretty cool.
What I'm also wondering is; are these Dino's so relatively low-luminescent (compared to how they would be in the wild) because they're in this self-contained aquarium with only occasional "nutrient" refills and no interaction from other organisms? Reminds me of the original ecospheres actually. Maybe in a proper little ecosystem they'd be a bit more healthy and vibrant and movement at night would be more notable.
I want to try and find a way to test the salinity of the "dino" batch I have, but there's not very much liquid so it's difficult to use my hydrometer without contaminating. I'm taking their own "suggestion" and instead of just disposing what's in there to refill with nutrients (I feel bad pouring them down the drain anyway) I'm going to pour excess into another container. Then I should have extra to test after a bit. If they're close though in SG, maybe an acclimation test would be a just one or two pipette full's at a time into an Opae tank to keep from there being a big die-off if they don't take.
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KenCotigirl
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Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
Go to you lfs and have them test the nutrient solution. If they have salt water fish and corals they will use a Refractometer. It only uses a couple drops.
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hardware_failure
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Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
These are Phytoplankton, no? Wouldnt tiny shrimp like Opae Ula gobble them up?
Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
That's a good idea, I may give that a shot.KenCotigirl wrote:Go to you lfs and have them test the nutrient solution. If they have salt water fish and corals they will use a Refractometer. It only uses a couple drops.
I would count on that actually. Website says they divide/reproduce about every 7-10 days, so I wouldn't want to add them in if there was risk of them multiplying out of control. But if they become another food source, even better.hardware_failure wrote:These are Phytoplankton, no? Wouldnt tiny shrimp like Opae Ula gobble them up?
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jonesinfershrimp
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Re: Bioluminescent dinoflagellates and Opae Ula?
did a little research
regular seawater is 35g/L these dinos do best in 24g/L. our tanks are not even close to that. im guessing we're somewhere around 15 to 18g/L. i dont know if it would cause them to die if you added them. maybe you could drip acclimate them? i would try growing them first and playing with the salinity of the water outside of your tank to make sure they dont die and cause an ammonia spike
regular seawater is 35g/L these dinos do best in 24g/L. our tanks are not even close to that. im guessing we're somewhere around 15 to 18g/L. i dont know if it would cause them to die if you added them. maybe you could drip acclimate them? i would try growing them first and playing with the salinity of the water outside of your tank to make sure they dont die and cause an ammonia spike