It Begins

[NancyM]

I have been reading these forums and Mustafa’s articles for some months. It wasn’t long before I knew I wanted to adopt some of these wonderful little creatures. On February 29th I went through all of my old glass terrarium containers and decided on a clear glass globe of around 1 gallon size. I added some white substrate, a large rock I have had forever and a couple of old sea shells I had collected many years earlier in St. Thomas. After a thorough cleaning, boiling and rinsing, I assembled everything and then went to Petco (the only thing resembling a pet store in my area) to locate the appropriate type of salt. Finding everything Mustafa had recommended, I returned home and prepared the RO water and added it to the bowl. Everything looked ok to my novice eyes, so I went back online and ordered the macro algae, shrimp and moss ball from Petshrimp. And the waiting began.
Once a week, I checked the ammonia in my little world (using a liquid test kit) and waited some more. The snails seemed to be doing very well. The algae was actually growing and the little moss ball was fuzzy and apparently happy. All is well. Then, after about a month, things started looking greenish. The snails were much busier than before and my big rock and shells were definitely no longer crisp looking. The next time I checked the ammonia level, it was 0. I left my little world for 2 more weeks and then took the big leap and ordered the little guys from Petshrimp.
I thought they would never get here and then I was afraid the weather was going to get too warm for them to be ok until I got home from work. As luck would have it, they arrived shortly after 1 pm on Friday and I was home early. I swear my hands were shaking as I opened the package to get at my new obsession. They were absolutely in perfect shape! A few were even still a bit on the red side. They are now all happily tooling around their new home or hiding in the tunnel of the big rock. So far, so good.
Thank you Mustafa and Varanus for helping me on my way.

Of course, everyone is hiding when I get out the camera....

[Varanus]

Wow! Glad I could be of such help/influence. I'm still relatively new to these guys myself, but I never imagined a shrimp this easy to keep and breed existed. Here's hoping you'll have some little ones in a few months too.

Very nice tank too (though it looks like the pics are all upside down once you click on them, yet the thumbnails are right side up).

[KenCotigirl]

Nice tank Nancy. I too had the same issue with the pictures as did Varanus. Keep the pictures coming.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the pictures and your experience report, Nancy! Glad we could help!

[NancyM]

Sorry the pics are upside down for you. They are fine to me, so I have no idea what's causing it or how to fix it.

[Wowraya]

Is that a piece of coral in the background or a plant? Its gorgeous! Where did you get it?

[NancyM]

I have a baby snail!! I just noticed it today because it is no bigger than the head of a straight pin. This is so exciting. I can't wait till I have baby shrimp. LOL

[Super Jess]

A baby snail! How cute! A pin head is pretty small to see lol. How did you find it? Was it on the glass?

Congratulations!

[Mustafa]

Yeah..they're usually first noticeable on the side of the aquarium. Congrats!

[NancyM]

Pics are upside down. Working on them.

[NancyM]

Here is a pic of my baby snail with mama. I now have seen 5 babies!!

Ok, this may or may not be mama, but it works for a size comparison.

This is another tank I set up shortly after my shrimp bowl. I just ordered and received the Opae Ula from Mustafa last week. I think I'm addicted!!!

[Super Jess]

Wow, your baby snail is so tiny and perfect! New tank setup looks great; I love the sea fan thing. Looks like you have some happy shrimp!

[JennyPenny]

Your tank looks great!