New SuperShrimp Fan!

[Arquisto]

Hi Folks,

On a yearly basis I get into the desire to want to start an Opae Ula tank. I first learned about them because of the Ecosphere's and found out about this site and this awesome forum a few years ago.
After moving to a new place I've finally decided that this is the year I'm going to start an actual tank.
I've sent a couple of questions directly via the PetShrimp.com contact me page, I'm assuming Mustafa is the owner and will answer me when he can, if not maybe he'll see this post.

In the mean time I've done a lot of reading of the forums, scouring of the internet, and just in general spending hours learning how to prepare for these shrimp instead of sleeping.

I am awaiting a 3 Gallon Tetra tank being shipped to me in the next few days and I have bought Reef Salt, not aquarium salt, to start setting up the brackish water. I got a hydrometer to make sure i have the right salinity to make the shrimp happy and hopefully start breeding in a few months. From what Mustafa has said i dont really have to worry about the other conditions, I know to dechlorinate the water and also to make sure I get some biofilm going as an indication that the tank will be ready for the shrimp.

In your opinion will ordering the supershrimp macroalgea and the supershrimp moss ball be too much in a 3 gallon tank? I'm going to also be buying some dragon stone/ohko stone.

Thank you all in advance!

[Varanus]

About the water, it would probably be better to get distilled water rather than use water you have to dechlorinate. Since you will likely not be doing water changes, you want it to be as free of contaminants as possible.

Getting jugs of distilled water also allows you to easily mix the salt into the water before you add the water to the tank. That is you can add the salt to the water in the jug (a funnel can make this easier), put the cap back on, and shake the jug until the salt is mixed and dissolved.

[Arquisto]

Thanks for the advice Varanus!

I know we have a mixed opinion about using marimo balls that are usually found in fresh water but have any one here had experience gradually transitioning them to brackish? I'm contemplating moving one of the smaller moss balls over to the tank just to help set up a cycle.

[Ace]

I don't aclimate. I tossed my balls right in there. It has been over 2 months and they are looking big and healthy.

You can see photos in Nanosphere 9.

[Mustafa]

Hi, and welcome to the hobby and forum! I'll have to go through the emails (there are LOTS of them), but generally the contact page is for website or order related questions as this forum serves as the general repository of information about Supershrimp and the general hobby.

Having said that...the supershrimp mossballs are very small (see pics/video on this site in relation to the shrimp) and the macroalgae portion is a small palm-ful starter portion. I don't see how that could possibly be too much for a 3 gallon tank. It isn't even too much for a half a gallon tank.

[Arquisto]

Thanks Ace and Mustafa!

@Ace Saw and read through that thread it was a good read an a lot of helpful information was shared. Saw that it took you 47 days before you saw your first berried. May I ask what temperate your water was at?

@Mustafa, thank you again for the warm welcome and for having been so active in the forums. I figured you would get to your emails soon enough, my question to the contact page was specific to details about ordering and shipping delays, I patiently await my turn. I'll see how the acclimation of my current Marimo balls go, but most likely will probably also get one of your supershrimp ones.

Question for anyone out there, would 15 shrimp be a good amount to ensure that there's a least one female capable of breeding?

[Ace]

Absolutely. I can't really tell you the temperature but I can explain that I keep my bedroom hot. I live in Saint Louis Missouri and I get cold here. In addition to the furnace, I keep a space heather in my bedroom. I like high temperatures, mid 70's and higher. Nanosphere 9 also receives a few hours of direct sunlight and I use a couple of mirrors to throw even more sun on it. I am going to guess that the temperature in my bedroom goes above 80 f. I am also starting with a lot more shrimp than most people begin with but I think that it has been about a dozen shrimpies with eggs so far.

15 scrimps is enough. You will have females.

[Arquisto]

I'm residing in Toronto Canada atm so it gets cold here too though not as cold as Montreal which I just moved from a couple months ago. I think I might get a tank thermometer to see how hot the 3 gallon tank might get if i stick it in direct sunlight. From Mustafa's previous posts there is a concern that temperature fluctuation may be too high since its a small tank.
I'll have about 4 weeks before I drive down to the states and hopefully have the shrimp from Mustafa arrive at the same time so i can bring it back up. Should be plenty of time to test the conditions of the tank, heat, salinity, before i introduce the little guys. Also time to get some biofilm growing hopefully.

[Ace]

Well, I definitely would enjoy reading about your progress.

Don't get too worked up about the salinity. It's not exact at all. In nature it changes throughout the day with the tide and rain fall so they can even handle salinity swings. I don't bother measuring.

[Arquisto]

Mustafa got back to me today and let me know about the shipping details. I still got to wait a month before I can order them but I just got my 3 Gallon Tetra tank today. Going to go buy some substrate, reef salt, and some Dragon stones during the weekend. Once I get all material together I'll ask you guys to help me figure out the best way aquascape.

[Edwin]

I used dragon stone too. It's beautiful and you can check my tank out in another thread which I have made my rocks are arranged in the iwagumi style which I think is very cool. Google it and there are some guides on this rock arrangement since we don't have much plants to play around with. All the best with the start up!

[JennyPenny]

I am excited to see what you get! I love the look of iwagumi style tanks. Please post pictures!

[Ace]

Yeah, pictures! We like pictures.

[Arquisto]

Edwin your thread was one of the ones that inspired me to look up dragon stone and led me to eventually find a store that sells it. I'll be going tomorrow to pick some up so I'll see what they have. The ones you had in your tank are beautiful and it reassures me that even with a small 3 gallon tank i can hopefully make something nice. I'll avoid the soil though and buy substrate, and also for now avoid the pooping snails.

[Edwin]

I'm flattered Arquisto. Those stones are not easy to find in my country and good luck picking beautiful and complementing ones do get small ones for support underneath the main feature stones as well! It's amazingly satisfying to put them together.

I'll update on the pooping snail situation in my thread. So far it's under control as I do weekly add beneficial bacteria that is supposed to help break down decaying organic material but I dislike how the poops always end up on my Marimo which are at the edge of the tank since these snails love scaling the glass walls and pooping down at the same time.

Hope you have a successful process setting things up