Newbie with 65 gallon opae tank

[Rex113]

Hi, been lurking for quite a while and figured I’d join in. I have had my opae for about a year now I originally had about 30 of them and was keeping them in a two gallon tank. The numbers grew to over 125, and I decided to get a larger tank. I was also keeping about a dozen Metabetaeus Lohena shrimp in a separate two gallon tank.So I set up a 65 gallon tank with no filter or heater, and i added about 50 pounds of large bubble rock coral and let it cycle for about a month. I added all my opae and lohena at the same time. For the past 3 months they have been living together, and although the Lohena bother the smaller Opae on occasion I haven’t seen any killed or eaten. My wife thinks I’m crazy because I spend hours with my magnifying glass studying these amazing creatures.

[sliphorn]

Hi, been lurking for quite a while and figured I’d join in. I have had my opae for about a year now I originally had about 30 of them and was keeping them in a two gallon tank. The numbers grew to over 125, and I decided to get a larger tank. I was also keeping about a dozen Metabetaeus Lohena shrimp in a separate two gallon tank.So I set up a 65 gallon tank with no filter or heater, and i added about 50 pounds of large bubble rock coral and let it cycle for about a month. I added all my opae and lohena at the same time. For the past 3 months they have been living together, and although the Lohena bother the smaller Opae on occasion I haven’t seen any killed or eaten. My wife thinks I’m crazy because I spend hours with my magnifying glass studying these amazing creatures.

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Fantastic! Any chance you could post some pics?
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[Flanker27S]

+1 on the pictures, it'd be great!
By the way, what is the overall temperature where you keep the tank, as you're saying it isn't heated? The thing is that right now, I only have a 10 gallon tank, but I was looking at a 65gal one and at one of these [spam link to real estate sales site removed] houses in Greece to store it in, but I'd like first to know what species would be better suited for a tank located under a mediteranean climate.

[Vorteil]

Wow 65 gallon. please share some pics.

[Rex113]

I will post some pictures of the tank soon.

[Rex113]

+1 on the pictures, it'd be great!
By the way, what is the overall temperature where you keep the tank, as you're saying it isn't heated? The thing is that right now, I only have a 10 gallon tank, but I was looking at a 65gal one and at one of these [spam link to real estate sales site removed] houses in Greece to store it in, but I'd like first to know what species would be better suited for a tank located under a mediteranean climate.

The temperature of my house is set at 69 degrees, the water fluctuates between 69 and 71 degrees. The shrimp are very active and seem happy.

[Vorteil]

You have a huge tank but have you considered that the amount of shrimp in there will remain the same? Due to the ML always on the hunt for food and the babies will definitely get caught & eaten. Imagine a 65 gal tank full of opae ula. That would be a great scene.

[Rex113]

You have a huge tank but have you considered that the amount of shrimp in there will remain the same? Due to the ML always on the hunt for food and the babies will definitely get caught & eaten. Imagine a 65 gal tank full of opae ula. That would be a great scene.

When I moved all of the Opae and Lohena to the bigger tank, there was at least 10 to twelve Opae floaters. I would guess they were a few days old. I closely watched them multiple times a day and all of them survived and made it to adolescence. Currently I have quite a few berried Opae and I will closely monitor them and keep everyone updated on them. The Lohena spend 95% of their time hiding, I see them come out to pick up Opae molts to eat and on rare occasions I see them running around the bottom of the tank in a frenzy, I believe they are searching for a female that must have molted because this behavior only lasts for about a couple of hours.

[Vorteil]

That's pretty cool. The size of your tank provides a large area to roam. My ML are in a 10 gallon and they hunt down all the live prey I feed them. Come morning they nothing left. If you can get the babies to survive in there that's awesome.

[Rex113]

That's pretty cool. The size of your tank provides a large area to roam. My ML are in a 10 gallon and they hunt down all the live prey I feed them. Come morning they nothing left. If you can get the babies to survive in there that's awesome.

Have you seen any Baby Lohena in your tank yet, and if so how long did they live?

[Mustafa]

Yes, some pictures would be nice.

[Dch48]

Do the Lohena also start out in a larval stage after hatching? They kind of look like mini lobsters to me rather than shrimp.

[Rex113]

Do the Lohena also start out in a larval stage after hatching? They kind of look like mini lobsters to me rather than shrimp.

Yes, the Lohena start out in the larvae state just like the Opae do. They float head down with a small egg sack. I have many berried Lohena but only seen the larvae one time, about 8 of them. They seem very thin and frail only living for about one day. I don’t believe anyone has ever successfully raised them to adulthood.

[Dch48]

Do the Lohena also start out in a larval stage after hatching? They kind of look like mini lobsters to me rather than shrimp.

Yes, the Lohena start out in the larvae state just like the Opae do. They float head down with a small egg sack. I have many berried Lohena but only seen the larvae one time, about 8 of them. They seem very thin and frail only living for about one day. I don’t believe anyone has ever successfully raised them to adulthood.

I have read that the Lohena larvae need full strength seawater to survive. They think that in nature they go out to sea and then return after they mature.

[Vorteil]

They do. The hardest part is trying to find a food source for the baby ML. I always have berried females but they eat the babies once released.