Opae ula shrimp

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

My wife and I love Hawaii. She bought a really cheesy pic of a window looking out on a surf break that made me laugh and I joked I’d get her something better to replace it with. Well it was her birthday and Mother’s Day so this was my response....

I did some research and built this gallon and a half opae ula shrimp tank for her desk. It’s got some old 2019 vintage marimo moss balls, some macro algae and plenty of lava rocks and crushed coral. It was fun to do and the smile and awwws I got with these little guys was awesome and reward enough. 
 

I’ve honestly had a horrible run lately between my sons tank disaster and my own bedside “sad” bowl but this is a success. A little bit of nature and Hawaii every day. Aloha to you all. 

[tonyjuliano]

I would say that looks great!  Well done.

[Emika_B]

Beardedbillygoat1975 - Aloha!  Great looking tank; they’ll be happy with all of the coral bits!  I’ve had my opae tank inhabited for about a month now.  I love watching them scuttle about.  Other than topping off with distilled water, it’s very low maintenance.  If you don’t mind a bit of advice?  Keep an eye on the moss ball.  It’s not meant for salt water, even brackish, and will begin to degrade.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Thanks @Emika_Bwill definitely look out. Macro algae should be good though?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Emika_Bwhats your schedule on feeding and maintenance? I’ve seen feed once a week, a couple times a week, a couple times a month etc. Same question regarding your water change schedule? 

[Emika_B]

I haven’t fed my shrimp at all.  I set up the tank and let it sit for about 3 weeks to grow algae on the surfaces.  Once I saw algae on the rocks I knew it was okay to add the shrimp.  Oddly enough, my algae was pearling!  I’ve read that feeding once a month is okay if needed but only really small amounts.  Think tip of a toothpick dipped in powder and shaken off.  They are tiny and they have really slow metabolisms so it doesn’t take much food.

As to water changes, none.  I top off with distilled water and check the salinity but other than that, no water changes.  I don’t have any plant life in my tank except the algae that grew because of light.  Since you do have plants you may need to do water changes as the plants break down.  I also have a small bio load compared to tank volume - 25 shrimp in 5 gallons.  Depending on your population density you may need to change water from time to time.

Brackish is a tricky thing.  Generally speaking neither fresh nor marine plants will work.  In the long term the water’s too salty for fresh water plants and it’s not salty enough for marine algae.  I’ve only found one site that sells true brackish plants, or algae anyway.  I can’t post it here but the guy who runs it, his name sounds like Mufasa.

You can see my set up here: 

 

 

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Emika_Bthanks - I’d seen some keepers talking about some water changes early in the process and then none with just top offs and others advocating for none ever and just top offs so thanks for some real world clarity. This was set up for months - our first attempt did not go well ie. Shrimps came in poor health not active in the bag and all died. This group was completely different. I got these off Aquabid whereas the first one from eBay. I’ll look for “Mufasa” online. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

One of my mommas is berried! So thrilled !

 

[Patrick_G]

I think I’m going to try this. I have a few cylindrical containers or I could use a little cube. I already have a bunch of moss balls and some crushed coral. All I’ll need is the shrimp and a few bits of Macro. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Sounds great! Pretty much exactly what we did.  

I find the hardest part is cycling it. Don’t put the algaes and miss balls in initially. Let the bowl sit in a window sill and go through diatoms and get some green algae before you put the algaes and the moss balls. It may take months and a water change or 2 before it’s ready. After the first water change I put a nerite in. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

How’s the tank doing? 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Still one of my most successful scapes. I keep threatening to make another one and I think I will and out it on my desk at work. 

[Theplatymaster]

how many gallons is this? and are the shrimp reproducing well?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

It’s about 1.5 g, it’s designed to keep peanuts so the lid has this soft silicone skirt to seal it which is great for reducing evaporation.

 
They reproduce readily and I can encourage it by putting in spirulina flake and then within a month or 2 I see lots of berries females and then I see the tiniest shrimp I’ve ever seen. 

My next Opae ula project will be a gallon cookie jar I have saved that will go in my office. I’m hoping to do red macro algae along with the green. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 1/19/2023 at 6:50 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

My next Opae ula project will be a gallon cookie jar I have saved that will go in my office. I’m hoping to do red macro algae along with the green. 

I’ve got a really nice old glass container which is about 2 gal or so…very tempting to do a desktop setup! 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@TheSwissAquaristits a lot of work up front but once it’s going there’s nothing to do. It takes care of itself. Highly recommend and I’ve found it very rewarding. 

[knee]

Are they saltwater shrimp? 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I hear they are pretty long lived (20 years).

On 1/20/2023 at 12:17 PM, knee said:

Are they saltwater shrimp? 

Yes and no. They can live in anything from barely brackish to full strength seawater.

[TheSwissAquarist]

It’s the slow metabolism — they can live for 5 years without any supplementary food. 😏

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Brackish burgeoning on saltwater You want to keep them at a minimum specific gravity of 1.008 to 1.010 from my research. They do best when introduced to a very mature system. I’d recommend a minimum of 6 - 8 weeks but really I’d base it on how much visible dust and other green algae’s you see. I put my containers in an area with lots of indirect and some direct sunlight as they mature. I’d recommend adding your macro algae late in the setup a week to 3 before you’re adding your Opae ula. I’ve found that marimo moss balls can live in these conditions. A single nerite snail can keep the glass clean so you can keep viewing without major maintenance. You want to be very careful about introducing anything into the system - if I need to do something I sterilize the instruments with alcohol and then rinse with distilled water. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I haven’t updated in awhile. When we moved and as we’ve settled into our home the Opae ulae have gotten moved and we’ve also gotten them a new Chihiros light with a stand for them. The lack of sunlight has proved a problem as the macro algae’s haven’t been happy and have mostly died. However there’s this beautiful green fuzzy algae most likely a mix of Marimo and some other algae’s. The shrimp are continuing on to reproduce and thrive. 

I‘M a big fan of these and would recommend them to anyone. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

That’s a really beautiful scape. The algae makes it look a bit like a willow tree. 😍

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@TheSwissAquaristits evolved as has everything I’ve been keeping in the last year. I agree that old fan coral piece has taken on a who new life. They’re reproducing like crazy and I need to get working on the setup for work.