Adding shrimp to new tank!

17

Gorgeous setup. I’m really digging that coral. Where did you get it from?

13

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

Thank you! This is “base rock”, the rock used to make live rock for salt water aquariums. It doesn’t have any of the organisms that would be problematic for a brackish opae ula setup. I got it a local fish shop.

5

u/AdSame8916 Oct 19 '24

I got coral from asking at a pet store. They didn’t have any, but thankfully they had a nearby offsite spot of just a bunch of tanks & said that they had had dead coral that I can have for free. I took a bunch, bleached it twice & let sit in the sun. I then washed it with distilled water a couple of times & dried in the sun & it was all good! I would ask a small local pet shop, especially specializing in fish.

3

u/Jazzlike-Ebb9539 Oct 20 '24

You can get it as live rock that’s no longer alive with the organisms or called Texas Holey Rock. I bought 3 big rocks(The 3 small are pretty good size) on Amazon for $27.99. You can choose 3 rocks or 1 but it’s a 5lb rock, if you go that route. I put a big one in my 10 gallon,&it takes at least 1/3 of the space. The little shrimps love it. I put the other 2 big ones in a bag and hit it with a hammer a couple to get some smaller but good sized pieces for my jars and added the crumbles to substrate. It’s limestone and is supposed to help maintain ph and calcium, but I don’t know how much it will as my tank is still pretty young.

13

u/Nematodes-Attack Oct 18 '24

Congrats! Love that big rock! Would love to see what it looks like in a few months

3

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

Will definitely update when it’s got some growth!

9

u/darth1211 Oct 18 '24

Love the setup! I'd recommend a lid so chemicals don't leach in and dust doesn't enter. Just incase you use any cleaning products like clorox, cleaning the counters

4

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

Thank you! And yep it has a lid, glass that covers the whole top, no holes or cutouts.

3

u/Sophistiq8ted Oct 18 '24

Don't they need algae to eat?

4

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

There was a lot of diatoms (brown algae) and biofilm present before adding them (may not be so clear in the video) that grew even more afterwards. Plus I’m supplementing with spirulina powder for these first few weeks as the green algae comes in.

3

u/writingchaosdragon Oct 18 '24

What kind of lid is on that? Looks great btw!

3

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

just a sheet of glass that covers the whole top. it just sits on top, no hooks or hinges. helps with evaporation :) and thanks!

2

u/writingchaosdragon Oct 18 '24

Ok excellent! The jars I've seen always seem to have a top so I was curious.

3

u/daddysbestestkitten Oct 18 '24

That back ground? Is that mother of pearl? I had seamonkeys earlier this year and idk what I did wrong...are these fresh or salt water shrimp?

3

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

I’m not sure about the background unfortunately but I just touched it and it feels like glass. I had seamonkeys for a little bit (not in any sort of proper set up for them but the kids toy version) and I know the most common issue people have is overfeeding, and also lack of proper aeration. The shrimp I have in this tank are opae ula which are neither freshwater nor full saltwater, but an even mix of the two. After you properly set them up and have algae growth, they are basically zero maintenance so could be another good option if you’re considering seamonkeys again.

2

u/yellow_pterodactyl Oct 18 '24

Wow. I love this setup

1

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

Much appreciated! I love how it turned out.

2

u/-No-Percentage- Oct 18 '24

Did you cycle the tank before?

3

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

Only partially. I did seed it with some water from my old tank. Then I left it for 2 weeks before ordering the shrimp since I was out of town and didn’t know how long they would take to ship. By the time I got them there was a good amount of diatom growth on the glass and rock, and the surface of the water was covered with biofilm.

1

u/-No-Percentage- Oct 18 '24

And how did you cycle your old tank? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

2

u/gleutiful Oct 18 '24

I had that tank for several years, which I seeded from a smaller tank for a betta fish. Basically put in old tank water and let it sit for a couple weeks. The brown algae will come in and go away and at that point it’s likely cycled but the only way to know is to check your water parameters (ammonia and nitrites at 0, with low nitrates). If you don’t have old tank water to start the cycle, it will take much longer but just drop some fish food in to break down into ammonia.

1

u/-No-Percentage- Nov 03 '24

So it's better to seed from freshwater to brackish rather than salt to brackish?

1

u/gleutiful Nov 04 '24

i don’t know whether it’s better to seed from fresh rather than salt, i did that simply because i had a freshwater tank and not a saltwater one. (though i could see reason why fresh could be better.. perhaps more of the undesirable freshwater bacteria or hitchhikers that get transferred would die off in the salinity of the brackish. just speculating.)

what i actually recommend is what gotsnails advises on this sub: don’t bother seeding or cycling at all for these shrimp. it’s unnecessary and introduces that risk of carrying anything harmful over.

1

u/-No-Percentage- Nov 04 '24

I want to set up the tank now and introduce the shrimp once I get a chance to visit the seller who is in a different country. That's why I was thinking of cycling and growing algae on the hardscape before, maybe even establishing the flora using ferts to ensure it's grown in in advance and doesn't struggle before the shrimp adjust and start breeding. I have both salt and freshwater tanks so I might add some material from both and keep a close eye on ammonia levels. I suspect it really depends on the species of bacteria that inhabits your tank, with changes most will die but a small percentage will adapt. I'm not really worried about hitchhikers as I've had my tanks for a few years and they tend to do better, the more biodiversity they have. That's why I want to cycle and give it time to mature.

2

u/Main-Lettuce-8278 Oct 19 '24

You don’t need filter?

1

u/gleutiful Oct 19 '24

no filter needed for opae ula. just water top offs for evaporation. their bio loads are so small that their poop gets broken down as food for the bacteria/algae/chaeto, enough that they aren’t in any danger of toxicity build up.

2

u/Theurgie Oct 22 '24

Love the rock. Is it a Texas Holey rock?

2

u/gleutiful Oct 22 '24

Possibly.. I say that because it is definitely limestone and has holes in it, but I don’t know if that alone makes it “Texas Holey Rock”, and in all of the pictures I see THR is much smoother and has bigger holes. This rock wasn’t specifically sold as THR. May just be regular limestone that happens to have holes.

2

u/Browneboys Oct 24 '24

So simple but so sick! Looks like literal art

2

u/gleutiful Oct 24 '24

Thank you! I love that “art piece” aspect of it. So calming to look at and helps take a moment to breathe throughout the day.

2

u/Browneboys Oct 24 '24

Everybody needs a shrimp tank in their lives to be honest! I usually come home when I have a bad day at work and the first thing I do is look at my tanks 🥰

2

u/gleutiful Oct 24 '24

Totally agree! I’m looking at the tank any chance I get now and it instantly helps take my mind of things and get lost in their little world :)

1

u/BotanyBum Oct 19 '24

Will you eat them when there big?

2

u/gleutiful Oct 19 '24

that’s like a “when pigs fly” situation so yeah, sure I would