I've had the tank for over 1.5 years, and constantly saw saddled females, but alas never any berried ones. I started to wonder if out of all of my 8 shrimps, there were no males (a 0.4% chance with a 50-50% sex ratio, so quite unlikely). The breeder I had gotten them from unfortunately disappeared after last winter. Three months ago, I decided to buy 12 other Opae Ula from ShrimpFever to increase chances of having males. Fast forward to yesterday, I noticed a molt and males chasing a saddled female. I was so delighted to see her berried today! :)

Opes added October 25, 2024 Jar was set up 2 weeks prior🌱🌿🦐

This saddled shrimp’s swimmerets are extended. Does this mean she’ll be berried soon? I’m confused because I only set the tank up 5 days ago.

There’s 12 shrimp in a 1 gallon mason jar, salinity 1.014-1.015. Also, 2 of them molted I think it might have been one of the juveniles.

I was just wondering if this lava rock is suitable for my tank because there are so many options to choose from but this is the cheapest.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-5-cu-ft-Bagged-Decorative-Stone-Red-Lava-Landscape-Rock-440897/100427379?MERCH=REC-_-rv_gm_pip_rr-_-314071888-_-%7B%7BproductId%7D%7D-_-N&gQT=1

Saw the first berried female right after thanksgiving and then quickly had three, then six, and so on. At this point I think every saddled female in my tank has either just had her eggs hatch, is currently berried, or is ready to become berried based on the shape of their swimmerets. I’ve counted almost forty floaters right now with at least four shrimp still berried and only a couple left saddled!

A molt and a lifeless body. Brought out the macro lens to take a closer look.

Hi there I need some advice. I was doing research on opae ulas and snails and everywhere I checked said that netrites could live with them in their brackish environment. So I bought a few and when I asked the shop keeper they said they could too. I bought a variety of them, horned snails, Pumpkin snails and black helmets snails. But when I put them into the tank they immediately freeze up and started shrinking into their shells. I thought oh maybe theyre just scared but a week later and they were still there. I picked them up and they were all closed, open ajar, or the Pumpkin snail which snail flap literally just fell out and I think it's basically dead. Idk what happened. I thought they could live in brackish water just fine. Any advice on what's going on?

3 gallon jar with some chaetomorpha (& 22 Opae Ula)

https://preview.redd.it/fvke43zzaece1.jpg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d0d278fa364e0ae6f65af28e68a3312f95711af0

https://preview.redd.it/u3j8l1zzaece1.jpg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d730f6c5194397de68d3a0ea21b9c7627b58645c

I had this set up since around June of last year and instead of growing green algae like many tanks I see, this weird brown wall grew instead. I did some research and a lot of people said it was just the natural tank still getting set up (tjo it's been more than 8 months) but then this weird sediment started showing out of nowhere.

I don't think it's algae it looks nothing like it, and I don't think it's shrimp poop cos there's only 8 shrimps in the set up and it literally floats down from nowhere covers everything like like a layer of dust. I tried sucking it out but few days later its back. I don't feed the shrimps very often (cos there's only 8 of them) and when I do they get an 1/8 of an algae wafer and all seem to be doing well though occasionally i see the shrimps getting annoyed with the dust getting stuck to their feet. Does anyone know what this is?

I tried getting snails for it but if u saw my last post the nerites didn't fair very well and on the brink of death even after acclimatising them to salt water beforehand. I was debating on getting a tiny filter for instead since the snail idea failed but I'm worried the filter would make the green algae take even longer to grow.

Watching them swim around is so relaxing. Looks a lot more graceful than my neos.

New tank going good so far! 🤞🏼

I just received opae ula kit from ebay. i seem to have got the wrong instructions. i don’t have enough water in the shrimp bag to fill the jar nearly enough. i received a bag of salt. does this mean i have to make my own brackish water before i put the shrimp in? also my shrimp don’t seem to be moving a lot. i can’t tell if some of them are dead or not

Hey everyone, I'm interested in getting a tank of Opae ula for my desk. I'm having trouble finding a decent 10L/2.5g that's a nice shape (cube or rectangle) or a nice glass vase/jar that has a lid. I'd love some recommendations if anyone has them 🙂

Big thanks to @gotsnails for hooking me up and all the advice! 🙌🏼🤙🏼

I built a tank for seven Opae Ula back in September (2024). They've been looking great since then but over the course of today the tank has grown very cloudy and is emitting a putrid smell. The surface also looks splotchy with some form of growth.

I measured the GH / KH / PH / NO2 / NO3 / Salinity (using API 5-in-1 test strips and a refractometer) in September, October, and November. I was traveling in December and did not measure then. I just measured and the major difference is that the KH (carbonate hardness) has jumped from 120 (last reading in November) to 240. Everything else is around what it has been (GH 180; PH 7.5; NO2 0; NO3 0; Salinity 1.015).

The marked cloudiness has happened over the course of today. I had noticed wafts of the funky smell for the past 6-8 weeks but genuinely thought they were seeping out of a ten year-old ecosphere I have sitting next to the tank (which has one Opae Ula living in it). In hindsight that seems a little unlikely, but every time I smelled the water in the tank, it seemed fine, and the smell seriously seemed like it was coming from the bottom of the ecosphere. But right now the smell is most definitely coming from the tank water. I cannot think of any other environmental factors that might be contributing to this issue. I'm in the Northeastern USA and it has been quite cold, but the thermostat has been steady. The tank received a little less light during the last two weeks of December while I was gone and their room's curtain was half-drawn.

The shrimps appear to be acting more erratically than usual. They are swimming by the surface much more actively than usual, and occasionally grouping/clumping together. Some have also grown more translucent.

Something is clearly wrong and I could use any help anyone can offer to save these shrimps.

What might be causing this issue and what might be the best course(s) of action?

Many thanks in advance to this community!

https://preview.redd.it/zvbdm8lo2wbe1.jpg?width=3322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81dc1c1ad505b15527f51e136da7916c97465aed

Rice is giving themselves a little clean! 🫧

plz pray for skrimps. They are definitely at least hiding; fingers crossed that they are /just/ hiding. There are none visibly dead but the lava rock is dense so there may be some.

Bringing the house back up to temp now with a pinprick of spirulina in case there are weak ones.

Bleh. Sad, even if all are healthy at least for unkindness.

Hi everyone, I have a 1.5 gal jar set up for opae ula with a mix of aragonite and quartz sand, lava rock, a lot of microalgae and some brackish macroalgae.

I set it up around 2 months ago, and in a week or so I'll be able to add two more types of macroalgae (cladophora and chaetomorpha) and some ruppia maritima, that I bought from a local opae ula breeder (all adapted to brackish water)

He keeps a lot of ruppia in his opae tank, without fertilization of any kind, and the plant seems to be doing fine.

Searching on the web I also managed to find some real brackish/estuary plants that, in theory, could be acclimated to supershrimp tanks (submerged or emersed). Apart from the obvious mangroves i found:

-Cryptocoryne ciliata -salomus valerendi -elocharis parvula -Zostera marina -Ruppia Maritima -Rumohra adiantiformis

Now, apart from the ruppia and zostera those are easy to find in my area, but my biggest doubt before purchasing any (apart from the ruppia I already bought) was how to keep them alive in an opae ula tank, since super shrimp larvae are (from what I read) very sensitive to nitrate and nutrients in general.

Do you have any experience with those kind of plants? Or plants in general in an opae ula tank. Would it be feasible to use some kind of liquid fertilizer without harming the shrimp?

Looks like someone had their babies!