2.5 gallon -Endless Algae- 2/5/12 algae rescape

[Monster Fish]

Since there has been a lot of talk recently about hawaiian red shrimp, I've decided to share my tank.



Specs:
Tank Size: 2.5 gallon AGA
Substrate: Crushed Florida Coral
Hardscape: Red Lava Rock (BBQ lava rock)
Filtration: Box filter filled with filter floss and ceramic media
Heating: 7.5 watt Hydor Heater (though I don't think it still works)
Lighting: 27 watt cf bulb with a desk lamp, timed for 14 hours and sunlight from a south-facing window
Water Parameters: Ill measure the nitrogens, pH, kH, and gH later. The current salinity is 27 and the specific gravity is 1.020.
Fauna: 40+ Halocaridina rubra aka Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp aka Opae Ula, MTS
Flora: Cladophora, Green Dust Algae, Hair Algae, Marimo Balls, some sort of bubble algae on the surface

I've had the tank setup for almost two months now. It's pretty much near zero maintenance. All I do is: Do top-offs with dechlorinated tap water; Change about 50% of the water once a month; Add marine salt to adjust the salinity if it drops too low (since some salt leaves the tank because of salt creep) during water changes; And supplement the shrimps feeding maybe once a week with either soft green algae (when I have any) or a small piece of algae wafer.

Anyways here are some more pics. Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics. I should invest in a new digital camera...




Yes, there are MTS in the tank. They are surviving in full strength salt water. In fact they are breeding since I always see a new small baby every few days.




They will often chill in the lava rock pile, picking at the rocks.




Picking at the clouds of hair algae.




Picking at the GDA.




Feeding on an algae wafer.




Oddly enough, it seems that I have two varieties. One is the typical red form. The other is opaque white, similar to snowball shrimp. There are also some half-white, half-red ones that looks kinda like rilis.




More whites.





One of my bright reds. You can't really tell cuz my phone's camera sucks.







And that's it for now.

[diwu13]

Wow, that is some great algae formations in your tank. Love the swirls and the little Hawaiian shrimps! Are the shrimps breeding for you?

[Monster Fish]

Originally Posted by diwu13

Wow, that is some great algae formations in your tank. Love the swirls and the little Hawaiian shrimps! Are the shrimps breeding for you?

Thanks! If I ever need to rescape the algae, I just take it out of the tank, roll it into a ball, and shape however. Since there's almost no current in the tank, the algae just floats there. Unfortunately, no breeding so far. They seem to be content just picking at the algae and pooping all the time.

[diwu13]

Hm... your salinity might be a *bit* off for breeding to not occur.

That's so cool about rolling your algae into balls haha. That's probably how marimo balls are made :P

[Monster Fish]

Originally Posted by diwu13

Hm... your salinity might be a *bit* off for breeding to not occur.

That's so cool about rolling your algae into balls haha. That's probably how marimo balls are made :P

Actually, I might reduce the salinity during the next water change. I added too much salt since my hydrometer wasn't detecting the change in salinity initially.

Lol, except these marimo balls are made of hair algae.

[diwu13]

Could be the tank undergoes large temperature changes as well? Such a small volume of water and your heater may be broken?

[Monster Fish]

Originally Posted by diwu13

Could be the tank undergoes large temperature changes as well? Such a small volume of water and your heater may be broken?

Maybe, though I feel no heat coming from the heater. Besides the tank sits right in front of a room heater next to my other tanks. The temps in those tanks hover around 74-76 degrees when the room heater is on and 72 when it's off. It might be a bit hotter since the lamp is a bit close to the cover, but I don't think that would cause the shrimp to not breed. From what I've read, breeding occurs after a certain age, maybe a few years after hatching. This is probably because they are so long lived (20 years or so)

[diwu13]

Yea.. the thing is I think they're definitely old enough to breed since you can see saddles on tons of them.

[Monster Fish]

Interesting. Though I've found these links:

http://www.petshrimp.com/discussions...php?f=2&t=3220
http://www.petshrimp.com/discussions...php?f=2&t=3487
http://www.petshrimp.com/discussions...php?f=2&t=2958
http://www.petshrimp.com/discussions...php?f=2&t=3318

There's a theory that they need daily temperature variations and salinity variations to induce breeding. I guess Ill wait a few more months and see if they start producing eggs.

[diwu13]

Someone else did have a post where he said he tried to mimic natural conditions with varying salinity. I do remember reading that... But those shrimp should be ready to breed for you with all them saddles full of eggs

[Monster Fish]

Would be nice if they did. Ill keep you posted if I start seeing babies swarming the tank.

[diwu13]

Or if you roll more algae balls! I'd like to see that too!

[Monster Fish]

Took a few pics of the shrimp swarming over a clump of brown algae from my other tank (the 5.5 gallon crypt tank).






That's the largest MTS in the tank btw. I'll probably do an algae rescape when I do a water change sometime this weekend.

[diwu13]

Guess the shrimp get sick of the plain ol' algae in their tank :P.

Still really surprised the MTS are alive and breeding in that salty water!

[Geniusdudekiran]

Not bad! Have the shrimp bred?