Opae Ula, Hawaiian Red Shrimp, SuperShrimp, whatever...

[Rob in Puyallup]

A couple closeups of Opae Ula for those unfamiliar:

[MABJ]

They have a real interesting body shape. I'd consider setting one up for them but brackish deters me still..


MABJ's iDevice used for this message :p

[Rob in Puyallup]

Brackish is easy. Add a little Instant Ocean and crushed coral and the only water parameters you need to concern yourself with is ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Everything else is taken care of.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by Rob in Puyallup

Brackish is easy. Add a little Instant Ocean and crushed coral and the only water parameters you need to concern yourself with is ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Everything else is taken care of.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2

That's not the only thing I like being able to add other species and such. I'd be very limited with these guys. Maybe someday.


MABJ's iDevice used for this message :p

[Rob in Puyallup]

Oh... Well, this is like two of my other tanks: shrimp only.

There are all sorts of fun fish for brackish tanks, planting one, on the other hand, can be challenging.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2

[MABJ]

I like shrimp only tanks but I just like the distraction of other things like micro fish, cool snails. I'm very interested in your colonies though. Allow me to live vicariously through you :p


MABJ's iDevice used for this message :p

[Rob in Puyallup]

Okay, so this isn't the best photo ever posted, but I just found the baby opae, first time since I put up "his" picture last Thursday. Thought he had found his way back to the ponds...

Seems he's settled from his larval stage into the comforts of sand and other surfaces. Another success.

[Hmoobthor]

the baby is nice...what have u been feeding them

[Rob in Puyallup]

Not a whole lot he'd be eating. Apparently the larval opae ula live off their "large yolk sacks" until they settle, once they've reached that stage they eat what the adults eat, mostly bacteria, diatoms and algae.

I have added a tiny amount of powdered spirulina a time or two this week and a small amount of Cycle everyday.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2

[Rob in Puyallup]

All is going well in the Opae Ula tank. Noticing bits of the Chaetomorpha algae on the floor of the tank, mostly pieces of the more delicate variety.

Noted while observing the tank that both the opae and the Malaysia Trumpet Snails are grazing in the algae, the Opae scraping off its surface, as shrimp do, the snails eating it like we would eat gherkins.

The snails are making quite a mess. Either they or the finer strand chaeto may have to find a new home.

PS: I set up a new 10 gallon tank for another opae ula colony last night. Other than tank size I started it as I did the subject of this sort-of journal, with white live aragonite sand, live rubble, live rock and live water. I also have an air powered two sponge filter in it. There is another package of opae ula being delivered from Hawaii in the near future.

It seems that sand (not gravel) is an important addition to the opae ula environment. They pick up individual grains and roll it around their mouths removing (obviously) diatoms and algae. Bacteria too, (though not quite as obvious!)

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2

[MABJ]

Nice info! I never would have added sand over gravel before learning such, but that's awesome to know!

[Rob in Puyallup]

A pic of the new Opae Ula tank:

[Rob in Puyallup]

Well... one of the interesting things about using live rock in a tank, even a brackish one, is the odd lifeforms that pop up.

I've noticed a snail, (thinking it's some sort of cowrie), that measures about 1/4 long has been cruising over the rock, munching as it goes. Yesterday I found a small sea anemone type critter and last night after the lights went out a small bristle worm showed up.

The small feather-duster worm that I first noticed last week (?) is still hanging out, his tube growing a bit longer everyday.

[Aquasapien69]

You may want to try to identify and then maybe remove the "sea anemone" looking critter. It could be an aiptasia or majano anemone which can multiply and majorly infest your tank. Whatever it is, if it's anemone related, it has stinging tentacles and could harm or even eat your little shrimpies. If it is something you decide you want to get rid of, I suggest using a product specifically designed for such, as other methods can actually cause the little buggers to create more of themselves from pieces of the one you are trying to get rid of. ....just something you may want to look into......

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Rob in Puyallup]

Hummm.... will do. At the moment it's very small, when I first saw it I thought it was a piece of a molted skin.

I will keep an eye on it, though. The product used to get rid of them okay to use with shrimp, ya think?