The Opae ula shrimp Forum and online store

my opae ula tank. trying to make a backdrop of algae hair so it will be all green in the back and hide the heater also.
I got the lava rock, white coral and gravel from hawaii when i went there.

Very clear water you have there!, this is my communal Opea'ula tank. Blacksand and ocean rock... doesnt look pretty but the shrimp seem happy enough :)

odin wrote:Very clear water you have there!, this is my communal Opea'ula tank. Blacksand and ocean rock... doesnt look pretty but the shrimp seem happy enough :)

nice!! lots's of hiding places.

thanks, its pretty holey and hollow underneath for plenty of hiding spots.

Hi all!

Thanks for letting me join Odin - your help has been invaluable already on the US forum! Started cycling yesterday - bit worried as may have some contamination as hadnt enough RO water to do all the gravel washes (took about 10 lots of water) and used tap water instead :( Rest of tank is RO & instant Ocean as suggested. Still got quite a lot of stuff on my shopping list, but here's my 30ltr tank so far....

Welcome! that tank looks awesome, the shrimp will really love that setup! If you have any questions or concerns just jump on here and put up a post, doesn't matter how trivial you think the question may be.

Don't worry about the substrate being washed in tap water, you can always do a few partial water changes along the way if you wish. Set your tank temp so you get 20 -> 22 degrees, and just make sure its sitting right because i have to have my heater set to 24 degrees just to get the water to sit at 21 degrees.

The bubbles will disappear off the walls soon too.

Hi again & thanks Odin :)

The heater I have came with the tank - I bought the shrimp smart 30 from Aquael - I have a feeling it may be OK as UK gets warmer, but might struggle in winter as the room where the tank is is unheated at night (my goldfish bowl with the rescued Opae in are in a warm 24/7 room so dont panic!)

Two other little 'concerns' (and am SO sorry to keep asking all the time but am desperately new to all this!) the goldfish bowl with the Opae in is starting to form white floaty debris bits in since I added a tablespoon of RO water to top up the evaporated water from the original sphere. They must put something in that 'sphere water to stop it clouding when they seal them? The Opae seem ok - not as active as they were but def not popcorning, so am leaving them quiet and praying I can cycle this tank in time for them.

Second thing - the algae I had in the sphere is tiny - tried to divide it into two so the new tank could start up, but its literally all but vanished even now :( I've seen some for sale at Charterhouse Aquatics - the US shrimp site says only the tiny thin stuff will survive brackish, but I doubt IT would survive a trip from USA. Should I chance some new algae in the tank to help the cycling for my poor shrimpos stuck in the bowl? Di

http://charterhouse-aquatics.com/shop/l ... rpha-algae

You can try the algae, it may survive in your tank... it may not, at that price it is worth a shot but be sure to remove it if the plant starts to break down and rot as it will create ammonia. That's OK if your tank is fully cycled but as a fresh tank it will linger as ammonia and is pretty toxic to shrimp.

I'm trying to source some of the algae from the US to be sent over here via a friend in the states so if i can get it and grow it i can send some out to people in the UK because i really want some plants for my brackish tank

As long as you keep the water level up in the shrimp bowl and the shrimps are grazing then i wouldn't worry. i have crap float on the top of my water sometimes.

the shrimp are going to love grazing on that wood when its covered in algae and bio-film, the more surface area the better :)