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Hi! Complete newbie to tank set-up here! Just wanted to ask whether it is safe to put sandstone ornaments in the Opae Ula tank. When I bought the ornament, the description mentioned that it is aquarium safe and should change the water parameters. Just wanted to check to be absolutely sure!

I'm also in the midst (3 weeks to be exact) of cycling a new tank (still empty tank save for a Nerite snail) and my PH level has dropped from 7.9 to 7.1, is there a reason for this and is 7.1 acceptable? Have tried to add more coral pieces 2 days ago but the PH level has not changed.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Jess wrote: ↑18 Nov 2023 01:21 Hi! Complete newbie to tank set-up here! Just wanted to ask whether it is safe to put sandstone ornaments in the Opae Ula tank. When I bought the ornament, the description mentioned that it is aquarium safe and should change the water parameters. Just wanted to check to be absolutely sure!

I'm also in the midst (3 weeks to be exact) of cycling a new tank (still empty tank save for a Nerite snail) and my PH level has dropped from 7.9 to 7.1, is there a reason for this and is 7.1 acceptable? Have tried to add more coral pieces 2 days ago but the PH level has not changed.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Ph drop to 7.1 not good
It should be 8 and up.
What substrate r U using? U need a calcium carbonate based substrate.
Can U test your kH as well? Is it close to 0?

Make new brackish water, change out 30 to 40%
U may also try to use something like seachem marine buffer.

What's your salinity.. btw.

Thanks for the reply! I'm using just regular inert aquarium gravel which claims to be PH neutral. The tank currently contains lava rock and coral chips.
Salinity is at 11.2 ppt. I have no KH reading af the moment as my KH testing kit has somehow been lost in the mail so I am currently sorting out the order. The vaguely good news is the PH has climbed a little back today to 7.3. Should I proceed with the water change?

Jess wrote: ↑18 Nov 2023 23:57 Thanks for the reply! I'm using just regular inert aquarium gravel which claims to be PH neutral. The tank currently contains lava rock and coral chips.
Salinity is at 11.2 ppt. I have no KH reading af the moment as my KH testing kit has somehow been lost in the mail so I am currently sorting out the order. The vaguely good news is the PH has climbed a little back today to 7.3. Should I proceed with the water change?

11.2 ppt is 1.008. i think that's a bit low. the thing about marine salt is that it has KH that also buffer the ph. go for 16.67 g per liter, i.e 1.0125SG.
there are currently no shrimp in the tank right?
if so, my advice would be to change the water with 1.0125sg.

regular "inert gravel" -- as advertised-- i've found from experience that it's not so good. i used black FW river sand in my first virgin tank with some dragon stone, and my PH crashed from 8.2 to 6.5 over a week. Tellingly, my KH was zero! So the substrate and hardscape (which were for FW tank) somehow caused all my water's carbonates to leach out or precipitate. (Water was direct from my local breeder and parameters were good when i put that in my tank). Sadly i also lost most of my first batch of shrimps *sob sob*. they died one by one.

it took me a few weeks to stabilise the pH above 7 - 7.5, using seachem marine buffer. I also did one big water change, and several smaller ones. after that i bought some crushed aragonite shells/ chips from amazon and layered that on top of my original subtrate (there were a few survivor shirmps in the tank so i didn't want to tear the whole tank down) - only then did i manage to get my PH to 8. currently new batch of shrimp all doing OK.

for my second tank, straight off i used coral sand. No kh and PH problems from the get go.

so, from my little experience so far, i would not use anything that is labelled "for freshwater tank". Use only substrate that are for "marine" or "reef" tanks.

waiting for master breeders vorteil or odin to add in.

I use the API 5 in 1 test strips. They are extremely convenient. I would suggest u get them.

Your ph is moving up now due to the coral chips u put in. they take a while to have some buffering effect.

if you have the inclination, change your substrate to coral sand or aragonite sand. i hazard that this will save u lots of headache in future. anyhoo, make sure tank is mature enough (algae on tank walls, biofilm on surface) before adding shrimp- this gives them a much higher chance of not dying :)

btw, I'm in Singapore - are you?

opaekaki wrote:

Jess wrote: ↑18 Nov 2023 23:57 Thanks for the reply! I'm using just regular inert aquarium gravel which claims to be PH neutral. The tank currently contains lava rock and coral chips.
Salinity is at 11.2 ppt. I have no KH reading af the moment as my KH testing kit has somehow been lost in the mail so I am currently sorting out the order. The vaguely good news is the PH has climbed a little back today to 7.3. Should I proceed with the water change?

11.2 ppt is 1.008. i think that's a bit low. the thing about marine salt is that it has KH that also buffer the ph. go for 16.67 g per liter, i.e 1.0125SG.
there are currently no shrimp in the tank right?
if so, my advice would be to change the water with 1.0125sg.

regular "inert gravel" -- as advertised-- i've found from experience that it's not so good. i used black FW river sand in my first virgin tank with some dragon stone, and my PH crashed from 8.2 to 6.5 over a week. Tellingly, my KH was zero! So the substrate and hardscape (which were for FW tank) somehow caused all my water's carbonates to leach out or precipitate. (Water was direct from my local breeder and parameters were good when i put that in my tank). Sadly i also lost most of my first batch of shrimps *sob sob*. they died one by one.

it took me a few weeks to stabilise the pH above 7 - 7.5, using seachem marine buffer. I also did one big water change, and several smaller ones. after that i bought some crushed aragonite shells/ chips from amazon and layered that on top of my original subtrate (there were a few survivor shirmps in the tank so i didn't want to tear the whole tank down) - only then did i manage to get my PH to 8. currently new batch of shrimp all doing OK.

for my second tank, straight off i used coral sand. No kh and PH problems from the get go.

so, from my little experience so far, i would not use anything that is labelled "for freshwater tank". Use only substrate that are for "marine" or "reef" tanks.

waiting for master breeders vorteil or odin to add in.

I use the API 5 in 1 test strips. They are extremely convenient. I would suggest u get them.

Your ph is moving up now due to the coral chips u put in. they take a while to have some buffering effect.

if you have the inclination, change your substrate to coral sand or aragonite sand. i hazard that this will save u lots of headache in future. anyhoo, make sure tank is mature enough (algae on tank walls, biofilm on surface) before adding shrimp- this gives them a much higher chance of not dying :)

btw, I'm in Singapore - are you?

Thanks for sharing all those useful information! Yes, I have no shrimps in the tank yet save for a Nerite snail.

I had a small sandstone ornament in the tank and I separately put another piece of sandstone ornament in distilled water as a test control. The PH of the water in the test control dropped although the seller claimed the sandstone ornaments do not change water parameters. Whether it is coincidental or not, I decided to remove the ornament completely from the tank. Have done a 30% water change with newly mixed brackish water and have put in a lot more coral chips. Thinking of monitoring and doing some water changes along the way and probably get the Seachem Marine Buffer. I should receive the KH test kit soon. I'm hoping I don't have to change the substrate at this point but if worse come to worst and the readings don't improve, I might have to get the tank redone

I actually already have a small globe bowl of opae ulu which came ready set-up. They are reproducing like rabbits which was why I wanted to try my hand at setting up a brand new tank to move some of them to prevent overcrowding in the existing globe bowl. Definitely not moving anyone until I'm sure the water parameters are stable!

Yes! I'm from Singapore too!

Jess wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 01:52

Thanks for sharing all those useful information! Yes, I have no shrimps in the tank yet save for a Nerite snail.

I had a small sandstone ornament in the tank and I separately put another piece of sandstone ornament in distilled water as a test control. The PH of the water in the test control dropped although the seller claimed the sandstone ornaments do not change water parameters. Whether it is coincidental or not, I decided to remove the ornament completely from the tank. Have done a 30% water change with newly mixed brackish water and have put in a lot more coral chips. Thinking of monitoring and doing some water changes along the way and probably get the Seachem Marine Buffer. I should receive the KH test kit soon. I'm hoping I don't have to change the substrate at this point but if worse come to worst and the readings don't improve, I might have to get the tank redone

I actually already have a small globe bowl of opae ulu which came ready set-up. They are reproducing like rabbits which was why I wanted to try my hand at setting up a brand new tank to move some of them to prevent overcrowding in the existing globe bowl. Definitely not moving anyone until I'm sure the water parameters are stable!

Yes! I'm from Singapore too!

hi, great that we're from the same neck of the woods. i think the opae community here blossomed during covid.
i forgot about your nerite. next time you change water, try to do it gradually.. like split the water change into 5 to 6 small changes over an hour, just to make sure you don't shock the snail too much.

is the crystal globe bowl from an LFS in tampines? LOL. Did you test their water? what's the salinity?

for the marine buffer, use the one that comes in a ready-made solution, instead of having to mix it yourself. saves a lot of hassle. i only use it occasionally now after i stablilised my tank's water.

if u ask me, i think ornaments (like lava rocks) do not adversely affect pH that much if you have a good substrate to buffer the water. Try the control test again with coral sand and the same ornaments, and brackish water (not distilled water). u can do the test in a plastic pail or bucket, dont put them in the tank yet. That way, you'll know for sure what combo works.

I''ve spoken to a nice guy from N30 tank - they're at AMK, do you know of them? (I don't work for them, don't worry) - sometimes these LFS guys don't really give much info unless you ask them a lot of leading questions. But I get the impression from N30 tank that there are distinct aquarium products for FW vs marine/reef setups - and crucially, a lot of newbies to tank setup tend to totally miss this point (i certainly didn't think much of it for my first tank).

>> I separately put another piece of sandstone ornament in distilled water as a test control. The PH of the water in the test control dropped although the seller claimed the sandstone ornaments do not change water parameters.<<
I would not test with distilled water. Distilled has nothing in the water, so the PH will not be very stable. I think (but cannot say with 100% confidence , since i'm not a chemist) that PH of distilled water left in an open bucket may fluctuate, and also i've read that ph for distilled water may naturally drop when co2 in the air dissolves in it. So, it could be that your test yields a drop in pH due to the water's contact with air and dissolved C02, not the ornament. Test with actual brackish water that you will be using. (I assume you making your own B/W, right?). It's actually the buffering of the water (alkilinity measure) that is the more important consideration. I hope i'm making sense here?

so, u plan to move your crystal bowl guys to your new tank? How big is your tank?

opaekaki wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 04:39

hi, great that we're from the same neck of the woods. i think the opae community here blossomed during covid.
i forgot about your nerite. next time you change water, try to do it gradually.. like split the water change into 5 to 6 small changes over an hour, just to make sure you don't shock the snail too much.

is the crystal globe bowl from an LFS in tampines? LOL. Did you test their water? what's the salinity?

for the marine buffer, use the one that comes in a ready-made solution, instead of having to mix it yourself. saves a lot of hassle. i only use it occasionally now after i stablilised my tank's water.

if u ask me, i think ornaments (like lava rocks) do not adversely affect pH that much if you have a good substrate to buffer the water. Try the control test again with coral sand and the same ornaments, and brackish water (not distilled water). u can do the test in a plastic pail or bucket, dont put them in the tank yet. That way, you'll know for sure what combo works.

I''ve spoken to a nice guy from N30 tank - they're at AMK, do you know of them? (I don't work for them, don't worry) - sometimes these LFS guys don't really give much info unless you ask them a lot of leading questions. But I get the impression from N30 tank that there are distinct aquarium products for FW vs marine/reef setups - and crucially, a lot of newbies to tank setup tend to totally miss this point (i certainly didn't think much of it for my first tank).

>> I separately put another piece of sandstone ornament in distilled water as a test control. The PH of the water in the test control dropped although the seller claimed the sandstone ornaments do not change water parameters.<<
I would not test with distilled water. Distilled has nothing in the water, so the PH will not be very stable. I think (but cannot say with 100% confidence , since i'm not a chemist) that PH of distilled water left in an open bucket may fluctuate, and also i've read that ph for distilled water may naturally drop when co2 in the air dissolves in it. So, it could be that your test yields a drop in pH due to the water's contact with air and dissolved C02, not the ornament. Test with actual brackish water that you will be using. (I assume you making your own B/W, right?). It's actually the buffering of the water (alkilinity measure) that is the more important consideration. I hope i'm making sense here?

so, u plan to move your crystal bowl guys to your new tank? How big is your tank?

Hi!

Thanks for letting me know about the liquid version of the Seachem Marine Buffer. Will definitely get that as standby!

I got my globe as a present with everything in including the shrimps, water, etc. Don't think they are from LFS. It's flourishing hence the need for a second new tank which I'm trying to condition. I am thinking of just moving a few guys out of the globe to the new tank (which is 10 litres but still way bigger than the globe) so as not to disturb the very successful globe set up. How I am going to catch those guys to do a successful transfer is another problem.

The globe has a lower salinity of about 9000 ppm and a PH of about 7.7 but the opae ula seem to be thriving given the number of berried shrimps I've been having so I am also wondering if I should mimic the current globe set up in the new tank since the shrimps I am looking to transfer would be used to such conditions. So many unknowns and questions!

Where do you get your opae ula from? I'm just wondering if there is any problem with inbreeding for these guys

I bought my coral chips from N30. Good to know they are a good place to buy stuff from. I'd probably get coral sand from them too.

Talk about a learning curve!

Jess wrote: ↑21 Nov 2023 02:35

Hi!

Thanks for letting me know about the liquid version of the Seachem Marine Buffer. Will definitely get that as standby!

I got my globe as a present with everything in including the shrimps, water, etc. Don't think they are from LFS. It's flourishing hence the need for a second new tank which I'm trying to condition. I am thinking of just moving a few guys out of the globe to the new tank (which is 10 litres but still way bigger than the globe) so as not to disturb the very successful globe set up. How I am going to catch those guys to do a successful transfer is another problem.

The globe has a lower salinity of about 9000 ppm and a PH of about 7.7 but the opae ula seem to be thriving given the number of berried shrimps I've been having so I am also wondering if I should mimic the current globe set up in the new tank since the shrimps I am looking to transfer would be used to such conditions. So many unknowns and questions!

Where do you get your opae ula from? I'm just wondering if there is any problem with inbreeding for these guys

I bought my coral chips from N30. Good to know they are a good place to buy stuff from. I'd probably get coral sand from them too.

Talk about a learning curve!

hey, 10 litres - same size as mine. great minds etc

I would not move any guys over right now as they would effectively be guinea pigs for you to test. Leave your new tank to mature for 2 months. It should be much better by then. You have LED tank lights to promote algae growth? I had them on for 12 hours per day for 2 months before putting in a fresh batch.

I got my first opae jar from that famous tampines shop, but eventually decided to DIY my own tanks. So I have sources from two local independent breeders. One of them in particular is very helpful and my DIY tanks mimic his setup. So water SG1.0125, dKH about 5 - 6, ph 8.2 .

Since your globe is breeding like crazy, perhaps it's a good idea to mimic that environment. Since they r doing great, why change anything. Can you get the water from the person who gifted them to you? If you can, get water from the original breeding tank and replace them with some of your current water. You might get other inhabitants in the tank together with that water, e.g. copepods. They are good.

However i must say, if I read you correctly, 9000ppm is what ? 9 ppt? so thats 1.0068 SG, very low! Are you sure you got the right reading? Using a refractometer to test? Both my breeder sources have salinity at 1.0125.

For coral sand, N30 tank has their own prepacked (ie no brand) coral sand, they told me it's from philippines. However, you can also consider seachem ""pearl beach"". it's coral sand too, coarser.

inbreeding... umm, i don't think so lei. Cos i read that if u put nice red opaes will dull pale opaes, all their kids will end up being pale ones LOL. so keeping the "bloodline" pure seems like a better way to go. I don't mix the guys from my tanks or jars.. they come from 3 different sources, haha. oh yes, also, just to share, the shrimps from the 3 different "families"" all behave differently from one another - i find that fascinating

you know, i learnt so much from keeping these pets, and they r wonderful to look at. Although it took a lot of effort and several missteps i have no regrets at all... enjoy them !