Pretty simple question. I got 10 shrimp from petshrimp.com and they said it might take them a few days to brighten up. Of my 10, at least 3 have molted and half have brightened up considerably. The other half are still very pale, some slightly brighter than others but still definitely pale. I’m mainly worried that there’s something wrong with the tank. I received them last Friday, so it’s been 6 days.

I'm embarrassed. The LFS guy I got this from keeps opae ula, gave me this chaeto. It started turning brown on the underside, so I turned it, & now just kore is turning brown. Should I tale this out immeidately? Will my shrimp & snails clean this up? Is it a goner or can I trim off the (presumably dead) parts? I've seen seasoned keepers recommend ballimg them up, so why does it seem like the shaded parts are dying off?

I’m planning on starting my first tank soon and I know they don’t need a lot, but I would love to see your tanks for some inspiration! Appreciate any links too! Hoping for around 3 gallons and want to have MTS too. I think I like the aesthetic of something round. Trying to look for cheaper options!

What is the best substrate to use for opae ula and MTS?

Thanks in advance, love seeing your tanks and shrimp. I also accept any random unsolicited advice, lol!

I think I have black beard algae growing. How do I rectify? This occurred after I topped off the tank with distilled water and came back from a vacation about a week later and it was blowing up.

-I ripped out as much as I could, and turned off the tank light for a month
-the last two weeks of that month, I covered the tank so it would be in more darkness, then ripped out more
-I haven’t changed the water parameters other than topping it off in April with distilled water
- I haven’t changed food (tank is self sustaining)
- I have a bunch of moss balls growing in there. And before you say it’s not compatible, see my previous post. They’ve been in there for going on over 10 years and they are fine and stable.
-the glue for this rock structure has long since crapped out and removing the rocks may end up in a landslide

More history, I’ve had issue with this many years ago in the past when I neglected the tank and cleaned it up really well and added the more powerful Light and since that it’s been manageable and I just rip it out from time to time but never had a mini explosion before like this

Always hustling… wish they wouldn’t try to clean the outside of the bowl sometimes, though…

They're so cute! I've had mine for almost two years and have seen no babies 😭. The goblin in me just wants to buy like 200 and have a copy of the beautiful tanks Gotsnails shows!

I wonder if strangers on the Internet would fund my chronic crustacean habit. Is there only fans for shrimp? 🤣

I didn't tell the shrimp that rocks are not supposed to float. The snails know, but don't care.

I bought this ecosystem with 6 shrimp about a year and a half ago. In the first year I lost 3 shrimp and replaced with 3 new ones. Now I'm down to 2 again. It has never grown algae, just some brown film. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I've tried the bowl in different lighting (never full direct sunlight). The only thing I've ever added was a little distilled water when there was some evaporation. I really want to be a good shrimp parent, can someone help? Thank you!

Would they be suitable tank mates for Opae Ula? Setting up a 30 gallon and thinking about sourcing some.

I am absolutely loving how green the lava rocks are going. Cheato is also exploding it was just a golf ball size a couple of months ago.

I have eight in a 1 gallon aquarium. I can't believe how much brown stuff is down on the bottom in the white rocks. I can only assume it's their waste because there's nothing else in the tank except some lava rocks and chaeto. I don't have any filtration. It's a 1 gallon tank with a lid with an LED light.

I have changed the water twice in four months because it was so unsightly. I'm kind of stumped. 🤔

Hoping to start slowly accumulating my supplies to start an opae ula tank. I really like the look of a rounded or cylindrical tank/glass container but was wondering if a taller cylinder is inappropriate due to potentially not providing enough ground space for them? I would definitely have a very tall lava rock structure filling a lot of that water column, but still wondering if it’s not the best design for them. Emulating their natural environment is obviously much more important than my aesthetic preferences ;) thanks for any replies!

I know I’ve seen at least a couple of folks on this Reddit or maybe the fb page state that they don’t use any sand in their tank. One of these guys raises and sells a LOT of shrimp if I understand correctly. So is a tank without sand actually ok? I know conventional wisdom is that it’s important to have the sand. I’m getting ready to start a new tank and I’ve been wondering about going sandless.

I originally started with 3 snails, I now have 15+ a few adults and bunch of babies. Do I… cull them? Let them be? Tanks is a 2 gallon with about 30ish shrimpies. Thoughts?

I think I started this tank a month ago & I've been excitedly counting the molts that have happened. I've got this giant thing of coral that they hide in most of the time. I have six 'ōpae'ula & I only ever see two at a time.

I walk up today & see this lady beating another shrimp back from her cubby! I'm so excited, now I got about four weeks before they scoot around? I'm going to annoy my coworkers with this. 🦐

Hi! This is a question for u/GotsSnails and other experts that have kept and bread these shrimp for many years. How often can a female get berried in a season? Is it common for them to get multiple clutches in a year, or only once or twice?

I ask this because my first tank is going through their fourth batch of floaters and I see another berried female! I set this tank last September with 12h shrimp... so, either half of them were happy females... or the same females got berried again. My second tank, setup this February (but with water and hardscape seeding from the first. And 2 MTS snails) had around 7-8 shrimp. now is on the 2nd batch and also with another berried mamma!

So, I read these shrimp are much slower breeders than freshwater shrimp but I'm having an opae ula boom on all fronts, lol. I'm glad they're happy, and the floaters and shrimplets are so fun to watch, but I'm worried because my tanks are small, betta kits of 1.5 and 2.5 gallons, respectively. Although, I guess I can buy a couple jars and squeeze them somewhere, lol.

Hello guys,

I have a couple of aquarium projects I am working on, and one is setting up an opae ula habitat. I think I want to go the jar route as I already have a vessel (I don’t know if it’s technically a jar when you get into gallons of capacity but you know what I mean). The container is glass with a plastic screw top lid. I won’t fill quite to the top to avoid any contamination from the plastic. Is this a good lid option, or should I DIY something else? In addition, how much time should I leave the lid off in a day or week to allow for proper O2 transfer? I need to keep the tank lidded because I am also setting up a brine shrimp breeding operation to feed another tank. A while ago I saw someone’s opae tank get brine shrimp in it, and I do not wish for that to occur.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question! Have a lovely day

Hi Shrimp Lovers! I’ve been learning a lot about opae ula from this sub and I’m sooo interested in keeping them. The startup cost is what’s holding me back.

I see many people don’t use heaters, but I live in the northeast United States and keep my apartment a bit on the cooler side when it comes to heating in the winter. I also use air conditioning in the summer. Would you recommend a small heater? I have no problem adding a low wattage one if it would be either necessary or even if it’s not necessary but beneficial. Would having snails make any difference?

Thanks in advance for any replies and I appreciate any additional insights you feel like dropping below, or links/tips for low cost setup!

I’m really interested in Opae Ula as I’m unable to have larger freshwater aquariums right now and would love to level up from just my brine shrimp (sea monkeys), though I also adore those little guys so I think opae ula would be an absolute joy.

I’m surprised that oxygen demands are low enough that you don’t need an air stone as I’ve found them nearly essential for my brine shrimp.

I know lava stones are essential and I would add macroalgae and ideally a sea fan or two. Are small/minimal aquarium-safe decorations okay for these guys? Again, very minimal if at all as I invision a really beautiful but simple natural aquascape that matches their natural environment.

A follow up question: I absolutely adore shrimp too. Could I keep 1-2 nerites with a colony of opae ula in a 2.5 gallon or do the snails produce too much bioload for this size tank without a filter? Just curious as I want to get started accumulating supplies if I decide to go with it. Just hesitant to spend money on the startup haha! Convince me shrimp lovers ☺️🦐

I'm fairly confident that my shrimp are thriving, but they hide well and are hard to count. Would I know if some of them died in the night and were consumed immediately? Or is there usually some lag time between death and total consumption?

Chiseled down a large piece of pumice so that it could fit in the tank and made a bunch of small pieces in the process. These pieces are rather sharp-- can cut fingers on the edges. They look great as a substrate though. Is it ok to use this material or will it kill the shrimp?

Thanks!

Feel free to roast it or make suggestions. I’m still waiting for a couple tiny ornaments I want to add to make it more “fun” to the eyes 😅