Marimo and Volcanic Shrimp

[kimkeat]

you have to keep rolling it into a ball...

the natural conditions have water movement.

ever wonder how farms grow it??

The farms should have ways of making them grow more quickly but I doubt they will want to reveal the secrets.

[kimkeat]

JZX is at ang mo kio block 712 I think, it's beside the jubilee shopping centre , beside the big S 11 and beside a small fruit stall. size is slightly bigger, mine was about 5-6cm I think, price around there also, same price for all size but usually they stock 2-3 balls only

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I went to block 712 but the first level was occupied by FairPrice. There was a fish shop called Pets Boutique at block 711 though. It had about 10 marimo and a few of them were quite big, $4 each. I chose the biggest one. Came home and measured it. It was 7.5 cm x 5 cm, oval shape. Put it in quarantine for a few days. Will try to squeeze it and see whether can make it more round. Continue hunting for bigger ones....

[kennethc]

I meant if I cut a marimo into two halves, what is at the centre? Empty? Like a rumbutan without the seed? I squeezed the water out before putting it into my tank, it became smaller but expanded back to its original size a while after I put it in the tank.

Oh then it is not hollow, i guess its the small air pockets inside..

[kimkeat]

Oh then it is not hollow, i guess its the small air pockets inside..

Thanks Kenneth. Thinking of inserting a fishing float or a piece of styrofoam to make the moss ball stay at mid-water. Has anyone done that before? Will it damage the moss?

[stormhawk]

kimkeat, the shrimp you refer to as "volcanic shrimp" are actually opae ula shrimp, originally from Hawaii. There are other threads in here regarding this small shrimp, which is fairly easy to keep.

The marimo balls take a long time to grow, because in nature they become this round shape due to the movements of the waters in the lakes in which they came from. Local marimo can be a tangled mass of hair algae which the farms may pass off as Marimo. For those that do keep the Marimo and you intend to let them grow faster, set up a small tank with cool water, decent lighting and some water current positioned in a single direction. As long as you keep the balls moving in a circular motion they will slowly grow. You can do the styrofoam ball thing with mosses but not so much with Marimo. I have no idea whether they will react to the styrofoam itself.

[kimkeat]

Thanks stormhawk. Yes, I have been reading about marimo and opae ula here and also other forums and websites.

After some thought, I decided to transfer the 4 opae ula from the bottle to a tank. I have prepared the following:

- one ft tank
- a bag of coral sticks
- lava rock
- hydrometer
- one marimo
- some sea shells
- air pump and sponge filter

When I told my daughter about it, she immediately asked what if they died? Well, I told her that is the risk we (or rather the shrimps) had to take.

I'd like to transfer one shrimp first but it may not be possible. The only way to get the shrimps out is to pour the water out. So, all the 4 shrimps may have to be transferred to the tank together.

Please let me know if you have any advice. Thanks.

[kimkeat]

What is the proper way of cleaning the lava rock and coral sticks? For now, I soak them in tap water.

[kimkeat]

I found a tiny chip at the corner of the 1 ft tank. Although it was not leaking yet but I did not want to take the risk. So, I bought a dophin STK-2001 tank, 23 x 20 x 25 cm. It came with small hanging filter, net and shrimp food. The tank is smaller but should be good enough for four opae ula. I use the hanging filter instead of the sponge filter. It has been cycled for 2 days.

I took some water from the original bottle and used the hydrometer to measure it. The reading was 1.000. So, should I follow this reading or 1.008 to 1.014 as other suggested (from other thread or other forum)? What do you think? Thanks.

[QuintKana]

Have been lurking around AQ for quite a long time as a guest...
Erm erm, seems like very people are keeping Opae Ula..
Even though I have 2 miniature tanks of them for about a year, I can only share with what I know...

Here's what little I know:
1) I assume your new tank's water has been mixed using marine salt and distilled water. You should be getting the water to around PH 8.
2) I usually have my tanks at 1.010 regardless of the buyer's water. I just make sure to acclimate the shrimps before putting them into the new tank.
3) Cycle the tank for about 1 week and if you can, pour some of the original water's bottle into the new tank.
4) The lava rock and coral sticks - I took a toothbrush and scrub them abit, after that I soak them in another container of the premix water that was done for the new tank too. Our tap water has chlorine etc etc and I didn't want to get those into my tanks.
5) I read that their tanks setups don't need filters, especially for miniature tanks (mine is 30x17x20 cm), so I don't have filters for my tanks.

Hope the above helps

Edit: Sorry, I'm assuming that the lava rocks, coral stick and sea shells are bought from lfs and not what was already in the original bottle.

[kimkeat]

Thanks QuintKana.

May I know how many you have in each tank? What is the tank size? Do they breed?

Yes, I have used marine salt for the new tank water. It has been cycled for 3 days. This morning, I transferred some water (less than 5%) from the bottle to the tank and vice versa. Will be doing the same for the next few days. Hope it helps the shrimps get used to the new tank water and promote some bacteria growth in the tank water.

May start the tank water at 1.006 as afraid the shrimps cannot take the sudden change. Will slowly increase it to 1.010.

Yes, will pour most of the bottle water into the tank.

Before putting them in the tank, I soaked the lava rock and coral sticks (bought from lfs) in water for 2 nights with 2 water change, spraying them with shower water. My shower has filter which should have gotten rid of the chlorine.

I just used the small HOB filter which came with the tank. I turned the water flow to minimum.

Again, thanks for your help.

[kimkeat]

Wow, so BIG!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZmbLbDcMeE

[xuan87]

I found a tiny chip at the corner of the 1 ft tank. Although it was not leaking yet but I did not want to take the risk. So, I bought a dophin STK-2001 tank, 23 x 20 x 25 cm. It came with small hanging filter, net and shrimp food. The tank is smaller but should be good enough for four opae ula. I use the hanging filter instead of the sponge filter. It has been cycled for 2 days.

I took some water from the original bottle and used the hydrometer to measure it. The reading was 1.000. So, should I follow this reading or 1.008 to 1.014 as other suggested (from other thread or other forum)? What do you think? Thanks.

Currently I have a tank of opae ula. I used to keep 5 in a ikea vase in my office and while none died, the colors of the shrimps remain white, or slightly red only. I feel bad for the shrimps so I transferred them to a 1 ft by half ft tank and bought 20 more. Now, all of them are bright vivid red .

Inside, I have a lava rock, a sponge filter, some pelia, and a marimo. I fed them one or two piece of shrimps pellet food every two or three days but I seldom look at them. Spend more of my time looking at my 2 ft tank that has RCS and CRS. In the half year that I got them, I think I only changed water once. I just top up with water when the water level is getting low and check the salinity every month. It's ok to let the salinity fluctuate as I read that in their natural habitat, the salinity fluctuate by quite a bit from day to night so I just make sure mine is between 1.008 to 1.012.

So far, I have only had 1 certain death, can't tell if there are more as I don't spend much time looking at them and there are too many hiding places. However, judging by the bright red color now, to the white color that I had, I think their current environment is much better.

[QuintKana]

Haha, funny video!

Well, the thing is, I read that it is not very advisable to keep large/plenty Marimo with Opae Ula (aka Volcanic Shrimp). Due to that while marimo can survive the high PH but not the low salinity. Not sure how true this is, but I only have a small ball of marimo about 2.5cm in diameter in the 2nd tank.


My 1st tank (15x15x15 cm) has 12.
The 2nd tank has 19 of them.
Well... the 1st tank was bought about 1 year ago, I did see a berried mama 2 weeks ago, but she drop her eggs over the first weekend .

The 2nd tank was set-up by myself about 1.5 months ago. Doubtful I'll see berried mama shrimps anytime soon haha. And also breeding chances are higher with 15+ or more shrimps. But the thing is, because they have a much longer lifespan, they breed much much slower then the other bigger types of shrimps...

Haha, when I wanted to put the rocks and etc into the tank, I just rinse and soak them off in distilled water for about 15mins again just in case.

I'm pretty happy that the 2nd tank is coming along quite well

But with your size of tank.. I think you will be playing spot the shrimps! Haha Especially if you have stack the lava rocks into a cave like structure.

[kimkeat]

Currently I have a tank of opae ula. I used to keep 5 in a ikea vase in my office and while none died, the colors of the shrimps remain white, or slightly red only. I feel bad for the shrimps so I transferred them to a 1 ft by half ft tank and bought 20 more. Now, all of them are bright vivid red .

Inside, I have a lava rock, a sponge filter, some pelia, and a marimo. I fed them one or two piece of shrimps pellet food every two or three days but I seldom look at them. Spend more of my time looking at my 2 ft tank that has RCS and CRS. In the half year that I got them, I think I only changed water once. I just top up with water when the water level is getting low and check the salinity every month. It's ok to let the salinity fluctuate as I read that in their natural habitat, the salinity fluctuate by quite a bit from day to night so I just make sure mine is between 1.008 to 1.012.

So far, I have only had 1 certain death, can't tell if there are more as I don't spend much time looking at them and there are too many hiding places. However, judging by the bright red color now, to the white color that I had, I think their current environment is much better.

I bought mine at garden festival last year. I thought I had them for only a few months. After I googled, I found that the festival was in July i.e. it has been 15 months since. I have not been feeding them except the first few weeks. They survived. It fact, they have been active all the time. I hope they can survive the transfer. I plan to buy a few more and hope they can breed in the better environment. May I know where you bought yours? You could email me at [email protected]. Thanks.

[kimkeat]

Haha, funny video!

Well, the thing is, I read that it is not very advisable to keep large/plenty Marimo with Opae Ula (aka Volcanic Shrimp). Due to that while marimo can survive the high PH but not the low salinity. Not sure how true this is, but I only have a small ball of marimo about 2.5cm in diameter in the 2nd tank.


My 1st tank (15x15x15 cm) has 12.
The 2nd tank has 19 of them.
Well... the 1st tank was bought about 1 year ago, I did see a berried mama 2 weeks ago, but she drop her eggs over the first weekend .

The 2nd tank was set-up by myself about 1.5 months ago. Doubtful I'll see berried mama shrimps anytime soon haha. And also breeding chances are higher with 15+ or more shrimps. But the thing is, because they have a much longer lifespan, they breed much much slower then the other bigger types of shrimps...

Haha, when I wanted to put the rocks and etc into the tank, I just rinse and soak them off in distilled water for about 15mins again just in case.

I'm pretty happy that the 2nd tank is coming along quite well

But with your size of tank.. I think you will be playing spot the shrimps! Haha Especially if you have stack the lava rocks into a cave like structure.

Hmm... I thought I read somewhere that marimo grow well in brackish water. Will do more research then.

My new tank has coral sticks and shells at the bottom, one large moss ball and one lava rock. I think it should not be too difficult to spot them.

Also, do you mind telling me where you bought yours? You could email me at [email protected]. Thanks.

[kimkeat]

The new tank has been cycled for 7 days. I exchanges water between the original bottle and the new tank daily.The shrimps are still as active as before. The salinity of the tank water was 1.004 when I measured it this morning. Will increase it to 1.006 before transferring the shrimps over. Want to do it slowly and steadily to minimize the risk.

[kimkeat]

I just read somewhere that I should use marine salt but not aquarium salt which would kill the shrimps. I bought my salt from Polyart at Clementi. It was placed right in front of the counter. Plain plastic bag without any writing on it. I paid between $1 and $2 (forgot the price) for the smallest one. Does anyone know if it is marine salt or aquarium salt? If not, I will have to make a trip there to ask.

Anyway, what is the difference between these two? Thanks.

[oiishi]

Currently i'm using the Red Sea Salts.

[kimkeat]

Currently i'm using the Red Sea Salts.

May I know what you keep in your tank? Opae Ula?

[kimkeat]

Oops, did I just kill my horn snail? I have 4 horn snails in my cherry shrimps thank for about 2 months. I read that they prefer brackish water and can only breed in brackish water. I planned to put one or two of them in the new brackish tank. This morning, I put the smallest one in a bucket with some fresh water from the cherry shrimps tank. Slowly I added some brackish water, scoop by scoop, over the last few hours. Just now I checked and it had turned upside down. I quickly changed the water to fresh water from the cherry shrimps tank. Not sure whether it can be rescued. Is there something wrong with the brackish water? Is there something I must do when transferring horn snail from fresh water to brackish water? Sigh...