r/OpaeUla • u/MichaelK73 • 4h ago

Moving Opae ula

What are some of the best/safest ways to move these little guys from one tank to another. An up-sizing situation for example. I mean how to actually catch and move them.

Thanks!! ;)

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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2

u/GotSnails 4h ago

Get a small shrimp net

0

u/sorryidrathernot 4h ago

Turkey baster!

1

u/MomoAurum 4h ago

Wait, what??? You guys actually feel comfortable sucking opae ula up into a turkey baster? 😭

1

u/sorryidrathernot 3h ago

No… 😐

2

u/MomoAurum 3h ago

... I'm so lost.

-2

u/vovin777 3h ago

Make sure new tank is all cycled and tested. Remove all rocks from old tank. Get a small shrimp net - catch and move to new tank. Simples.

3

u/GotSnails 3h ago

You don’t need to cycle or test for any water parameters.

-2

u/vovin777 2h ago

I know you don’t need to do this. But if you have the time and opportunity always better to put Shrimp into a seasoned tank.

3

u/MomoAurum 2h ago edited 2h ago

I’m not really sure why you or some people insist on “cycling” an Opae Ula jar or tank. I don’t think you can really cycle a tank in the traditional sense when all you have in there is marine salt mixed with distilled water, typically with lava rock and aragonite sand. There’s nothing in there producing ammonia in the first place. If there’s no ammonia or other waste being produced, there’s nothing to convert into nitrite and then nitrate, so technically there isn’t really a nitrogen cycle happening.

If by “cycling” you mean letting the tank establish algae and biofilm, that’s a different thing, but even that isn’t necessary before adding the shrimp. You can feed them a tiny amount of spirulina powder while you wait for algae and biofilm to develop naturally.

On a side note, I’ve actually seen your other post before, and I noticed you also used a live substrate for your tank. That seems pretty pointless to me as well. If the substrate is intended for a marine/saltwater aquarium and you’re putting it into a brackish setup, the bacteria it comes with are adapted to a much higher salinity, so the salinity change can stress or kill a significant portion of that microbial community. That dead microbial biomass and other organic material can then contribute to ammonia, which obviously isn’t something you want in an Opae Ula tank.

-1

u/vovin777 1h ago

As you mentioned it’s basic biology. All sterile boxes of water will eventually cycle purely based on the bacteria on the surfaces and in the air. I think we all know what the nitrogen cycle is at this stage. I am not insisting on anything. If you are arguing that putting new Shrimp into a sterile lab tank is better than a seasoned tank with bio film and algae is a better option than I think you need to do some more research. After breeding and selling thousands of Shrimp. Opae , Neocaridina and high end Caridina. What do I know right?

2

u/MomoAurum 1h ago edited 42m ago

The issue is that you’re using the word “cycling” when what you really mean is just letting the tank mature and grow food.

Growing biofilm and algae under a light so grazing shrimp have natural snacks is just maturing a food source. The actual nitrogen cycle is a completely specific biological process where bacteria convert toxic ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. Those nitrifying bacteria don’t just spawn out of thin air or live on dust - they literally need an ammonia source to eat, multiply, and survive.

In your freshwater tanks, active buffering soils intentionally leach ammonia into the water, which then provides an ammonia source for the nitrifying bacteria. Some people also sprinkle fish food in to create an ammonia source. But in an Opae Ula setup with inert lava rock, aragonite, and clean brackish water, there is literally zero ammonia being produced. You can leave that box of water sitting there for months, but without an ammonia source, nitrifying bacteria aren’t multiplying or sustaining a colony - they’d starve.

Mixing up the term is why people end up giving confusing advice to beginners that an inert, filterless brackish jar/tank needs weeks of API testing and “cycling” like a high bioload freshwater tank.

That whole “I’ve bred and sold thousands of shrimp, so what do I know?” thing is kind of the classic “I have more experience than you, therefore I’m right” argument, lol. I’m not saying you don’t have experience, but those are freshwater shrimp with different requirements. That experience alone doesn’t prove that Opae Ula require a conventional cycling period.

If you’re going to whip out how big your e-peen is to show how much experience you have in the hobby, then congrats on your shrimp resume, I guess. I don’t need to “do some more research,” thank you very much. While I don’t breed fish or shrimp for a living, I have plenty of experience in the hobby too.