[Priscilla]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to shrimp keeping and this forum and I have some questions.
I've had my opae ula for about 3 months now and I'm trying to get them to breed.

1. I'm having difficulty bringing up the pH level, its kinda stuck at 7.8

2. I saw a shrimp with a green saddle (I think) but none berried yet, could there be something wrong with the tank?

3. Can I add these glow in the dark stars in the tank? Will it pollute the water or ruin its parameters?

4. How much should I feed them? I have 16 shrimps in a 2.8litres tank. I usually give them two 3mm length pellets because if I add one, they would fight.

I have so many questions but when I'm typing these out, some questions disappear

[Ann]

Hi, Priscilla,
Nice to meet you. I haven't even started my tank yet, but Odin is wonderful at answering questions. I've asked about 101 and will probably ask 101 more. Welcome to the Forum. Hope to see you often.
Ann

[Priscilla]

Hi Ann! Nice to meet you too!
Oh okay! I hope I'll get to meet Odin too 😌
I'm glad I found this forum, it feels nice and friendly!

[Ann]

You will fit right in.I'm sure that Odin will be on soon.
Ann

[odin]

Hey @Priscilla ! Welcome to our Opae ula forum. You have some interesting shrimp there (the white ones with a green saddle) are pretty rare. There are really only a few things that you need to get these guys breeding.

• - Sexual maturity
  - Males and females.
  - Enough free tank space.
  - Good food.
  - Healthy water parameters.
  - Stable water parameters/temperature.
  - No disturbances.

There is nothing wrong with the white shrimp so don't worry! would not add the plastic stars, its always best to keep items out of the tank which you are unsure about (its not worth the risk!). Do you have a photo of your overall tank so we can see what you are working with? It will usually take around a year or just under to reach sexual maturity and really get them to start breeding so you will just have to be more patient .

With regards your PH, you will need some limestone, cuttlefish, ocean rock, coral skeleton or crushed coral in your tank to get the waters PH nice and high (8.0 - 8.4), this will keep the level up too.

If you have any more questions just ask away! I'm far from an expert but I have gotten mine breeding
Good luck!

[opae ula related]

Welcome Priscilla.
" I usually give them two 3mm length pellets because if I add one, they would fight." -- If you think it is too much food, you can always use a razor blade to cut one in half so you have 2 pieces so they won't fight.

Yeah, like Odin said a photo would help to see if you have hiding places, etc.

[Priscilla]

Hello Odin! Nice to met you and thank you (and Ann) so much for your replies!

I actually got my current 16 shrimps on 3 different occasions:

- Given 5 on 7th July.
- A month later 1 was given.
- Few weeks later I decided to buy another 4.
- Few days ago, my partner bought 6 for me.

I'm hoping I have both genders of the shrimps in there

I also just upgraded and completed cycling their 3l (water filled to 2.8l) tank on the 5th Oct.
Do you think that's enough tank space?

For food, I feed them Tropical's Crusta Sticks and bee pollen! They go crazy over it.
I have other varieties for them in case they get bored of eating the same food every time
How often should I feed them?

For the water parameters, ammonia, nitrite is a 0, nitrate about <5ppm. Everything else is normal except for the 7.8 pH.
Is this considered okay?

Water temperatures are usually 24 to 28 degree celsius.
Because I'm from Singapore, day time would usually go up to 28 and night would be 24 as I would turn on the aircon.

So far I guess the only disturbance they are getting from me is when I top up their water loss due to evaporation every morning.

As for the cuttlebone, can I crush it into powder form and add it into the tank?

[Priscilla]

Hello opae ula related!

I'll try that!
When I see them fight or push each other, it makes me feel like I'm not feeding them enough
I've attached photos of the tank set up in the above reply!

[Ann]

I love your tank, Priscilla … It's very pretty. You're from Singapore! Great! I'm from America and we're both on a UK based forum. This will be a great opportunity for a wonderful exchange of ideas methods.
Ann

[Priscilla]

Aww thank you Ann

Yeah! Its really nice to be able to make friends and exchange advises/tips from all over the world!
I hope for more people from all around to join this forum, then it'll be like a little opae family here!