[Naz]

Can I add in empty hermit shells into a opea ula jar?
I will be using a 5 litre jar, crushed coral as substrate along with some coral rocks, dried coral and lava rocks.
I have purchased a ceramic small mushroom house as a hide out for them but would prefer to have empty hermit shells as a hide out instead. Would the shells affect the water in any way?
Also, I am waiting for everything to arrive before setting it all up. Will be using bottled water and Seachem's brackish salt. How long should I wait to add in the shrimps?
The supplier told me about a week.
As there will be no algae growing in the new tank, shall I put in some food for them or will they be okay until algae grows?
There will be 10 of them going into a jar just over 5 litres.
If I should add food suggestions on what food to add would be appreciated and any info on how to introduce them to their new jar water before adding them in?
I am so excited, being all new to this i want to make sure I have it all right for them.
Thank you in advance

[opaeforever]

Yes , empty hermit crab shell is fine , just wash it before use . In 20 over yrs in keeping them , I just setup a new tank or jars and straight put them in , no waiting for cycle whatever .
You can feed them sinking tiny shrimps or fish pellets once a week , like 3mm size will do .
If you like to install filter then use these air pump powered sponge filter .

[Naz]

Thank you so much for that advice.
I shall be looking into sponge air pump but have been told the coral in the jar is enough as they do not need a filter?
Without trying to be a pain could you please advice me on what guidelines I should be following for the seachems brackish salt in the attached pictures? I will be placing them in a 5.7 litre jar

[opaeforever]

IMO , seachem brackish salt is not suitable for Opae Ula , is more like an premium version of freshwater aquarium salt , better go with real reef/marine salt ,
I use Redsea Coral Pro salt , just mix 100g of it to make minimum 4L to maximum 5L RO or distilled water .
Use powerhead or air stone to help stir and dissolve the salt until none to very minimum residue remain.
Final resulted water should be clear without any cloudiness.
**Also always put Salt into water and not the other way round.

[Naz]

I asked the supplier about the seachems brackish salt and he told me he has never used this salt before but has used seachems and never had any problems with it.
Reading up in the past about opea ula I thought reef salt is mainly for reefs and not much use fir opea ula and marine salt can be to much, they need something in the middle "brackish"... oh now i am so confused on what to do

[opaeforever]

If you read the description of seachem brackish salt , it state it won’t affect water PH , this mean it not suitable ,
Brackish water is actually half or less salinity of marine water and using marine salt is the way to create real brackish water .

[Naz]

Thank you for explaining this to me. I am surprised the supplier never told me this.
Could you please kindly guide me on how much marine salt to use for a 5.7 litre jar?
I am very new to the opea and clearly have alot more to learn

[opaeforever]

Although your jars is 5.7L water capacity , you won’t you able to house the exact amount of 5.7L as there is substrate(sand, pebbles etc and decoration you may put into the jars , and also the blank space of at least 2-3cm from the brim of the jar if.there is a cover on to provide area for oxygen exchange , so you just make 5L of brackish water by using 100g of marine salt(get these for use in marine/reef tank) and mix it with 5L of reverse osmosis or distilled water .
For me , as my location sell these 9.5L container of reverse osmosis water , I just one shot use 200g marine salt to mix with inside these container to create 9.5L of brackish water . You can keep the excess brackish water for later or emergency use.
The re is many brand of marine salt to choose from ,
Instant Ocean, Tropic Marin, Red Sea, Fauna Marin, Aquaforest etc, for me I use Red Sea as it has almost zero residue .

[Naz]

Thank you once again for helping me out with this.
I was just looking up instant ocean salt to order.
I am afraid here in the uk they do not sell osmosis water so I shall be using bottled spring water instead.
Your guidelines were a big help, much appreciated. Hopefully I can get started in setting this all up. Will have to give you an update once its done and successful, that if I dont need anymore help along the way

[odin]

You can buy RO water from most garden centres that sell fish