We are now ready to setup a new volcano shrimp (opae ula) tank.
This is a glass jar from ikea that can hold up to 1800ml of water.
I am using a glass jar from ikea that hold 1800ml of water
Add a little coral sand as a substrate. I like coral sand as it act as an alkaline pH buffer in the water.
Add some coral sand into the glass jar
I like to use lava rock in my tank. It provide a hiding space for the volcano shrimp (opae ula).
There are also trace amount of various elements in these rocks, which are beneficial to the growth of the volcano shrimp (opae ula).
I like lava rock as it provide a hiding space for the volcano shrimp (opae ula)
Remove the acclimation kit but keep the water in the jar.
We are going to use it in the new volcano shrimp tank.
Remove the acclimation kit
Since there are no shrimps in the new tank, you can gently pour the remaining distilled water into the tank.
Pour the distilled water gently into the new tank
The picture on the left is our acclimatize volcano shrimp (opae ula), it comes with old water from the local fish store (LFS).
The picture on the right is our new shrimp tank, with new salt water.
We are going to transferred the volcano shrimp to the new shrimp tank.
You can see that the tank is only half filled, we need more salt water
This is a plastic flour sieve or strainer.
I use it as a net to catch the volcano shrimp and transfer them to the new tank.
I use a flour strainer to catch the volcano shrimp
The advantage of such net is that it will not collapse and trap the volcano shrimp (opae ula).
Do not bring the old water from this container into the new tank.
We leave behind all the old water to prevent any virus, bacteria or contaminants being transferred to the new shrimp tank.
I use a flour sieve as a net to catch the volcano shrimp
To avoid stressing the volcano shrimp, transfer them quickly into the new tank.
Transfer the volcano shrimp quickly into the tank
Leave the net in the tank for a while to release the shrimp.
The volcano shrimp will swim out slowly into its new environment.
Release the volcano shrimp into the new tank
The new tank is only half filled.
We will prepare some more salt water and top it up slowly.
After the volcano shrimp has been transferred, we need to top up more salt water
Let us mix up another litre of salt water.
Empty the remaining distilled water into the measuring jar.
Empty the remaining distilled water into the measuring jar
Add another 15 grams of aquarium sea salt into 1 litre of distilled water.
This make 15ppt (parts per thousand) of salinity.
Take another 15 gram of salt in one litre of distilled water
Stir and dissolve the aquarium sea salt.
Stir and dissolve the aquarium sea salt into the distilled water
This is another drip acclimation setup to adjust the volcano shrimp (opae ula) to the new salt water slowly.
Take as long as possible to acclimate the shrimp to reduce stress and mortality.
You can stop when the tank is 3/4 full.
You need some empty space at top of the tank for air exchange.
I setup another drip acclimation system to adjust the volcano shrimp to the new environment
Here is a picture of my dusty old tank.
It receives indirect sunlight daily and is full of algae.
My old 1.5L volcano shrimp (opae ula) tank
I drilled a small hole on the top cover to allow air exchange.
Over the years, I found out that the gas exchange is very important.
It allow high success in breeding of my volcano shrimp (opae ula) and the survival of its larvae.
The jar is full of algae and the volcano shrimp population are thriving
This is a thriving colony of my 1.5L miniature volcano shrimp (opae ula) tank.
Top close up view of my volcano shrimp (opae ula)