Opae'ula Hawaiian red shrimp in Biorb tank. Micro lobsters, Halocaridina ruba, Ecosphere

Opae'ula, Hawaiian red shrimp in a 8 gallon Biorb commercial spherical acrylic tank. Shrimp where originally purchased from Ecosphere associates in Arizona and FukuBonsai in Hawaii. They are going on 3 years total that I have had them. Started with approximately 25-30 and now there are at least 60-70. The shrimp have spawned at least 2-3 times that we have noticedl. Also a 6In. Ecosphere that I have unsealed. Both tanks are fed a very small amount of dried Algae shrimp food from FukuBonsai. I do a yearly 50% water change using filtered water and Instant Ocean sea/salt mixture. Use the following parameters when setting up a Opae'ula tank: Temperature 60F 85F, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, PH 8.2 8.4, Specific gravity 1.0125 to 1.015. David Fukumoto is an authority on the life history and care of these little shrimp. He refers to them as Micro-Lobsters on his website. Go to Fukubonsai dot com if you'd like to purchase some. He sells complete tanks and can offer much customer support. Good luck with setting up your own tank of Opae'ula

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Aquarium Shrimp

Aquarium shrimp have a big presence in the aquarium hobby be it saltwater or freshwater. In this article we will deal strictly with marine aquarium shrimp. While most people think of fish when someone mentions aquariums, our little invertebrate friends are also a common feature in such tanks.

While there are thousands of shrimp species that can be found in our oceans, we get only a small portion of the variety in the marine aquarium trade. The people that know this best are the collectors themselves and scuba divers that also happen to love the saltwater aquarium hobby.

There are a vast majority of species still not brought into the hobby regularly. But perhaps that is a good thing simply because there is big demand for aquarium shrimp in the hobby. Perhaps the majority of them should be left alone in their natural habitats instead of see wild stock deplete over time due to the marine aquarium trade.

But less talk about the industry and more talk on aquarium shrimp. There are three species that are by far the most popular and recognizable shrimp in the saltwater hobby. They are the coral banded shrimp (Number one), scarlet cleaner shrimp (number two) and the breathtaking fire shrimp (number three).

All of them are are reasonably priced and do very well in captivity. They are generally hardy and will feed on a variety of foods offered. But most aquarium shrimp tend to do well in captivity as long as the water quality is decent, they are fed well and there is enough calcium in the water to facilitate the molting process.

Other not so common species include the mantis shrimp, pistol shrimp, anemone shrimp, harlequin shrimp and sexy shrimp. Mantis shrimp are kept by true enthusiasts that usually set up a species only aquarium just for them. This is because mantis shrimp are likely to prey on any crustaceans and fish within their aquarium.

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