A dedicated forum and online store for the Opae ula shrimp! 

 #194  by odin
 24 Apr 2016 19:45

TDS is an abbreviation for Total Dissolved Solids. You can measure the amount of total dissolved solids using a TDS pen/meter. Shrimp keepers use a TDS meter to check how pure their reverse osmosis or RO/DI water is after it has been filtered. Using a TDS pen/meter can indicate when it is time to replace the filters in your RO or RO/DI system or if you have purchased a bad batch of water from your local fish shop.

Temperature for Opae ula tank purposes, temperature refers to how hot or cold the tank water is. We measure temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) or degrees Celsius (°C). While keeping shrimp it's important to have slow temperature variances. Temperature swings in either direction that are too drastic can be quite stressful for the Opae ula shrimp. An aquarium heater and aquarium chiller are used to keep the tank water within a certain range.

This refers to an electrical device that incorporates an internal clock to turn the devices on/off which it is plugged into. Its highly recommend to use a timer for your aquarium lights.

Turn Over
This refers to the amount of water flow through a filter or the total amount of water movement within the tank. For example, if your filter is rated at 300 GPH and you have a 55 gallon aquarium, your turn over rate is 5.5. This simply means that you "turn over" the tank water 5.5 times per hour.
 #195  by odin
 24 Apr 2016 20:05

UGF is abbreviation for Under Gravel Filter.

Under Gravel Filter
Under gravel filter is an internal aquarium filter that consists of plates that are placed under the substrate with rising corner tubes. Inside these corner tubes are air lines with attached air stones at the bottom. The air lines are attached to an air pump. The rising air bubbles create current that pulls water down through the gravel and up through the corner tubes attached to the under gravel plates. A UGF filter can perform mechanical filtration, biological filtration and chemical filtration.
 #197  by odin
 24 Apr 2016 20:13

Water Change
This refers to the process of removing a percentage of the aquarium water in order to improve water conditions for your shrimp. Unlike a shrimp's natural environment, aquariums are enclosed systems that quickly become polluted with biological substance build-up, dissolved organics and nitrates. A water change is a good way of reducing the number of pollutants in aquarium water. Frequent and small water changes are considered better than infrequent large water changes.

Water Parameters
Water parameters refers to the measurement of various levels in the aquarium. For example, aquariums that have been recently set up need to have their ammonia and nitrite parameters measured frequently in order to monitor the nitrogen cycle. Some other important water parameters that are frequently measured include temperature, pH and nitrate. Measuring water parameters such as these will give the aquarist a general idea of the water quality in the aquarium.