Soothing Shrimp Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 So I noticed something interesting lately. The tanks with hair algae in the moss seemed to have shrimp disappearing, while the ones without hair algae (spiro?) seemed to increase shrimp. All tanks treated the same way. Not sure what that means. Perhaps the hair algae is giving off a toxic chemical or taking too much O2/releasing too much CO2 at night? Regardless, a lot of moss with hair algae went bye bye now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 When I had hair algae, I kept doing water changes and removing all the hair algae I see but it didn't help. Grew back next day. To fix my issue, I checked everything in my tank. So I lifted my tanks and shrimp cave and wow, I was surprised. I saw a lot of waste hiding below the cave and vacuumed it up and no more hair algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted August 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 heh Well, I know better than to kid myself. I don't use co2 and my light is on too long and too strong so I'm bound to keep getting it. Luckily my moss grows like wild fire, so by occasionally removing the plants and adding new ones- it keeps it bearable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicente Mcdonnell Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 Arent algae good for shrimp to eat? Are there types that they do and dont eat? I have my light on 15 hrs to hopefully grow more algae for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 The algae on the glass produces food for them to eat, so they don't eat algae itself. Clado and hair algae is pretty much useless except as a biofilm catcher. And, although I have no proof, I think it has been dangerous in too much quantity for my shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 I think when hair algae grows abnormally, the chemical balance is off in your water. And baby shrimps are less likely to survive. This is also from my experience. Test phosphate if you have the kit.. I'm trying to gather more data to back my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r45t4m4n Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 When I had hair algae I would not see any shrimp out, thought I had lost them all and was ready to dose algae fix. Instead I tried reducing the photoperiod in order to kill the algae, removed all the algae infesed moss and added a SAE. About a week later all the hair algae is gone and shrimp are all over the tank feeding again.....wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicente Mcdonnell Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Check this video of Ellen Wang's tanks. So much algae! She probably keeps it like that to benefit the shrimp in some way... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5VE53qGYmQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Check this video of Ellen Wang's tanks. So much algae! She probably keeps it like that to benefit the shrimp in some way... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5VE53qGYmQ It's different type of algae, not hair algae. shrimp likes it and would clean it up in weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicente Mcdonnell Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Is there somethign special you can do to produce specific type of algae? For example if you dont want hair algae, staghorn or GSA, but want to encourage the same algae shown in the video to grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Is there somethign special you can do to produce specific type of algae? For example if you dont want hair algae, staghorn or GSA, but want to encourage the same algae shown in the video to grow. I never intentionally do that. it would be cleaned by shrimp in weeks any way. I just feed my shrimp with good quality shrimp food. that's it. if you really want to grow specific type of algae, copy her steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.