New here and some help needed

**Nique78** · 2nd Feb 2015, 09:26

Hi

This is my first time posting and a quick introduction. I first got into the world of shrimps about a year ago. It started with cherry reds and yamatoes and along the way, through experimentation, reading forums and many dead :/ shrimps, I finally had a stable environment to see shrimps berrying and swimming happily.

I decided to try growing HC grass which I hear is kinda hard to grow. Using the dry start method, I manage to finally grow a small carpet in a 8 gallon tank after patiently waiting for it to grow for 6 mths.

This is where I kinda need some advice. I flooded the tank about a month ago. All was going well when I started noticing a green film of algae on the glass. After which, I had a dreaded attack of BBA. I do regular water changes of about 15% of water per week, restrict light to about 5 hours a day, have started dousing with Flourish excel, iron and trace elements. Besides the HC grass, I have also added some fast growing water fern to compete for nutrients in the water. I haven't really gotten into water testing yet so Im not really sure about water conditions. I use filtered water as my office as a water filter. On top of that, I have added 2 crs shrimps to the mix. (This was before all the algae breakout

)

Any advice to what I should do to keep the algae at bay? Should I be doing anything else?
Thanks in advance!

**Urban Aquaria** · 2nd Feb 2015, 18:19

If your HC are still growing well (not melting), then the algae is probably due to excess light and accumulated organics/nutrients in the water column, since there is no Co2 injection to support faster plant growth. Larger weekly water changes will help flush out the excess nutrients.

2 x CRS wouldn't do much to help eat up the algae (it'll be growing way faster than they can consume). If possible, add more shrimps to help consume the algae. In a 1ft cube/8 gallon tank, 25-30 shrimps would make more of a difference... though without any water parameter tests, there is no indication if the tank is cycled or not, so you'll have to proceed carefully, especially if you are using CRS shrimps.

If you find that the algae issue is really persistent, you could try dosing anti-algae treatments (ie. AlgExit) to help slow down and inhibit the algae growth, that will make it easier for the shrimps to clear away the residual algae.

**Nique78** · 2nd Feb 2015, 18:28

Hi there
If there is no pearling, does that indicate poor growth? I will go down to the local shop to get some test kits. What are some of the parameters to look out for? PH?

**Urban Aquaria** · 2nd Feb 2015, 18:41

Originally Posted by Nique78

Hi there
If there is no pearling, does that indicate poor growth? I will go down to the local shop to get some test kits. What are some of the parameters to look out for? PH?

Pearling is an indication of oxygen saturation in the water, usually from much higher rates of plant photosynthesis activity. The effect is more likely seen in tanks which have Co2 injection and fast growing plants.

Your tank has no Co2 injection so not seeing pearling is normal and expected. Its still okay as long as the plants are healthy and growing well.

As for test kits, the main parameters to test are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. pH is of less concern when checking a tank cycle, but good to test anyways (just to make sure its not at oddly extreme levels).

You can look at getting the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, it includes all those necessary tests.

**Nique78** · 2nd Feb 2015, 21:37

Thanks! I'll get them tomorrow and see how it turns out

I hoping to go low tech and just douse w flourish excel. Will see if adding more shrimps help

**Nique78** · 4th Feb 2015, 12:52

Bought a API 5 in 1 strip test.
GH-0
KH-0
PH-6.5
NO2-0-20
NO3-0-0.5
The strips aren't very exact in their measurements tho. On the positive note, the crs hvnt died yet and one has even moulted. Fingers cross

**Urban Aquaria** · 4th Feb 2015, 16:50

Originally Posted by Nique78

Bought a API 5 in 1 strip test.
GH-0
KH-0
PH-6.5
NO2-0-20
NO3-0-0.5
The strips aren't very exact in their measurements tho. On the positive note, the crs hvnt died yet and one has even moulted. Fingers cross

Yeah, test strips are not so accurate, and somehow most of them don't measure ammonia (NH3) which is supposed to be one of the most important parameters to test. Maybe you can look at getting the chemical-mix test tube kits in the future for better accuracy.

If your current test measurements are correct, then it looks like the tank is still in the process of cycling... algae growth during this time is common due to fluctuating parameters, so you'll just have to do more water changes to reduce the effects of toxic spikes.