Restarting tank due to major outbreak of green algae

**FishMad** · 6th Jun 2014, 17:20

Hello people! I'm planning to restart my planted tank amd change it into a planted shrimp tank. Would like to ask how to prevent the occurence of algae, I heard that shrimpa are sensitive thus cannot use the algae preventers, and the twinstar is kind of expensive for me so would like to know if there is another way..

**wongwong** · 6th Jun 2014, 17:25

i think your shrimps would be glad to eat up all the algae~

**FishMad** · 6th Jun 2014, 17:42

Okay, but I had a small tank once with cherry reds, and there was long strands of hair algae on the plant and algae on the glass, how to combat that? Thanks! (:

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

**Urban Aquaria** · 6th Jun 2014, 19:59

Check all your plants closely before you add them into the tank... hair algae usually hitchhike in tangled with plants, just a small strand will be enough for it to start multiplying in the tank.

Don't use too much light, do more frequent water changes, plant more fast growing plants, feed less, maintain low bio-load. You can't 100% prevent algae, but you can keep its growth minimal so only need to deal with small amounts of it occasionally.

Green dust and spot algae on the glass is common in all tanks, just have to scrape them off regularly. If you have to scrape every week means probably too much lights and excess nutrients, so reduce accordingly. Shrimps like to graze on it though, so you could just clean the front glass only (for viewing purposes) and leave the sides and back glass covered in the green algae for the shrimps to graze on.

**FishMad** · 6th Jun 2014, 21:35

Okay, so its best if i like quarantine newly bought plants for a while to ensure they are algae free before adding them to my tank?
Thank you for your advice! (:

**Urban Aquaria** · 6th Jun 2014, 21:57

Originally Posted by FishMad

Okay, so its best if i like quarantine newly bought plants for a while to ensure they are algae free before adding them to my tank?
Thank you for your advice! (:

Quarantine of the plants in a separate spare tank will help... it'll give you more time to observe the plants closely and spot any strands of algae or pests attached to them. Just run a small filter and some lights on the tank to maintain the plants.

The benefit of the quarantine period is you can also dose anti-algae or anti-pest treatments without worrying about them affecting the livestock in your main tank.