Very new to crystal red shrimp!

[Vikkiog]

Thing is, the guy who sold me this gave me everything he used for this tank over a two year period and there are no ferts and the lights are the same. Maybe there's less sunlight in the room they are in now?
Are there ferts I should be adding? Are there particular ones that are shrimp safe?

 

[Vermino]

brown algae (aka diatoms) is caused from too much light and/or nitrate. That moss looks like java moss (might be Taiwan or x-mas?) but all those types are low light plants which again browning could mean nutrient deficiency or too much light. Algae could be forming onto the moss and causing this.

I believe your problem is seriously a nutrient deficiency because if the setup has been working for over two years and it's starting now - he could of been dosing to keep up with plant growth.

If there is an imbalance of nutrients, plant growth will come to a halt where algae will seize the opportunity and prevail. I believe it's potassium and phosphorus that you are lacking from the signs of green dust algae.

You can also do a black-out with your lights for a few days (moss doesn't need crazy amount of light to grow) that's why they always grow in shade in nature.

(from left field) you can also check out your temperature, moss doesn't do well in warmer waters

 

[Vikkiog]

Oh thanks vermino, I just assumed it was browning because there wasn't enough light my bad. And I'll look into dosing potassium and phosphorus. Thanks again guys, give me a few months and then ill know what I'm doing

 

[Vikkiog]

Any products you can recommend?

I've got seachems flourish if that would be of any use.

 

[Vikkiog]

P.s: can I get rid of black beard algae without taking the wood out of the tank? It's tied to all the moss :/

 

[Vermino]

hey we are all still learning (i'm no pro like tom barr) just had browning on my moss as well back in the day. This was from transition into new water parameters and over exposure to light (the moss in direct LED light browned while shaded moss were perfectly green).

I suggest a water change (try to get the water as low as you can to the BBA) Q-tip + Excel on it and rub it on all exposed BBA.

Co2 is algae's worst enemy it seems and I used this technique with staghorn before.

 

[aluka]

brown algae (aka diatoms) is caused from too much light and/or nitrate. That moss looks like java moss (might be Taiwan or x-mas?) but all those types are low light plants which again browning could mean nutrient deficiency or too much light. Algae could be forming onto the moss and causing this.

I believe your problem is seriously a nutrient deficiency because if the setup has been working for over two years and it's starting now - he could of been dosing to keep up with plant growth.

If there is an imbalance of nutrients, plant growth will come to a halt where algae will seize the opportunity and prevail. I believe it's potassium and phosphorus that you are lacking from the signs of green dust algae.

You can also do a black-out with your lights for a few days (moss doesn't need crazy amount of light to grow) that's why they always grow in shade in nature.

(from left field) you can also check out your temperature, moss doesn't do well in warmer waters

Actually diatoms are cause by the lack of light not too much. They are common in newly set up aquariums, aquariums with insufficient light, and/or too much nitrate.


Black out will not cure brown algae. Fert and co2 are not common in crs tanksm because they are sensitive and effects of them vary from people to poeple. Some people can dose fert and be fine, some people report the whole colony dying out from half dose of fert.

How was this tank given to you? Did he take all the water out and gave you the tank with a small amount of water and you refilled the tank? Or was it given to you with everything still inside and you moved the tank while it was completely full? Or was the tank taken apart and you put it back together?

 

[aluka]

hey we are all still learning (i'm no pro like tom barr) just had browning on my moss as well back in the day. This was from transition into new water parameters and over exposure to light (the moss in direct LED light browned while shaded moss were perfectly green).

I suggest a water change (try to get the water as low as you can to the BBA) Q-tip + Excel on it and rub it on all exposed BBA.

Co2 is algae's worst enemy it seems and I used this technique with staghorn before.

There has been many reports that excel has killed colonies of CRS shrimps. But there is also reports that they used excel and their colony is fine. Use at your own risk.

Unless you have a expensive co2 set up, do not use co2 in a crs tank. Nothing kills them faster than unstable co2.

 

[Vermino]

wow i actually thought diatoms came from too much light and too much nitrates. That's my bad vikkiog and aluka. (see, still learning haha)

I don't think excel dosing is an issue (yes, i've heard those cases about excel) but also heard people gas-ing their fish with Co2. Too much of anything is a bad thing of course. Also if a concentrate dose of excel came into contact with a shrimp, that could possible kill him. Think of it as we breathe in carbon monoxide but if you put your mouth over an exhaust pipe or go into a mine - the higher concentrations could be potentially fatal. (i don't think it's chemical, it's how the user applied it *sad face*)

here is a snippet of benefits of a sump system for aquarium use:

A sump also gives you a safe place to add your chemicals and supplements. When chemicals are added directly to your tank, they can come in contact with your livestock at levels that could be detrimental to the health of the animals. By adding your chemicals via the sump, you are allowing the chemicals to be mixed thoroughly into the water column before they reach the display. Steps like this can prove beneficial to the long term health of your tanks occupants.

Read more: Understanding Sumps

for fert doing, it kind-of becomes that user application again. here is tom barr talking about EI dosing with crystal red shrimp.

 

[Vikkiog]

How was this tank given to you? Did he take all the water out and gave you the tank with a small amount of water and you refilled the tank? Or was it given to you with everything still inside and you moved the tank while it was completely full? Or was the tank taken apart and you put it back together?

I got the tank with a small amount of water and refilled it with the tank water when it was all set up. I dripped it in slowly and then topped up with ro.

 

[Vikkiog]

Hmm so my options for the bba appear to be excel in the tank which could kill the shrimp or taking out wood and moss. Could I then scrape it off or use excel out of water without it going back into the tank? My only worry about that is everything is attached so I'd be taking everything out, would that harm the shrimplets?
I've moved the lights higher and dripped in a 1/4 dose of flourish so we'll see if that makes a difference

 

[Vikkiog]

Possibly something wrong. The lights been on for a few hours but only 2 or 3 shrimp came out. Surely a 1/4 dose of flourish cant cause any problems?! Testing the water now
Tds 150
Ph 6.6/6.7
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5
Gh 7
Kh 3
Temp is at 25.5
Hopefully it's all good cause I'm going to tackle this bba tomorrow!
Edit: put a bit of blanched cucumber in and they all seem much more active

 

[Vermino]

temp is kind-of high for CRS - you want it around 21-23c. Might be why they didn't come out (shade = cooler temps)

pulling out your hardscape is going to cause alot of havoc. I just did a rescape on my tank and TRUST ME - it's not fun pulling stuff out, cleaning and then resetting it. Your going to probably have fatalities from it (unless your careful), also shrimp don't last very long out of water. So any shrimp in the moss that you pull out have a quick expiration date on their heads now haha.

Has your temps always been around that since you got it? you might want to try just adding a cooling fan for a few days and see how it goes. I know my java moss, flame and taiwan moss hate 78 degree temps which is 25.5c. I don't know if that's the root of your problem but it could potentially help a few factors like your algae growth

 

[Vikkiog]

temp is kind-of high for CRS - you want it around 21-23c. Might be why they didn't come out (shade = cooler temps)

Has your temps always been around that since you got it? you might want to try just adding a cooling fan for a few days and see how it goes. I know my java moss, flame and taiwan moss hate 78 degree temps which is 25.5c. I don't know if that's the root of your problem but it could potentially help a few factors like your algae growth

Oh really... Well I could possibly get a small fan to blow across the surface just have to find one first any other way of cooling down? Considering the room it's in is the coolest in the house so it would have to be a (fairly cheap) long term thing.
I've taken the wood out and treated with h2o2, scraped it, boiled it, let it dry in the sun and put it back as recommended by a friend. Managed to keep all the shrimp in the tank so hopefully no babies in the moss! Didn't make much of a mess so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Vermino]

yeah people usually use cooling fans across the top of the surface.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Thing is, the guy who sold me this gave me everything he used for this tank over a two year period and there are no ferts and the lights are the same. Maybe there's less sunlight in the room they are in now?
Are there ferts I should be adding? Are there particular ones that are shrimp safe?

How old are the bulbs in your lights? If he used them for two years without replacing them, it could be time to replace them.

Actually diatoms are cause by the lack of light not too much. They are common in newly set up aquariums, aquariums with insufficient light, and/or too much nitrate.

Can you explain this statement? Given that diatoms are a type of algae and therefore are photosynthetic, I find this unlikely to say the least. Generally in my experience diatoms are caused by high silica levels, high light, high nutrients levels, and insufficient flow.

 

[Legit Fish]

they survived your tank because those are the b grade crystal reds very low grade compared to s, s+, ss, SS+, SSS which demand much more care lower ph and cleaner water

 

[Legit Fish]

i was talking about rodeo one

 

[Legit Fish]

my crystal reds(ss+ and sss) are in a tank of 69 degrees and a ph of 6 and they breed like crazy. probably because i put a shrimp mineral stone

 

[aluka]

How old are the bulbs in your lights? If he used them for two years without replacing them, it could be time to replace them.



Can you explain this statement? Given that diatoms are a type of algae and therefore are photosynthetic, I find this unlikely to say the least. Generally in my experience diatoms are caused by high silica levels, high light, high nutrients levels, and insufficient flow.

Plants are also photosynthetic, lack of light cause less plant growth. The Diatoms are out competing the plants for nutritents. Thus stunned plants, mass spread of diatoms.

Alglae is caused by nutrient imbalance, which can be caused by all of the things you listed. High light, more plant growth, but not enough co2 and fert? imbalance = algae bloom.

To aviod aglae everything needs to be balanced. too little light = aglae, too much light = algae.