Hello! I'm relatively new to the hobby, but I really enjoy it! I'll tell you a little about our tank situation and see if you can advise the next best step.
After finding a nifty aquarium stand, my mom bought my kids a 10 gal tank last Christmas. I spent an additional $100 or so on equipment and fish.
I didn't know a thing about tank cycling at the time, but we started with 2 Mollies and a (green) cory cat. They lasted about a couple of months before we decided the cory was lonely and puchased another (pepper this time). not long after, both Mollies died suddenly - no strange behavior or signs of ill health.
However, after adding the 2nd cory a strange purple alga started growing rapidly in the tank. We've since added an Albino cory to the mix. He tends to hang out alone and stays busy feeding on the algae. It's so abundant and they all seem to eat on it that i only give them shrimp wafers about once or twice a week after cleaning the tank.
I tried doing some research on this algae, but no images really turned up that looked like what I have. (Purple, feathery looking) In my internet searches on algae I learned about glass shrimp and that they like to snack on it.
They sounded like an interesting addition to our family of bottom feeders, so over the weekend I purchased some small Cryptocoryne Undulata plants (for hiding and such) and 5 glass shrimp from a feeder tank that looked less than happy...
It looks like 4 of the 5 I purchased have died overnight. The kids and husband are pretty disappointed. I expected to lose a few, but that was rapid! I was hoping they would help maintain a balance of algae in the tank and keep things clean. I've considered going with snails, but i've heard they eat plants and can breed like crazy! Should I try shrimp again? Something else?
TL/DR:
I'm good at keeping Corys alive. Would like to add variety to the tank, but epic failed @glass shrimp.
After finding a nifty aquarium stand, my mom bought my kids a 10 gal tank last Christmas. I spent an additional $100 or so on equipment and fish.
I didn't know a thing about tank cycling at the time, but we started with 2 Mollies and a (green) cory cat. They lasted about a couple of months before we decided the cory was lonely and puchased another (pepper this time). not long after, both Mollies died suddenly - no strange behavior or signs of ill health.
However, after adding the 2nd cory a strange purple alga started growing rapidly in the tank. We've since added an Albino cory to the mix. He tends to hang out alone and stays busy feeding on the algae. It's so abundant and they all seem to eat on it that i only give them shrimp wafers about once or twice a week after cleaning the tank.
I tried doing some research on this algae, but no images really turned up that looked like what I have. (Purple, feathery looking) In my internet searches on algae I learned about glass shrimp and that they like to snack on it.
They sounded like an interesting addition to our family of bottom feeders, so over the weekend I purchased some small Cryptocoryne Undulata plants (for hiding and such) and 5 glass shrimp from a feeder tank that looked less than happy...
It looks like 4 of the 5 I purchased have died overnight. The kids and husband are pretty disappointed. I expected to lose a few, but that was rapid! I was hoping they would help maintain a balance of algae in the tank and keep things clean. I've considered going with snails, but i've heard they eat plants and can breed like crazy! Should I try shrimp again? Something else?
TL/DR:
I'm good at keeping Corys alive. Would like to add variety to the tank, but epic failed @glass shrimp.
