Tank Help - Fog & Algae

[Kval1015]

Hello!

We've had challenges since we started this tank for a few months now .
I have 20 opae ula shrimp, however over the past few weeks our tank has gotten increasingly foggy and we had some black algae growth. I cut down on the light time and even given the tank a few days without light to help eliminate the black algae. It seems to have done the trick, however now we have a very foggy tank.

In addition, about 10-12 of our shrimp are staying huddled behind the filter together. We have a lot of algae in our tank, and with the shrimp only staying behind the filter algae is continuing to overgrow our tank.

I have read the fog could be called a bacteria bloom and that airstones can help to improve the tank clarity. I am thinking of getting some snails to help with the cleaning of the glass, but previous to getting our shrimp we had snails for about a week and they all died. I'm not sure what could be causing all the issues. Does anyone have experience with airstones? Will the snails help? We have a bunch of macroalgae that we purchased from Mustafa with our first batch of snails, however that is a dark green color and doesn't appear to have grown.

Can someone provide some suggestions of what we can do to help our tank?

[Varanus]

Sounds like you may have way too many nutrients. The snails dying is odd as well. How often have you fed the tank? I wouldn't feed anything until the water clears and a lot of the algae is gone.

Also, excess water movement may be why the shrimp are not out and about more. These shrimp like still water. You could try removing the filter.

[Kval1015]

Thanks so much for your reply!

We haven't fed the shrimp at all and I never added any food during the cycle period either.

We have cats and we keep the filter in as there is a hole in the glass that it blocks but we may try to remove it. We have the tank on a table and the water does move a little bit as my fiance does use this table when he's working on his display cabinet.

Do you suggest getting more snails to help clean up the water? What about an airstone? Any other suggestions about what could be causing it?

[Varanus]

I'm a bit confused what could be causing so much algae and bacteria growth if you haven't fed the tank at all. Others may be able to help more.

Snails are good at cleaning up, but it may be pointless if whatever killed them the first time is still in the water.

As for whether airstones and such could help, my supershrimp tank has never had anything mechanical in it since the shrimp arrived. So I can't really advise there.

[Kval1015]

UPDATE:
Tank is beginning to clear up a bit. We purchased a nerite snail and within 24 hours he has died. I have NO CLUE what could be going on here?!? Our shrimp are alive and active. All the water levels are fine. I'm not sure what could be wrong here!

I also have a clump of the macroalgae from Mustafa but it hasn't grown and is darker in color, some parts of it even appear gray. The shrimp swim near and around it, but I'm not sure what could be wrong with the tank at this point.

Should we do a water change? Is there a way to do this without stressing out our shrimp? We have a lot of algae on the glass, should we look to remove it? Could that be causing the issue?

[Varanus]

Did the nerite come from a brackish water tank? If not then the change in salinity may have just been too much of a shock for it.

Some snails can be confusing when it comes to their reactions to water though. I have two tanks that I cared for much the same way, used the same water for, kept to the same temperature, etc. and at one point I decided to move the population of assassin snails from one tank to the other (wanted to give my rabbit snails a chance to breed without their young getting eaten). All the assassin snails died shortly after the move, and I still have no idea why. Nerites I put in this tank later also died quickly, yet other invertebrates like ghost shrimp have done fine.

[Kval1015]

UPDATE:

FOG HAS COMPLETELY CLEARED UP!!!!
I am still nervous to purchase any more snails but at least the water has cleared up.

[Mustafa]

If the snails are dying there's something in the water that kills them. I'd do a one time 80-90% water change with freshly prepared brackish water (prepared with salt made for reef tanks and RO water). That should solve things. Then leave everything alone. Don't reduce light levels...the excessive algae growth will stop at some point and the shrimp and snails will eat it all up. Obviously somehow excessive nutrients got into your tank...either from the substrate, decoration or the water you used.