Blue green algae

[KenCotigirl]

Hello all. I could use some help. Recently I have an infestation of what I believe is blue green algae. I coats everything. It is slimy and gelatinous. Any thoughts?

[Mustafa]

Hello all. I could use some help. Recently I have an infestation of what I believe is blue green algae. I coats everything. It is slimy and gelatinous. Any thoughts?

What color is it? Does it smell? Can you post a picture? There are tons of species of blue-green algae (or more accurately cyanobacteria). Some get eaten by your shrimp, others are mostly inedible to most everything. If it's the stuff that's dark green and forms mats, just detach the mats and remove them manually. Don't feed at all until your problem is under control. Again, for more directed advice a picture of your tank and the cyanobacteria would helpful.

[KenCotigirl]

here is a picture of the 'algae. sorry for quality trying to learn to use new computer.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the picture. If I am not completely mistaken, that stuff should be harmless to your shrimp...it's just a nuisance. Just try to manually remove as much of it as possible. Don't feed at all in the meantime. If you want some help with that stuff, get the brackish snails (to eat the cyanobacteria) and the Supershrimp Macroalga (to compete with the cyanobacteria for nutrients) from the Petshrimp Store. They make sure that it never comes back again once it has been taken care of. The shrimp eat this stuff, too, but they eat so little that they won't make a dent in it anytime soon.

[KenCotigirl]

I manually removed the blue-green algae. I will try your macro algae and snails to keep it under control.

[Mustafa]

The macroalga and snails definitely help, but even without them you should be able to control the cyanobacteria manually until other types of algae outcompete them in a low nutrient environment. I just takes a little longer than with the help of the the macroalga and the snails.

[dan d]

How do you prevent this outbreak in the first place ? I am setting up a new tank & want to prevent an outbreak of cyanobacteria, I would imagine that was some nasty stuff to remove ? My wall tank is thin & hard to get into so I want to try & prevent this.

I understand how the Supershrimp Macroalga would prevent this as it would be absorbing all the nutrients in the tank. With that said, can the supershrimp live off the supershrimp Macroalga or do they need some of this nasty stuff ?

I hope I'm not hijacking the post, hopefully this adds to it. I just want to be able to control outbreaks of that nasty stuff as my wall tank would be difficult to clean up like you did your tank. Cotigirl, please keep us updated on how you control that nasty cyanobacteria !

Dan

[KenCotigirl]

Dan, this is my first experience with this 'algae'. Nothing has been added to the tank for a year. It just came out of nowhere. In their natural habitat they may not have a choice but to nibble on the cyanobacteria since there is often nothing else. But it is definitely not needed in our tanks. The shrimp actually do not eat the living algae but the bacterial film growing on it. They may eat dead algae. As Mustafa said feeding is not needed. I only provide weekly snacks. Giving them one flake about half the size of a dime. My population is over 200. Within minutes the whole population is swimming about looking for the food. If your tank has very little water movement it is fun to watch the shrimp when they sense the snack in the water column. You may sometimes watch them spiral down following the scent trail of the snack. Very cool. They may have eyes but I do not think they really see. Light sensitive yes but not aware of movement or objects. When they swim they almost run into objects and sometimes do. Their antenna seem to provide outside input. They seem well adapted to dark cave environments.

Another note. When I left their environment alone, stop feeding, room temps only, just topping off evaporated water etc. they started to reproduce and haven't stopped for over a year. There is always berried females or floating larvae in the tank.

[dan d]

Very interesting ! I am learning so much about these shrimp & the tank setups, I thought the shrimp would eat the algae, I learned a lot from your post !

[Mustafa]

Just want to clarify a few things. Feeding *is* needed every two weeks or so if you want your shrimp to grow and reproduce over time, and also reach their maximum age. Yes, they can starve for months or even years, but that's not optimal, and that way they will only live short lives...not the 20+ years that they can potentially live. So, feeding small amounts every two weeks is a good idea.

These shrimp actually do eat the living algae. The algae, bacteria, fungi etc. actually grow in interconnected matrices on various surfaces in the aquarium. The shrimp feed on this stuff in between feedings (by their owners). Plus, the surface algae also help eliminate nitrates, phosphates and other organics from the water. That's one of the reasons why you do not need water changes.

Most of the time Cyanobacteria should not be an issue, if you do not overfeed from the get go. At low nutrient levels other types of green algae establish themselves as the dominant algae in the aquarium. Those types of algae can be easily scraped off the front glass (should ideally be left on the back and the sides) and get immediately eaten by the shrimp. Of course, if you start out your tank with the Supershrimp Macroalga and keep nutrient levels relatively low, then the chances of of cyanobacteria establishing themselves are extremely low, as the macroalga is a fast grower and an excellent competitor for nitrates, phosphates etc.. And if you have the brackish snails in the aquarium (in addition to the macroalga) from the beginning, there is pretty much no chance of cyanobacteria occuring, as even the smallest patch will get eaten by the snails.