New Tank - Diatoms vs. Green Algae

[NYCShrimp]

I have one nerite in each 1-gal aquarium right now, but I feel like one nerite shared between both would have been better. Despite that alarming amount of poo, there is still 0 ammonia, which makes me feel a little better about the establishment of beneficial bacteria.

I'll be freeing my EcoSpherians later today, and placing a supershrimp order tomorrow, if these little pioneers look happy.

Are some of you folks on Instagram? I'd love to see photos of your tanks, if you post them! I'm on there as s2t.

[mcdaney]

I have 3 in my 7 gallon tank and I feel like transferring 1 out haha! But they're ok. Although they do a good job in cleaning my tank walls, the only thing I'm annoyed is that they eat too fast I like the look of bright green algae on the lava rocks, but the snails eat them and they have no chance to grow nice and thick Am I weird for wanting algae to grow?

And hello NYCShrimp! Thanks for the follow! I post only these awesome shrimps, nothing else hehe. #obsessed

[NYCShrimp]

Hi McDaney! Thanks for the warm welcome, and thanks to everyone else, too!

I released my EcoSphere shrimp and they only swam around frantically for about 20 mins before settling down. They seem to be very interested in the snail poo? All 4 of them are now happily hanging out near Lyle's favorite poop spot. They also seem to like poking their heads into cracks between bits of gravel. All in all, they are exploring and eating bits of stuff all over the place.

I'm placing my order with Mustafa after posting this, and here's a (crummy) photo compilation of my original friends in their new home:

[NYCShrimp]

Order submitted!

10 Supershrimp and 1 mossball. I figure I'll have it in there with the Marimo, and if the Marimo ends up looking a little shabby, I'll just switch it over to the the FW tank. The little EcoSpherians do seem to like it.

I feel like:

[Varanus]

Hi McDaney! Thanks for the warm welcome, and thanks to everyone else, too!

I released my EcoSphere shrimp and they only swam around frantically for about 20 mins before settling down. They seem to be very interested in the snail poo? All 4 of them are now happily hanging out near Lyle's favorite poop spot. They also seem to like poking their heads into cracks between bits of gravel. All in all, they are exploring and eating bits of stuff all over the place.

I'm placing my order with Mustafa after posting this, and here's a (crummy) photo compilation of my original friends in their new home:

happyshrimp.JPG

Its possible the poo has some nutrients they want (when a animal makes a lot of waste it often means less of the food it eats gets digested), or has become a bed to grow nutrients they want. Can't say for sure, mine seen to almost constantly dig and scrub at everything but the snail poo (or at least they don't seem to target it on purpose), but my snails are a different species from yours.

[NYCShrimp]

I think the rate at which my nerite is producing waste suggests that it might still have plenty of nutrients in it.

Alternatively, they might just be exploring it because they haven't run into something like it before. Everything is new to them! They're like little Encino Men (dates self).

[NYCShrimp]

10 shrimp + brackish mossball arrived today! I dumped them all into my little tank, since my liberated EcoSpherians were having such a great time in it. Everyone is mostly all up in the lava rocks, and very few are swimming openly (those that are are happily clutching tiny pieces of snail poo). I took some new photos of the whole bunch, but you can barely tell I just added 10! Also of note: Lyle the Nerite has very thoroughly cleaned up the diatom bloom in the tank. I hope more food grows for these little guys soon!

Check it out, folks!

[KenCotigirl]

Thanks for the new pics. Good luck with new shrimp!

Ken

[mcdaney]

Great! Keep updating!

[NYCShrimp]

Will do! They all turned red within a couple hours to the point that I can no longer tell which ones are my OGs.

It's truly amazing how quickly and easily these little guys adapted to their new environment.

So for now, my plan is to do mostly nothing. I might move Lyle back into the FW aquarium for a bit to replenish the algae in the tank. That way, he can much on the zucchini I'll be feeding my red rilis and Pabst, the lone blue.

[NYCShrimp]

Here is a photos of some ladies hanging around chatting about the interior decorating in their new home:

This was taken a few hours after I added them to my tank. You can see how red they got! I only expect them to become even more resplendent within the next few days.

[NYCShrimp]

Sad news: today I noticed a shrimp that appeared to be stuck in the gravel. After some time, it still didn't release itself so I very delicately removed some gravel pieces to allow it to free itself, but it did not. I think it was too weak already. I siphoned it into a quarantine cup, but I'm fairly certain it's dying

Does this mean I need to change out all the gravel? It's regular aquarium gravel. I've noticed the shrimp love squeezing between it looking for food, but I would hate to lose another like this.

[mcdaney]

Oh nooo.... Sorry to hear that hate losing a shrimp. There's another case like yours. They get stuck in between small pebbles.
Perhaps you wanna try black aragonite sand?
I'm not using this brand but it looks like that in the image. I think the gravel size is just nice, not too big, not too fine.

[Varanus]

Be aware that you may want to avoid live sand, since I've read that often it is full of so much decaying organic material that it can pollute the tank. Sand with a decent-sized grain is a good idea though (I like the Tahitian moon sand that was recommended to me here). The shrimp can shift through sand all day safely.

You might even just add sand to the gravel so it fills in the gaps, though that depends on if you like the resulting uneven look or not.

[mcdaney]

Yup avoid live sand. Sorry, I forgot to mention it. The image attached is just an example, ignore the "live sand" part haha. Go for the non-live ones. What I use, the gravel, looks similar to the one shown in the image.
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