Algea growth but high nitrates

[Whitetyger]

Hi, first time supershrimp owner here. They all survived the trip in the mail to Canada, so I was super stoked to get them. However I haven't put the little guys in the tank yet.

I have had the tank set up for about 4 weeks. There is a layer of algea on everything, as well as a film on the water surface (it's not green but it is covering the whole surface). But when I use a test strip, it still shows that there is nitrites and nitrates in the water. I'm just wondering if I should wait another week and see if it goes down? I've seen on here that algea growth usually means that the water is good, but I'm worried that the nitrates will hurt the shrimp.

If anyone who has done this before could help I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

[Varanus]

How high are the nitrate/nitrite readings? Note too that the test strips are not necessarily accurate, at least compared to the liquid drop tests.

[Whitetyger]

Nitrate looks about 80 and nitrite looks about 4 according to the strips.

[jcfrank922]

Algae growth generally means your tank has cycled. Varanus is correct. Those test strips are not always accurate. I would think it is safe to put your shrimp in their new home.

[mike.d]

I added mine as soon as I saw algae. My tank only sat idle for a week or so. As far as I can tell no shrimp have died, many have molted (maybe 10). I have a strong light on my 10 gallon tank and the algae kept growing even after the shrimp were in. The shrimp are still going strong. For the past week or two they've been peeling the algae off the sides of the tank. They seem happy and have been active.

I didn't test for anything before adding them, but I assume I had a lot of ammonia, nitrates and others. My algae growth was pretty strong and I used rocks from an established freshwater tank.

I'm guessing you can just add them and they'll be fine.

[Mustafa]

Yep, the algae indicator always works. So, how are they doing?

[Whitetyger]

They've been in the tank for about 5 days, they seem to be doing good. They are all looking pink or red, and are already cleaning the algea from their favorite spots!

[Mustafa]

They've been in the tank for about 5 days, they seem to be doing good. They are all looking pink or red, and are already cleaning the algea from their favorite spots!

Awesome! Like I said, the "algae growth indicator" never fails all things being equal (i.e. no environmental toxins found their way into the tank for example).