red slime algae

[aqualake]

Have had a 29 gallon tank set up for 6 weeks. I have shrimp and snails in the tank. There is red slime algae growing all over the rocks. The shrimp and snails don't seem to be eating it. Is this something I should worry about? I have checked all my levels and everything seems fine.

[mike.d]

I'm by no means an expert.

How many shrimp and snails you have in the tank? Unless you have 200 in there, they may be eating it, but it's growing back too fast for you to notice. Or maybe they're eating algae from other places in the tank that you can't see?

My personal experience: I have a 10 gallon. I added 60-70 shrimp approximately 4 weeks ago. The tank was set up at least a week (maybe 10 days ???) before I added shrimp. I added them at the first sign of algae growth. The algae still seems to be growing although they are making progress. I don't have any snails. I have not fed the shrimp anything yet.

[aqualake]

Thanks for the input. I think the red algae is clearing up. I had a diatom bloom awhile back. I did nothing and it cleared up on its own. I have alot of copepods. And thats supposed to be a good sign. I read that shrimp and snails won't eat red algae. And its a saltwater algae. My salinity is kind of high for brackish water. 1.014. I'm new at this. The shrimp and snails seem to be doing fine. And I haven't fed them. So I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

[Mustafa]

I did nothing and it cleared up on its own. .... So I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

That's almost always the *best* strategy. Can you upload a picture (or more) of your algae? There are so many common names for all kinds of algae that it's hard to figure out exactly what you're talking about. Either way, though, these shrimp pretty much eat everything that's organic, even if it doesn't look like they're making a dent into anything.

[aqualake]

I googled the algae. And from the images on the internet it looks exactly like cyanobacteria or red slime algae.

[aqualake]

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the pics! Yep, that does look like various species of cyanobacteria. As I said before just leave it alone and don't feed and it should all go away. She shrimp will feed off of it too.

[Keystone]

Is that some Java fern in your tank?

[aqualake]

Yes java fern. But it's not thriving. Salinity is too high. Want to take it out. But the shrimp like it.

[Mustafa]

I hope you took it out. I've said it many times but it's worth repeating: all those "brackish plants", which are all freshwater plants, you keep finding on google die at normal Supershrimp salinities and then pollute your water. That may explain why you have cyanobacteria growing everywhere.