Shrimp sphere adventures

[keving]

Inspired by the beautiful shrimp reactor here previously posted, I decided to create my own. The shrimp have been alive and happy for about a month now, and I'll occasionally update this when interesting events happen.

The current state of the tank:

First signs of algae before adding shrimp. Never thought I would be so happy to see algae.

First molt spotted.

Two shrimp playing king of the moss ball.

A hair algae attached to the moss ball. When the ball produced oxygen it tried to float to the top, but was instead suspended half-way within the tank.

After more than two months I noticed what looks like a small piece of grass starting to grow. No idea what this will turn into, or if I should remove it. I'm wondering if something snuck in with the limestone rocks.

[i<3Opae]

Very interesting - it looks like a grass blade indeed!Let is know how it does

[Kcirrem]

I love how it looks! The "grass blade" looks very interesting; I'd love to know how this turns out. Also, where did you get your sea fans? They look great!

[keving]

Also, where did you get your sea fans? They look great!

The sea fan was shipped from a random amazon seller, which came in the mail from China. I wasn't too happy when I got it because it was fairly uneven, so I ended up cutting it in two which is why the one in the front has kind of a rough edge. Thought about trying to bury it, but overall I'm liking the way it turned out.

[Super Jess]

Your sphere is beautiful! What did the grass blade turn out to be?

[ThisGuy]

Sphere looks great! I also wonder what the ‟grass‟ blade ends up being.

[ThisGuy]

How did you get the sea fans into the bowl

[keving]

Your sphere is beautiful! What did the grass blade turn out to be?

It turned out to be a small piece of grass. It just grew to be a little bit bigger, then unfortunately (or fortunately) uprooted and floated at the surface. Unfortunately nothing very exciting.

How did you get the sea fans into the bowl

They can compact pretty easily when wet, and also look a bit bigger due to the magnification of the sphere.

[keving]

Hair algae outbreak! It's starting to grow everywhere, all over the sea fan, on the gravel, everywhere. I can occasionally pull small strands out, but the stuff on the sea fan is tightly secured. Not sure what to do, maybe give it a trim with scissors? Hoping that the moss ball can out-compete them in the long run, but no reproduction of the moss ball yet.

[ThisGuy]

Marco algae can't compete agianst hair algae but I'm not sure about moss balls.

[Malikta]

Marco algae can't compete agianst hair algae but I'm not sure about moss balls.

I've read in a few places on this board that hair algae is bad. Can anyone explain why? (I'm learning)

Also, how can you tell the difference between hair algae and macroalgae? TIA

[Super Jess]

Hair algae is bad because it's so fine and tangly that the shrimp can get really stuck in it. It attaches itself incredibly firmly to surfaces and outcompetes the macroalgae for nutrients. You can tell the difference by giving it a tug--hair algae will not budge, but the macroalgae is free-floating and can be easily relocated.

[Malikta]

Hair algae is bad because it's so fine and tangly that the shrimp can get really stuck in it. It attaches itself incredibly firmly to surfaces and outcompetes the macroalgae for nutrients. You can tell the difference by giving it a tug--hair algae will not budge, but the macroalgae is free-floating and can be easily relocated.

Thank you Super Jess. I'm learning so much

[Mustafa]

As I've said elsewhere (and mentioning here so that newcomers aren't confused if they haven't read the other threads) hair algae can be free growing too and form clumps just like the Supershrimp macroalgae. However, they become so dense that adult shrimp and larvae get stuck in it and can't get back out...and eventually die. They'll also die when you thin out or get rid of your hair algae clump and shrimp are still stuck in it (and there always are some). Same applies to snails.

[Super Jess]

Thanks, Mustafa. I'm always learning something new! At least the free-floating stuff will be easy to remove