Tank cleaning?

[shrimpnoobie]

Hi,

I have a tank that is almost three years old with 4 shrimp that were freed from an ecosphere. The tank has a lava rock, the algae that mustafa sells, sand, and an eggshell for calcium. Oh I also bought ten snails from mustafa that have since made dozens of babies. I have never cleaned, or done a water swap, I have fed the shrimps less than a handful of times. The tank is two gallons so plenty of space for my four shrimps.

So now it has been almost three years and the tank is starting to look mildly green. The water is fine but the eggshell is covered in algae. The walls of my tank that the water is not covering develop a green/black algae. The algae I got from mustafa has separated into one half that is lighter colored and looks finer, and the other half looks the like the original texture and color of when I bought it.

Do I need to consider some kind of cleaning/water swap soon? Should I take out the algae with the stringy texture?

I am sooo hesistant as I have grown very fond of my shrimpies, do not want anything to happen to them. I recently had to spot clean because I got a bunch of dead ants in the tank. One time also I had a suuuper weird worm infestation. I just had to pick them all out. They did not harm my shrimp.

Thank you!! I read through the similar cleaning posts but could not find the info I wanted.

[attygirl]

Hello - the black algae does not sound good and I would remove it. However, it would be easier to comment if we saw a photo.

[JennyPenny]

As long as your tank is growing algae, there is no need to feed the shrimp. They will eat the algae in the tank. If the algae is making it hard to see the shrimp, maybe just clean the front glass and leave the rest. If you have excess algae growth, try to reduce the amount of light the tank gets. Stopping the feedings will also help reduce algae.
I have to agree with attygirl, pictures would be helpful.
It is possible your chaeto is turning lighter green due to excess light. Mine is very light green. I did have a problem with hair algae growing in my macroalgae several years ago and I even made a youtube video about cleaning it out of my tank.

[shrimpnoobie]

Okay, I will post some pics when I get a chance... I do not think that light green algae is hair algae, but I would appreciate a link to your youtube video should I ever need it. I do live in florida so the tank gets a lot of natural light. I forgot to mention, my source of calcium is an eggshell. It has grown some algae and the shrimp do not mind it. Do you guys think I should replace the eggshell at some point? Thanks

[Nellyville41]

If it’s consistently year round, I wouldn’t get a heater. My 3 gal I have a small heater. My house gets to the low 50s during the winter.

[Dch48]

Low 50's? Wow, I have to keep the house at 68 at least and even then, I'm wearing a sweatshirt and sweater. In the 50's I'd never get out of bed.

[shrimpnoobie]

If it’s consistently year round, I wouldn’t get a heater. My 3 gal I have a small heater. My house gets to the low 50s during the winter.

Hey!! Thank you for the reply but i didn’t mention temp, maybe you replied to the wrong one or misread it. i was worried about my super old eggshell. thanks either way and maybe you know what i should do about my egg, haha

[JennyPenny]

Okay, I will post some pics when I get a chance... I do not think that light green algae is hair algae, but I would appreciate a link to your youtube video should I ever need it. I do live in florida so the tank gets a lot of natural light. I forgot to mention, my source of calcium is an eggshell. It has grown some algae and the shrimp do not mind it. Do you guys think I should replace the eggshell at some point? Thanks

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDJAvBXHa ... e=youtu.be This video is kind of old, please don’t judge me!