I set up a tank in a 5 gallon glass storage jar about a month or so ago. Used salt bought from here, mixed with distilled water in a bucket and then poured into the tank as needed to fill it (didn't quite use all the water). The tank itself has a calcium carbonate sand (rinsed with some extra distilled water), and some large lava rocks I bought from a firepit supplier and washed in tap water then soaked for a few days using some of the leftover distilled/salt water, before rinsing again with the last of the extra distilled water.
Immediately after filling, I added a macro-algae and a "moss ball" both sourced from here.
Now, both "plants" seem to be fine, but nothing else is growing in the tank except some tiny patches of what honestly could very well be dust on the surface. Should I just continue to wait, or is there something I should do? The whole thing looks exactly like it did when I first filled it. My original plan was to add some snails as soon as I saw algae and then follow up with shrimp a week or two later, but there isn't any algae.
Tank is not Growing Algae
Moderator: Mustafa
Re: Tank is not Growing Algae
Using the advice I got in of all the replies (/s), I decided to try adding a little more food to the tank in the hopes that it was simply a lack of resources. This seems to have worked, as there is now a small amount of algae on the bottom. I think I'll try adding some snails, and see how that goes.