Jump to content

Grow more biofilm / algae, etc


beanbag

Recommended Posts

Hello folks,

I have a Taiwan Bee tank running for several months now, and generally things are ok.  Most of the shrimp are going around and grazing, especially the juvies which are about 6 months old by now.  However, over the last few months, I suspect the tank has something slightly off where there isn't enough biofilm and algae growth, and overall the "bacterial activity" seems kind of low.  The evidence  for this is:

The wad of peacock moss is very branched and growing quickly, so maybe sucking up all the nutrients?  I trimmed it back just 3 weeks ago, but it already grew back.

Nitrates are always stuck at zero.  No fertilizers added.

DHG, MC, and S. Repens are stunted and yellowing.

Driftwood is sparkling clean.

Nothing grows on the HMF sponge, and so shrimp don't graze there

Stuff (algae) doesn't seem to grow on the walls anymore.

IAL don't start breaking down until 3+ months later, despite 10 minute boil.  Shrimp don't graze on it much.

Occasionally the adult shrimp will "take the afternoon off", where it seems they get bored of grazing and just stand around.  But then if I add food they quickly come over.

Current batch of baby shrimp survival rate seems really low.  Maybe because they are starving?

"Dead" things like mulm or dead algae (from a H2O2 treatment) or leaves don't break down and just persist.

 

At the moment, the tank gets about 10 hrs of light per day of "medium" intensity.  I think if I turn up the lights more, I'll start to get hair algae.

Maybe start dosing fertilizer?

Maybe add something like Dr Tim's Eco balance?  (Probiotic bacteria)  A few months ago I tried adding Waste Away (waste-removing bacteria) which immediately killed off a few baby shrimp, so I won't do that anymore.  Uhh, but I guess there's still Seachem Pristine (does the same thing)?

Anyway, the goal is to have a tank that grows visible algae - the kind that shrimp actually eat.  Sort of like what I see in tanks where they have a "wall of algae" full of shrimps grazing, or where shrimps are grazing on the sponge filter.  Also, where the IAL breaks down quickly and shrimp are actually eating away at it.

Feeding schedule for a 5 gal tank with about 15 shrimp: About 2mm worth from a shrimp pellet 3x per week.  about 1 square inch of mulberry or spinach 2x per week.  Dab of Bacter AE, about the size of half a grain rice, 3x per week.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It all sounds similar to what my tanks did at the start, and as they settle algae reduces, BBA disappears, fubgus dusappears etc.

I woildn't use chemicals myself or ferts! I see you are using bacter AE which is good.

I would (did) use a baby shrimp food every other day (it is usually powder) in addition to what you are already feeding, and if the shrimps are that hungry they rush over I would increase the feeding a bit as well maybe. They only usually dash for food if they are hungry and if there is plenty of biofilm they will sometimes even ignore other food in favour of the biofilm. As they graze it will be unlkely you will see algae grow as they probably eat it as quickly as it grows (like sheep in a field)? I can't say I see algae in my tanks either when there are shrimps in the tank? It is a fairly small tank so the amount of area for film to grow is limited and as the population increases yu will need to increase feeding etc!

It is good that you aren't losing any shrimp so I wouldn't change much, as long as you are getting some babies the numbers will soon grow. Everything else looks good to me, so I would just get some baby shrimp food so maybe you will get a better survival rate of the babies and increase adult shrimp feeding a little bit.

Simon

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I am a bit unhappy the baby shrimp survival is bad (this time around).  During the first batch of babies back in February, I would often see them grazing along the walls.  Now I really don't see that anymore, probably due to less stuff growing there.

I agree with your observations of tanks changing with time, although I have never witnessed BBA myself.  But I think those pictures I see of tanks with "wall of algae" and shrimps grazing on the sponge filter are old tanks.

Edited by beanbag
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its summer so No1 question is the temp. High temperature [emoji2410] decrease oxygen and stuns plant growth.
Try some blanched veggies.

Στάλθηκε από το Mi A3 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So i guess temperature is not an issue. Also dry leaves help microorganisms to grow.

Στάλθηκε από το Mi A3 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...