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https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping-wiki_algae_bba-black-beard-algae

I said the water matches within 2-3 TDS. I see maybe a few TDS difference between water changes, which I why I said it matches within 2-3. When I feed, I’m feeding less than a TicTac sized piece of food. Anything that isn’t eaten is removed within 1-2 hours.Are you implying that somehow, that is causing Blackbeard algae? I generally regard bottled bacteria as poppycock, as there is no way to know how long that specific bottle has been sitting on the shelf. Are the bacteria even alive?

hi gang, i recently received some neos, ( some given ,some purchased). My tank has been running about 2 months, but my filter and gravel was from previous tank so I didn't really have a cycle in this tank. I normally run co2, but turned it off as i was re-introducing shrimp and a cpo into this tank. I know i have to start the co2 off slowly, but how slowly? Can I bump it up a bubble a day? I honestly can't remember if i had a full 1 point drop in pH before I lost all my shrimp. I lost my shrimp by overdosing excel, not by co2 from the pressurized co2 for plants. Lessoned learned on that front, prevent the bba in the first place. My degassed tank runs at 7.1. Any idea on how long it should take me to transition my shrimp from 7.1 to say 6.4? thanx richard

The pH swing from a CO2 system is not going to be good for shrimps. Stable water parameters are very important for shrimp. But if you need to run CO2, give it as little as you can get away with so you minimise the pH swing.

That's a really good topic for a conversation. Let me go read the links you posted first, before I offer any opinions.

The input water is not supposed to match the output water. Usually the output water will be a several TDS points higher. Earlier you said you feed 3-4 times a week. You could try even less. And remove the food before one hour. The petshrimp.com guy (one of the earlier cherry shrimp breeders in the US) is really big about the dangers of overfeeding shrimp. https://www.petshrimp.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?t=2090 http://www.petshrimp.com/articles/whyshrimpdead.php The main reason for me to to take his advice, besides being for a different species of shrimp, and being very old advice, is that he explains the symptoms of overfeeding and they match what I see very well (in my case) What I would really like to know is how to tell if you are underfeeding shrimp. I know that shrimp can survive for up to a week without eating, i.e. during shipping. Another thing you can try if you really are out of ideas: Dr. Tim's Eco Balance. It is supposed to have "good" bacteria and displace the "bad". I have some, but am hesitant to use it, mainly out of fear of "making changes". There's not too many posts about it on the internet about whether it actually works to fix problems.

I’ve almost completely stopped feeling any Glasgarten foods/additives. I feed so little, it actually worry’s me I’m starving the shrimp. I do 2 water changes weekly, small ones instead of large ones. All foods are placed in a feeding dish, and removed after a few hours if uneaten. Input water always matches water removed( I mix a Salty Shrimp concentrate in the same recipe, and know how much to add per 5 gallons of water I make). It always comes out the same, or within 2-3TDS. PH, GH, and KH always match. I also maintenance dose H202 2 times a week. I honestly don’t know what else to change.

Black Beard Algae is a common problem in aquariums with well-know causes and cures, so I don't think this should be adding too much additional stress to your situation. One of the causes is excess nutrients in the water, and so this suggests that the overall problem might be water pollution from either overfeeding, or bits of food that settled somewhere. I don't say this with a tone of "ah ha, I know exactly what your problem is", but only as a suggestion for how to approach the situation in terms of "doing things that should be good for the tank regardless". With that said, here is what I would do: (My own tank is starting to have problems with inactive shrimp, so I will end up doing some of these things as well) Reduce overall feeding, and try to limit to foods that won't get everywhere and even if it did would not decay. So for example, spinach leaf instead of Shrimp Baby. Maybe increase water change frequency, but be careful to drip it back in slowly. As for your TDS issue, I would only compare input water TDS to tank water TDS. Occasional H2O2 dose (the food grade version, lol)

I’ve been through all but one treatment option. The,”Don’t add oregano oil directly to your tank” disclaimer, in the disease section.... we learned that from this tank. This has been cured once. The problem is, all treatments were used, so we can’t be 100% sure what fixed it. The shrimp that were culled we’re suffering horribly and about to die. I’m not currently at a capacity to start another tank/vessel. Also, we’re talking about multiple shrimp, there are maybe 2-3 that are still visibly infected, but very lightly.