The Opae ula shrimp Forum and online store

There looks to be a lot of dead plant matter in there and not alot of green algae, have you tested your water parameters recently?

odin wrote:There looks to be a lot of dead plant matter in there and not alot of green algae, have you tested your water parameters recently?

I have tested my ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. First two are zero, nitrates <5.

I think at least some of the brown stuff is live algae because it keeps growing on the glass (you can see some, the blurry brown blotch, in the 3rd photo) as well as well as below the water meniscus, and often there are bubbles on the rocks where it is. However some of it is definitely dead algae and dead chaeto. Some of the chaeto you can see by the edge of the tank at the back of the last photo is still alive but covered in the brown algae.

I am still not sure what happened to the green algae. I assumed that it might be linked to the tank still being in the cycling process or maybe temperature, because it seems to have disappeared around the same time I added the new heater. One major difference between the green and the brown algae is that the brown doesn't seem to grow very well on the vertical faces of the rocks, only the tops of the rocks. It isn't just the shadow, the vertical face of the rock in front has mostly gone to its original black due to lack of algae. However, it is not dislodged when I do water changes (some of the detritus on the bottom is definitely stirred up though).

How strange... the parameters are perfect. Does this tank get a lot of direct sunlight? Usually in new tanks you will get a lot of brown algae but it soon disappears after cycling but i suppose if you don't have snails to remove it then it will linger a lot.

The tank is fairly close to a window but the window is west-facing. I did not get any brown algae when it was cycling, it only showed up more recently. I will try to get another nerite. Is the zebra the easiest to adapt to brackish water?

This pink-red algae has started growing on the rocks. Is it a type of cyanobacteria? Anything to worry about?

I'm not to sure but i have it too in my Alpha tank which I assume appeared because of the abundance of nutrients in the water (i feed the tank pretty heavy) but as you have said your water parameters look good I'm not sure.



What is the rock in your tank made from?

Edit: Forgot to say but i find zebra nerites are pretty good for converting to brackish from fresh.

It is a type of black lava rock. Hard to see the black with all the algae covering it though.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

I will try with another zebra nerite then. Was just a little cautious after the death of the first one.

Halocaridina wrote:It is a type of black lava rock. Hard to see the black with all the algae covering it though.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

I will try with another zebra nerite then. Was just a little cautious after the death of the first one.

I would buy 2 or 3 and put them strait in your tank when they arrive.

Edit: if you are in the UK then buy some from pets at home, they are pretty cheap and you can get them strait home, when they are posted their water gets cold and transportation stresses them out.

Yes, I am in the UK. Will try Pets at Home, there is one relatively close by.

I was worried if I got too many, it would either increase the bioload too much if they all survived or they would need more food than is available in the tank once most of the algae had been cleared out. I do have an empty 10L tank though (Hagen Marina 360), might set it up as a freshwater tank with just plants and snails if the snails end up being too much for the brackish system.

They will ask about your tank when you buy them and they don't seem to understand these are actually brackish snails so if they do ask you about anything you need to say you have a fresh water tank that does have filtration or they wont sell them too you.