The Tank:
So I've got my Beta tank going now with a small community. It's a 10gal with live plants, my Beta, a school of Neon Tetras and a school of Rasboras.
The Problem:
I had added some ghost shrimp and everyone got along fine. Then I noticed I could not find my ghost shrimp anymore and found the dried up husk of one outside my tank. They are cheap enough that buying more is not the problem, there just aren't any to be had to buy! All my local and even non-local pet stores are out and have been having a very hard time getting any ghost shrimp in. It took almost 3 weeks of searching and phone calls to finally get some and even then the store only got 6.
So, I need a better solution. What other algae eaters would work well in my tank?
I would try Otos. I have heard that you can keep one by itself, but they do better when you have at least three. I just bought three for my 29g, and even though I can't really see any algae yet, they are fat and refusing zuccini...lol, so there must be something good there for them. My tank is pretty heavily planted also. If getting otos means your tank is overstocked, just do more frequent water changes and you should be fine.
I tried putting ghost shrimp in my 29g sorority...I bought 10 really healthy ones and within an hour they were all dead because my girls killed them. The otos are working out much better.
you are fully stocked. shrimp are the only thing that may work. your tank isn't mature enough for otos. the easiest and most expensive way to clear this is by purchasing a uv light. they kill algae and parasites.
I think if you're not having any problems with algae then there is no need to have an algae eater. If it bothers you that much scrape and vacuum it and reduce the light it gets.
I would reccomend more water changes. Plus the tank is either fully stocked or over stocked. I would ugrade to a 20 and get more harliquens. Or get rid of them.
I wouldn't add anything unless you got a bigger tank. Otos like to be in schools as well of at least 3 which would definitely be overstocking it. None of the stores around me have amano shrimps; the only have little ghosties, whom don't eat algae.
Since beneficial bacteria are sticky and adhere to all the surface areas, in the top layer of the substrate and in the filter media-very little are in the water column. A UV light won't hurt your nitrogen cycle since they are designed to destroy things in the water column as they pass through the UV light.
they have a uv hob with surface skimmer made by aquatop. its on the true aqua web site. $50-$59 depending on size. its adjustable too, i think it has 5 step filteration. the uv light has its own switch ,so you can run it for a few hrs not all day. this extends bulb life. from what i understand, you want to run it on low,so it comes into contact with the water longer. pretty soon all hobs will be this way. hopefully.
Is there anything you can do to boost algae growth? I know this is a little off topic but I am curious. I seem to be having a tough time getting a lot of algae in either of my tanks.
not having to deal with parasites is worth the money for me. just that alone not to mention no algae bloom. i will eventually replace all of my filters with these. my buddy/lfs guy has them on all of his tanks. talk about crystal clear. he told me that the guy that started aquatop, used to work for tetra or some big manufacturer. he proposed the uv hob to the company. they passed,and he started aquatop.uv units on their own start at around $80 or so. this has a surface skimmer too. i will be reviewing it in the spring on this site.
shrimps jump the tank when ur water is uninhabitable to them. meaning the params were toxic to them and they decided to suicide(or look for another cleaner body of water) lolol
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