New tank, algae forming, too soon for shrimp?

[MDonnelly]

Hi, I’m 2 weeks in with my first ever tank. 40 gal. breeder, about a dozen plants that are starting to grow a little, Fluval Plant 3.0 light (about 8 hours a day of 60% light), Marineland 275 hob with custom media, medium sponge with air stone, tank temp 78. Not adding any extra ammonia source, feeding with Easy Green and root tabs (have used easy green 3 times, have put in maybe 4 root tabs so far). I’m not testing a lot, because I’m so early in the process and I am following Cory’s advice to just let the tank season a good bit before worrying about much of anything. 
 

I’m getting a fair amount of algae and stuff in the past few days. It started with what I think are diatoms (rusty brown patches on plants and glass) and now I’m seeing green algae on driftwood that’s starting to form hairy threads floating. Not a lot of threads yet. Also a lot of just general crud that looks like sort of like dust on rocks, plants, wood. I’m thinking this is a good sign that the tank is seasoning. 
 

Tested with API kit yesterday: High range pH 8.0 (tap water measures about 7.4) ammonia maybe slightly green but I’d say no more than maybe .25, Nitrite .3, nitrate maybe 2, but not more than that. 
 

My main question is, is it too soon for me to maybe add some shrimp to start cleaning up the algae? I know I’m not ready for fish. But could I risk some shrimp at this point?

[Edsland]

Im pretty sure shrimp are touchier then fish as far as water quality. If your still in cycling I don't think it would be very good for the shrimp. 

[Mmiller2001]

What kind of plants?

[MDonnelly]

Two Amazon swords, 1 Anubias nana (had 2, one died), 2 ozelot swords, 1 bunch iloydiella, 2 bunches ludwigia narrow leaf red, 2 small cryptocoryne undulata, 2 Java fern windelov. Javas are glued to rocks, anubias glued to driftwood. All others planted in fine gravel. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by MDonnelly

[lefty o]

growing algae is a good sign that things are going well , but do not rush putting shrimp in. im a guy who can and has many times had fish in a tank on day 1, but when setting up for shrimp, i wait.

[Mmiller2001]

Thank you, algae is completely normal when starting a new tank. And it will cycle through various types as it matures. 

I would drop the lights to 45% and reduce light period to 7 hours. As the tank progresses, bump the light intensity and photperiod. 

Stay the course otherwise.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[MDonnelly]

Yeah, I was thinking I might lower the lights and cut back the time. I’ll do that and see if it helps. Just in the couple of hours since I posted my question, I can actually see the long green algae threads have grown. It’s happening fast. 

[Jennifer V]

I made the mistake of adding shrimp to a new tank -- 8 weeks old -- to clear up the algae and because I was so excited to have them. They died off one by one over the next couple weeks and it was heartbreaking. I've let my newest tank mature for a year and am now trying shrimp again. That's not to say you should wait that long or even close to that long but the more patient you are, the better the results will be. But I completely understand the excitement you have! Have you thought about adding snails to clear up the algae? 

[MDonnelly]

Yeah, I was thinking some nerite snails. Not as exciting as shrimp, but probably safer at this point! I’ll wait on the shrimp. I’m just itching to get something in there, but I’m being patient. 

[Jennifer V]

On 3/13/2022 at 12:13 PM, MDonnelly said:

Yeah, I was thinking some nerite snails. Not as exciting as shrimp, but probably safer at this point! I’ll wait on the shrimp. I’m just itching to get something in there, but I’m being patient. 

I think being patient is one of the hardest things about the "hobby" but it sounds like you have a great plan. Nerites are really cool! 

[Patrick_G]

In my experience shrimp are pretty sensitive (others have the opposite experience) I wouldn’t add them to an uncycled tank. If you’re seeing nitrite then you know you have some bacteria starting to grow. When both nitrite and ammonia are at zero then add the shrimp. Adding the snails or a few hardy fish will help speed up the process, but might stress both you and the fish if you have a spike in toxins. 

[MDonnelly]

On 3/13/2022 at 1:42 PM, Patrick_G said:

In my experience shrimp are pretty sensitive (others have the opposite experience) I wouldn’t add them to an uncycled tank. If you’re seeing nitrite then you know you have some bacteria starting to grow. When both nitrite and ammonia are at zero then add the shrimp. Adding the snails or a few hardy fish will help speed up the process, but might stress both you and the fish if you have a spike in toxins. 

I don’t want to kill any creatures, if at all possible. I know it happens but I don’t want to rush things and have to chase numbers constantly. That would be stressful.