Algae ID? Ways to remove?

[EVoyager31]

I had set up a cherry shrimp tank to cycle before my shrimp arrive a few weeks ago. I wanted to give it time to cycle. I put in some substrate and java moss as a quick carpeting plant to achieve the look I wanted and from what I read— cherry shrimp love it, and some zebra rock. Everything was good before I left for vacation for a week.

Im thinking my roommate left the light on the whole time.. because when I came back I found the worst algae outbreak I have ever seen in any of my tanksj. Unreal. I tried to simply pull some of it out but it seems to be woven in the moss now. Very chunky and very green.

 

Can someone ID the type and tell me the best way to get rid of it? Should I just leave it and let the shrimp eat it? Will they even eat it? I threw some nerites in to clean the glass and they’ve done great, just not sure what to do about the larger chunky pieces. Shrimp are set to arrive in a few days..

[Tihshho]

If it were me, I'd pull the Java moss that's covered. It won't recover easily and new growth would catch up to what you want. As per what type of algae, I'm not sure off the top of my head, but filamentatious algae can be a bit stubborn to to get rid of. 

[EVoyager31]

On 5/3/2022 at 6:28 PM, Tihshho said:

If it were me, I'd pull the Java moss that's covered. It won't recover easily and new growth would catch up to what you want. As per what type of algae, I'm not sure off the top of my head, but filamentatious algae can be a bit stubborn to to get rid of. 

Ugh, I’d have to pull it all out and wait forever to replace 😖 I bought from a local guy who gave me a sweet deal, but he is out of it now.

[Tihshho]

The other option is to try spot dosing with H2O2 or Excel before anything in terms of fauna is introduced. Can't say for sure it will kill the algae, it may inactivity kill the moss as spot dosing moss is very tricky. 

Before you try dosing or pulling, consider a blackout for a few days. The moss might struggle, but it should help reduce the algae. 

[EVoyager31]

On 5/3/2022 at 6:37 PM, Tihshho said:

The other option is to try spot dosing with H2O2 or Excel before anything in terms of fauna is introduced. Can't say for sure it will kill the algae, it may inactivity kill the moss as spot dosing moss is very tricky. 

Before you try dosing or pulling, consider a blackout for a few days. The moss might struggle, but it should help reduce the algae. 

Yeah, had the light out for a couple days and will continue to keep it out. Thanks!