It’s questionable for them to claim room lighting is enough for algae growth given all the possible variables in all the rooms people may put their shrimp in…
First—How long have you had them? If it’s been a few weeks, try pulling that cork and leave it open for a few hours. The seal is good for preventing evaporation/maintaining stable salinity, but you do need to open it periodically (every couple/few weeks) for gas exchange. Maybe mark the water level first with a bit of tape so you can top up with RO water when evaporation eventually becomes noticable. Shouldn’t be an issue for several months but mark it now so you know the original water level.
It’s good you added the light. What wattage is the LED? What’s the spectrum? How far is it from the container? How long do you leave it on each day?
Side note… The container wasn’t exposed to direct sunlight by chance, was it? A closed container can heat up quickly beyond the room temp. If it’s in a room you’re not in frequently, make sure it’s not in a spot that catches direct sunlight for part of the day.
Hi, thanks for your response, I've had them for just about a month now. I'll definitely try opening the cork for a bit tomorrow.
No window anywhere near them.
I'm definitely not good with the technical side of lights and stuff, on the thing it says 5v 60mA, hope that answers your question. It's a white LED which I've read is typically full spectrum, it came with a kids terrarium I bought my kids for Christmas, and I had it near the tank for the first time today for about 8-10 hours on, about 5 inches from the tank propped up against a tissue box. Going to keep trying this to see if it grows back unless you or another who knows better advise otherwise
Besides opening the cork tomorrow, the only edit: other thing I can recommend is maybe going ahead and getting some freeze dried spirulina just in case you need to seed the sphere with new algae? It comes in powder and powder-in-capsules, and I recommend the powder. It’s usually a better value, and a whole capsule is FAR more than you’d want to add in.
This is my best judgement based on the info you gave, but there are definitely folks here who know far more than me, so hopefully theyll chime in too (and correct me if I’ve gotten anything wrong!)
Interesting. Do you think I'm safe to wait a day or two to see if the light and uncorking helps any with the current algae situation before jumping on that? Knowing of course shipping may take a few days? Part of the appeal of this setup was that it's idiot proof, which I really could benefit from, aquatics aren't my forte, but I'll make it such if needed to save these little buddies of mine
It’s up to you, but I would go ahead and get it now. My reasoning being, you’ll be ready in case your current efforts don’t result in new growth as soon as you like. It’ll give you a buffer to figure out the conditions that put you back into “idiot proof never have to feed them” territory, ya know?
Plus, it will be good to have on hand for future situations like, say, you upgrade their housing or change the location and notice a stall in algae growth.
When I Google spirulina powder, I see supplements and other stuff, is there a specific type or way to search for this stuff or would anything advertised as such work? And when you say seed, how much would you sprinkle in there and how long does it typically take to start growing?
Yes, the spirulina powder meant as a human supplement is the stuff.
I realize I forgot to ask—do you see your shrimp acting like they’re eating? Like, grabbing stuff and putting it in their mouths? Because biofilm isn’t always totally visible, so even if algae growth has stalled for whatever reason, your sphere may not be barren of food.
If they appear to be eating but you’re still concerned, just add the tiniest bit and keep a watching.
(I’m eyeballing it here and I’m guessing your container is quite small) Like, I’d wash/dry my hands well, then just stick a fingertip into the spirulina powder and only shake a bit off from what stuck to it. Not even all of it.
The algae that grows from it will be more of a green coating on surfaces than the little balls of whatever algae you have in there now, btw.
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u/BlondeRedDead 3d ago
It’s questionable for them to claim room lighting is enough for algae growth given all the possible variables in all the rooms people may put their shrimp in…
First—How long have you had them? If it’s been a few weeks, try pulling that cork and leave it open for a few hours. The seal is good for preventing evaporation/maintaining stable salinity, but you do need to open it periodically (every couple/few weeks) for gas exchange. Maybe mark the water level first with a bit of tape so you can top up with RO water when evaporation eventually becomes noticable. Shouldn’t be an issue for several months but mark it now so you know the original water level.
It’s good you added the light. What wattage is the LED? What’s the spectrum? How far is it from the container? How long do you leave it on each day?
Side note… The container wasn’t exposed to direct sunlight by chance, was it? A closed container can heat up quickly beyond the room temp. If it’s in a room you’re not in frequently, make sure it’s not in a spot that catches direct sunlight for part of the day.