A story of hair algae and mantis shrimp

g13

g13

Member
Are you sure they were mantis shrimp and not mysis shrimp?
You also got to find out the cause of the hair algae. I also leaned off the 50 lbs of live rock with a toothbrush to get rid of the hair algae. Only to see it return weeks later. Right now about 20% of my rocks are covered in hair algae. Don't know whats causing it. The water I use tests at 0 phosphates, I hardly feed the tank and still it grows slowly but surely. It sucks!!
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
I am not really sure exactly what they are. I thought about taking some pictures of the little guys before I dumped them all but I didn't. They looked alot like some pictures I found of a certain type of mantis shrimp online.
As for the hair algae I attribute it to not having enough snails/hermits, not doing water changes (at all), using tap water to top off, and probably a few more I am forgetting. But your right it could very likely show up again I'm just hoping it won't.
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
After looking at some pictures of mysis shrimp I can rule them out for sure. These things I have walk around on their hind legs and have arm like appendages, a lot like this.
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
Well... you are right.
This is what they were:

Now I feel really stupid...
And lost again.... what they heck are they, are they good or bad, etc ...
Well they were pesky even if they weren't eventually going to grow up and kill all my fish... heh. :nope:
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
Nope, the snails look much different, I'll try and get a picture tomorrow.
What good do the amphipods do?
 
qwiksilver360

qwiksilver360

Member
oh you got lucky on the snails then those are whelks in that pic and they are bad lil dudes they eat other snails
the amphipods eat excess food and waste as well as provide a live food source for some fish and inverts
you probably didnt kill them all (hopefully) they reproduce pretty well in aquariums so they will repopulate soon enough
their are also other pods
like copepods amphipods of course and isopods
most of which are good except for the few bad ones like cirolanid isopods but thats a whole other story
the bad ones arent as common as the good ones
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
Yeah, there are definitely some live ones left and they definitely reproduced quickly in my tank.
I have heard of amphipods and other pods numerous times, but never knew what they looked like.
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
Oh and what about the worms, I'm still interested in what they were. I took the liberty of disposing of those guys as well. They were probably some rare endangered species worth hundreds of dollars with my luck. ugh.:nope:
 
jasontk

jasontk

Member
I assumed it was something of the sort. I don't know anything about them either. But... I have heard of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top