Algae Problem

[Linkisnotzelda]

Hi there fellow Axie owners. I’ve had my axolotl, and wild type named Oaki, for about 2 months. He’s probably around 5-6 months old and is five inches long. Recently, I’ve been struggling with a green algae problem, especially on my plants. I’ve been taking it off with a turkey baster, but there’s always more. His tank is a 20 gallon long with a LED light strip for the plants. I believe that the algae is due to the cold and hard water and the lighting, but that’s not something I’m a place to change. Is there another way I can get rid of the algae? Specific plants, cleaning techniques, or algae eaters I could buy? I would like to establish my own shrimp colony at some point, but I’m not sure if he’s big enough to handle the shrimp in the tank? Any ideas on safe algae eaters or good plants would be great! Thank you so much!

 

[WordsOfFate]

How long do you keep the light on for? I really wouldn't recommend keeping it on any longer than 4-6 hours a day since any more than that will definitely cause an algae bloom.

As for safe algae eaters, you really can't keep anything in with axolotls except for shrimp. Any other algae eater can cause a lot of harm to the axolotl so shrimp is the safest option but be prepared for your axolotl to snack on them, I know mine do :lol: I personally recommend ghost shrimp because they're extremely cheap compared to other shrimp but still get the job done. I usually buy mine in bulk (anywhere between 20-40 shrimp) and then just buy more whenever I'm running low but I definitely do recommend you establish your own shrimp colony; it'll definitely save you quite a lot of money.

Also, your lotl should be perfectly fine with shrimp in the tank. I keep them in with my 4-inch axolotl and he's had no issues with them so you should be fine putting them in with your little guy.

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck with your tank!

 

[Linkisnotzelda]

Thanks for responding! I just now found this thread again! I recently bought some ghost shrimp and am quarantining them for a week or so before releasing them into his tank, though only like four survived the journey... lol
Where do you buy your ghost shrimp? I got 10 for 20 dollars, which was one of the cheapest I could find, (granted, I’m a student and usually broke) so I’m open for any suggestions. Thanks so much!