Question: Using shrimps to get rid of white fungus?

[afmtgn]

Hello,

Some white fungus developed on my axolotls’ tank because of leftover foods I didn’t see. I changed the filter, make a 50% water change, took off the leftover food and cleaned a bit the plants by sweeping the white fungus off their leaves. But, there is still some.

I heard that some shrimp would love to eat the white fungus. Is it true? Do you know which one and, is it safe for the axolotls? I don’t care if they eat the shrimps. I have read that there are also snails that can do the job, but I am afraid the axolotls will try to eat them and have an occlusion because of their shells.

Anyway, both of the axolotls are fine and are not bothered by the white fungus for the moment. But, the white fungus is slowly expanding…

If you have another option for getting rid of white fungus, I am all ears!

 

[AxolotlChris]

If you changed you filter and cleaned items within your tank you may have crashed you nitrogen cycle.

I don't think the white substance is fungus.. this would be affecting your Axolotl. Could you post some images?

There are certain types of shrimp you can keep in your tank, snails are also fine as long as they are not huge.

But first we should establish exactly what is growing within your tank.

 

[AxolotlChris]

Best shrimps are cherry and amano

 

[afmtgn]

Thank you for your answer!

Here is one picture. You can see some on the plant, and it is starting to propagate on the wood on the background. I was thinking that one of the axolotl had fungus on its gills two days ago, but today there is nothing anymore. The axolotls are not behaving differently than before.

It has, in fact, crashed the nitrogen cycle, but I hadn’t any other solution at the moment. I kind of panicked; it is the first time it happened. I am going to do a water change today again. The NO2- and NO3- are way too elevated…

 

[AxolotlChris]

You will need to test your water daily to monitor your cycle from now. Aim to keep your ammonia at 0.25 or lower. Hopefully your cycle will be slightly seeded so won't take too long to establish fully.

Can you post your test results?

The white substance looks like hair algae. So once you've fixed your cycle the cherry shrimp and snails could be a good idea for them to feed on it. Is your tank exposed to a lot of light? If so you could minimize the light exposure.

 

[afmtgn]

If it is just hair algae, it is a relief ! The room is bright (painted all in white, exposed west) but the tank is not receiving a lot of direct light... There is a lot of plants and another tank on the way, near the window. Anyway, I will draw one of the blinds to reduce the luminosity, if it can help.

Today's test results :

Cl2: 0 mg/l
pH: 7.6
KH: 15d
GH: 8d
NO2-: 5 mg/l
NO3-: 100 mg/l

The temperature is 18°C/64°F at the moment (end of the hottest hours of the day).

I can't test ammonia, as I don't have any test kit at the moment. I hope I will find some tomorrow, I am going in a petshop to buy whatever I need to raise shrimps!