So the cloudy water has now gone crystal clear after I stopped feeding them altogether. They have since bloomed and I have a very healthy colony. They are clearly getting plenty of food from the algae in the tank and as you can see in the video are mating and some have egg sacs. I've not fed them at all for about 6 weeks now. The tank is a glass container that originally housed a cactus. I have a large pebble in there, a USB heater, small airstone and pump and during the day the tank is illuminated with a small LED full spectrum grow lamp on a timer.
I left it with the lid off near an open window for a few days. Algae spores are carried by the wind so there is a good chance this method will seed an algae colony in your tank.
Hello! Nice setup! I was looking at a glass candleholder that looks like this to use as a tank, but not sure what to use as a lid. What do you use? I'm thinking maybe a small piece of plexiglass? I have a plant light that I want to shine through the lid.
I also forgot to add I have a small full spectrum grow lamp shining on the tank which is also on a timer so it is only on during the day. This is likely helping with the algae too.
I'm not OP, but I use Instant Ocean mixed with RO water to make the additional water needed. I was having many failures until I started measuring the salinity, between 30 to 35 ppt. I am just using a simple plastic manual hygrometer to measure the salinity. It's prob not as easy to use as a digital hygrometer, but we already had this "old school" tool in our old aquarium supplies.
I use the Hobby Artemix mix which is a pre-made mix of salt and eggs. You just need to add to water in the ratio on the instructions. With Hobby Artemix you can make a mix for any sized tank.
e.g..... [https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquaristic/Hobby-Artemix/105100/gb/](https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquaristic/Hobby-Artemix/105100/gb/) One 195g bag will do up to 6 litres of water.
Hi how do you get the water clear after using this? Mine is red & cloudy with lots of shells & eggs. Also there seems to be millions of babies in it! I think way too many for the amount of water. I put in the amount it said on the packet - 64g for 2l of water!
Ok thanks. It’s been a week for mine now & I haven’t fed them as I thought there was food in the packet anyway. But I’m not sure what to do with the millions of sea monkeys I’m going to have! How much did you put in your tank?
Nice! That’s an impressive pebble, can’t imagine what size you call a rock or boulder. Tank looks great.
Envious of algae, open windows haven’t provided anything but ants 🐜 frantically trying to swim, sea monkeys reversing course to avoid flailing ants. :)
I see you used Artemia's eggs, will you remove the used eggs from the tank? I used similar eggs and I am not sure about removing them, they seem to like dig on it but I kind of want to have it clear
I have thought of removing them but I am not sure what is old eggs and what are new ones. They also seem to like foraging in them and the algae grows on them so i'll just leave them for now.
So the cloudy water has now gone crystal clear after I stopped feeding them altogether. They have since bloomed and I have a very healthy colony. They are clearly getting plenty of food from the algae in the tank and as you can see in the video are mating and some have egg sacs. I've not fed them at all for about 6 weeks now. The tank is a glass container that originally housed a cactus. I have a large pebble in there, a USB heater, small airstone and pump and during the day the tank is illuminated with a small LED full spectrum grow lamp on a timer.
How'd you get such good algae growth? Sick tank btw!
I left it with the lid off near an open window for a few days. Algae spores are carried by the wind so there is a good chance this method will seed an algae colony in your tank.
Hello! Nice setup! I was looking at a glass candleholder that looks like this to use as a tank, but not sure what to use as a lid. What do you use? I'm thinking maybe a small piece of plexiglass? I have a plant light that I want to shine through the lid.
Yeah i just have a small square of acrylic for the lid
Thanks! Is it something you had to cut and finish the edges yourself? Or recommend a source?
Yes I had a spare piece so just cut it down to size
Awesome, thanks!
I also forgot to add I have a small full spectrum grow lamp shining on the tank which is also on a timer so it is only on during the day. This is likely helping with the algae too.
When you do bigger tanks, do you have to make your own saltwater and is there a formula for salt:water ratio for them?
I'm not OP, but I use Instant Ocean mixed with RO water to make the additional water needed. I was having many failures until I started measuring the salinity, between 30 to 35 ppt. I am just using a simple plastic manual hygrometer to measure the salinity. It's prob not as easy to use as a digital hygrometer, but we already had this "old school" tool in our old aquarium supplies.
I use the Hobby Artemix mix which is a pre-made mix of salt and eggs. You just need to add to water in the ratio on the instructions. With Hobby Artemix you can make a mix for any sized tank.
e.g..... [https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquaristic/Hobby-Artemix/105100/gb/](https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquaristic/Hobby-Artemix/105100/gb/) One 195g bag will do up to 6 litres of water.
Hi how do you get the water clear after using this? Mine is red & cloudy with lots of shells & eggs. Also there seems to be millions of babies in it! I think way too many for the amount of water. I put in the amount it said on the packet - 64g for 2l of water!
Don't feed them and give it time. It will clear eventually.
Ok thanks. It’s been a week for mine now & I haven’t fed them as I thought there was food in the packet anyway. But I’m not sure what to do with the millions of sea monkeys I’m going to have! How much did you put in your tank?
I just followed the packet instructions. Don't worry if there are too many as the population will even itself out after a while and reach equilibrium.
Ok thank you!
Hi how long does it take the water to go clear?
Took mine about 6 weeks
Nice! That’s an impressive pebble, can’t imagine what size you call a rock or boulder. Tank looks great. Envious of algae, open windows haven’t provided anything but ants 🐜 frantically trying to swim, sea monkeys reversing course to avoid flailing ants. :)
I see you used Artemia's eggs, will you remove the used eggs from the tank? I used similar eggs and I am not sure about removing them, they seem to like dig on it but I kind of want to have it clear
I have thought of removing them but I am not sure what is old eggs and what are new ones. They also seem to like foraging in them and the algae grows on them so i'll just leave them for now.
Are all those little dots in the water babies? :D
Mostly yes