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Hi,
I originally had my shrimp in a gallon or 2 jar with a large holey rock and inert sand. I added some calcium stones as well. It received indirect sunlight away from a window. I did not have any algae growth and shrimp all seemed happy.

Recently, I moved them into a 3 gallon tank and have added a light (supposedly good enough for plant growth) and small heater. I'm using the same inert sand from the original tank, seiryu stones, and have added more calcium stones. I also added some Bacter AE to make up for the biofilm lost from the original tank.
I normally will feed them a Hikari crab cuisine pellet every so often. If it's not finished I remove it.

It is now on a bookshelf next to a window. However, I have a few sheer curtains put up to reduce the light. I'm hoping this will help with my chaeto growth but I'm not certain. My salinity is around 1.006. My shrimp are much more active and I saw a moult (which I've never seen before) which I think is a good sign?
They also love sitting on the "shrimp pride rock"

I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to boost the growth of my chaetomorpha. I'd really like my tank to be more green but the chaeto sold on the SuperShrimp website is a little too expensive for me for the amount I got originally. I saw a fertilizer called Chaeto-Gro. Claims to be shrimp safe. Not sure if it would be good for this species or if it'll only work for the marine chaeto.

Sorry if I added too many details. Thanks

Your tank looks great. I would raise up the salinity just a bit to 1.008 to 1.010 but they are still good at 1.006. What's the chaeto or green algae in your tank right now? I would stay away from feeding the Hikari crab cuisine. IMHO . I would suggest a freeze dried spirulina for human consumption instead. There's not filtration and the Hikari is high in protein. I'm sure others will chime in here on this.

Not sure about adding "shrimp safe" fertilizers to the tank. I have considered it and decided better safe than sorry. I don't have chaeto so can't say much more on the subject. I do have the "moss balls" from supershrimp and they used to be a more bright green but are now a more deeper green since my tank went greener. There is even a tiny baby ball that has shown up after 6 months.

Also, you may want to reconsider the food you are feeding your shrimps. Foods marketed for fish often have additives that are maybe best left out of a low maintenance tank. Better to just stick with pure spirulina. I use brand Pure Hawaiian Spirulina powder when I did feed. I have used, a few times, foods marketed for freshwater shrimps by Glas Garten, but I think the spirulina is probably better and easier to control portion with powder. I have not fed my shrimp this year since it has a good green to it.

I would remove the heater. I have read horror stories about small tank heaters failing and would hate for something bad to happen in such a small tank. My shrimp tank drops into upper 60s to low 70s F at night and they are still active when the light comes on in the morning with no ill effect. It is probably more important that the temperature doesn't fluctuate too fast and the change is gradual.

The salinity seems low. I would raise it.

The macroalgae needs a food source, with having a small amount of shrimp you will only be getting a small amount of nutrients to feed the plant from their bioload. I’m not sure about additives really but hopefully some one else can chime in. If all fails you may have to wait for your shrimp population to increase which will increase the food for the plant or buy more shrimp.


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The chaeto I have is the one bought from google.com

Crab cuisine is a food for invertabre. I've seen many people feed it to their cherry shrimps but I guess if it wont work for my opaes I'll add it to my amazon cart

I live in the upper east coast of the u.s. so temps right now are reaching below freezing. Because I have the tank next to a window I figured it likely gets pretty chilly so I put the heater in to be safe. But when it warms up a bit I'll be sure to remove it

I will also raise the salinity a bit. Thank you for all the replies!

We have to use heaters here in the tanks in the United Kingdom for the same reason as your self, the shrimp would die without it.

Take a look at this brand of heater if you get worried about a heater malfunctioning and sticking on or getting too hot etc..


Aquael PLATINUM Heater https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H9BCGGV/

Be sure to get the correct wattage for the size of your tank.. 1 watt for 1 litre of water.

They won’t get stuck on if they malfunction apparently as they don’t have any moving parts to wear out. The food you speak of will be eaten by the shrimp but what they don’t eat will foul the water eventually.




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I will guess that the chaeto you have will die since it's more than likely not for brackish water. If it's a salt water variety it will break up in a week or two and melt away. Judging from your pic that's not one that will survive in brackish waters.

Vorteil wrote:I will guess that the chaeto you have will die since it's more than likely not for brackish water. If it's a salt water variety it will break up in a week or two and melt away. Judging from your pic that's not one that will survive in brackish waters.

I made that mistake when I first started. Vorteil, you should post the different kinds w/pics

I myself have purchased chaeto as well that was meant for SW only to have it break apart in a week or so. I wonder where the one that google has comes from? That's where all mine are from except some weird macro algae that I've come into the last few months.

A seller in the USA sells a Chaetomorpha that does very well indeed in brackish water. I would guess that's what the OP is using.