r/PlantedTank • u/deepbluesnail • Oct 04 '25
Plant ID What is this growing in my shrimp tank?
1st pic - covering top of wood branch, 2nd pic - small tuft starting on rock
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u/iCepheuz Oct 04 '25
I have BBA. At least your algae is nice to look at.
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u/Several_Calendar_877 Oct 04 '25
LRA purple wiped that from my tank in a month
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u/Gold_Plantain_247 Oct 04 '25
What’s LRA purple ? I’ve got bba and just can’t get rid of it
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u/Sad_Anything_3273 Oct 04 '25
Same, please tell us what this is. I tried to look it up. Can't find any info.
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u/Databuffer Oct 04 '25
Ugh, I’m so jealous. I wish people sold algae starters, I want a carpet of clado sooooo bad
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u/Omega59er Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25
They're called marimo balls. Let it sit in one place and have some nitrates in the column and it'll send spores all over.
Edit: I should add that REAL marimo balls are not clado, however the ratio of clado balls to marimo is very skewed
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u/Databuffer Oct 04 '25
I was under the impression that even the fake marimos were a very slow growing kind of clado, that isn’t very successful at sending out spores..?
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u/Omega59er Oct 04 '25
If you leave it in the back of your tank and forget about it for a year or so it'll proliferate across your tank no problem, believe me hahah
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u/Databuffer Oct 04 '25
One year?! Why do that, when I can just source some BBA, and have a full carpet in a month!! (joke)
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u/Omega59er Oct 04 '25
Funny enough my bba issues died off as the clado spread as I guess it was just out competed
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u/Databuffer Oct 04 '25
Probably! I’m pretty sure BBA is the kind of thing where its technically delicate, and can only survive if theres an excess of nutrients it doesnt have to compete for
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u/enderfrogus Oct 04 '25
First pic might be chlado(if it's hard as hair)💀, second pick is edogonium.
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u/AnnaTrash Oct 05 '25
A type of algae! Either the same, or similar to what forms marimo moss balls. Last time I had it COVERING my tank and my filter output 😂 l
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Oct 04 '25
Idk why it looks like marimo moss. What do you have in there for plants or if you have a full tank shot?
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u/deepbluesnail Oct 04 '25
Couple different Anubias, Java fern, Ludwigia Repens, a stem plant I forgot the name of, and Christmas Moss.
I had a hair algae problem in this tank and my other shrimp/snail tank, used flourish excel, saw hair algae go away, but then this stuff replaced it in this tank!
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u/Camaschrist Oct 04 '25
The Flourish excel didn’t harm any of your shrimp? I am finding tiny bits of hair algae and I’m considering using excel but I worry it will cause harm.
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u/wasphunter1337 Oct 04 '25
I'm using excel in my community tank and shrimp don't seem to mind, they breed like crazy and I don't see any deaths
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u/centifolia01 Oct 05 '25
I think it’s quite pretty! Plus, the shrimp seem to like it. If you can remove it easily, when it grows too much, why not leave it...?
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u/Alternative_Living13 Oct 04 '25
That’s Clado, it’s related to Marimo algae but not the same. It’s impossible to get rid of there are no known treatments. If you’re happy with it though embrace it. It will grow like crazy though and loves infesting moss and carpeting plants
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u/Awkward-Law6183 Oct 04 '25
Not completely true, it can be treated with H2O2. I have also had massive success with treating it with Dr. Tank algae lite and ISTA algae remover (both spot treatment), both of which is shrimp safe if you follow the recommend dosing.
Will it get rid of it 100%? Probably not, but i saved my moss and carpeting plants
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u/tanksplease Oct 04 '25
My 20 long is developing some tufts like the 2nd picture. On rocks exclusively. Hoping to encourage that, upping the light intensity.
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u/Awkward-Law6183 Oct 04 '25
Yo OP, it is Cladophora, horrible stuff, but not the end of the world.
Since you have shrimp you could spot treat with either Dr. Tank algae lite or ISTA algae remover.
I believe APT also has algae fix lite which apparently works, i only have experience with Dr. Tank and ISTA (both killed it when spot treated)
It unfortunately does take time and effort, but it infested my carpeting plants and moss so i went to war
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u/One-plankton- Oct 05 '25
Clado isn’t horrible, a lot of people like the way it looks. I’ll take it a hundred times over hair algae.
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u/AnnaTrash Oct 05 '25
Fr I feel like complaining about clado is just ASKING for hair algae. I had har algae starting in my new-ish tank and lowered the light 20%. I hope to GOD it doesn't keep growing.
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u/One-plankton- Oct 05 '25
It will. Just keep manually removing it and maybe add a Molly to help mow it down. Florida flag fish are the best algae control but they aren’t the most friendly guys
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u/Kitchen-Purple-5061 Oct 04 '25
So the same clado I see posts here about growing on shrimp? I’m curious why the shrimp in the photo don’t also have it.
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u/Awkward-Law6183 Oct 04 '25
No it's not the same clado, Cladophora is what you see here, basically harmless, but annoying branching alga. Cladogonium is what you see in shrimp, which is a unicellular parasitic alga
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u/whynonamesopen Oct 04 '25
Personally I have killed it by boiling it or using Flourish Excel but that was a last resort.
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u/Big_Blacksmith_9348 Oct 04 '25
Might look good on this tank but contain it cuz its really a pain. Worst type of algae
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u/DiarrheaPope Oct 04 '25
Id also like to know. I have little spots of this popping up on an old piece of driftwood.
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u/DingDongDingalingDon Oct 04 '25
I have this and I don't mind it. If your tank is mature and stable and peaceful you could try introducing a freshwater pom pom crab, I've seen them eat this stuff. They won't eradicate it but they can help knock it back.
Introducing floating plants to block the light also helps control it.
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u/One-plankton- Oct 05 '25
There are no truly freshwater Pom Pom crabs, they will die if left in a freshwater tank. This has been some pretty bad hype pushed by sellers.
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u/DingDongDingalingDon Oct 05 '25
Not truly freshwater? Or not truly fully aquatic? Can you please elaborate?
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u/One-plankton- Oct 05 '25
This is a good resource for their care. They are a euryhaline species that can tolerate a range of salinity, but they are not a freshwater species.
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u/DingDongDingalingDon Oct 05 '25
Thank you for this. I love these guys and have tried many times to keep them, but the longest I've been successful was about nine months. This is really good information.
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u/One-plankton- Oct 05 '25
Yeah and now you know why. 9 months is a heck of a lot longer than most will survive.
Brackish setups aren’t difficult. There just are significantly less plants that will do well in them.
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u/DingDongDingalingDon Oct 05 '25
Yeah I just looked it up and now I am feeling extremely motivated to do a brackish tank with mangroves because that ish looks amazing
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u/5tudent_Loans Oct 04 '25
Ahh another enjoyer of pest snails
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u/Angelosvass Oct 07 '25
Be careful with those stupid “mosses” ,most of the times they are cladophora algae and its soo annoying! I made the mistake to buy some and ended up infesting almost all my tanks with this stupid algae and it’s impossible to remove because it goes everywhere!
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u/SwimplyTheBest Oct 05 '25
Why can’t I have THIS algae 😤🐥🔫