>>Andrew,
> I always had a
>>black beard type of algae, after removing the shrimp the algae virtually
>>disappeared over night. Coincidence?
>>
>
>What does black beard algae look like?
Black Beard Algae is a very fine short hair algae that grows in tufts.
These tufts tend to break off and spread around the tank. No algae
eater will touch this stuff and about the only way to get rid of it is
mechanical removal and having enough plants to out compete the algae.
I would venture a guess that Andrew got rid of it by lowering the bio
load (plant food) in the tank when he got rid of the shrimp. If it
doesn't have enough food to feed its self it seems to break off rather
quickly.
Cary
Cary Hostrawser
Minnesota Aquarium Society
http://www.mn-aquarium.org/
Rainbowfish Study Group of North America
http://home.earthlink.net/~sbuckel/index.html