# Hikari Algae Wafer (It exploded everywhere help please)



## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

It'll be fine, but next time feed them on a dish, or break it into small pieces, or get some shrimp food. Food made for shrimps doesn't disintegrate like that.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Check the bag to see if it has a warning on it about how long you should wait before you remove it. I find mine very easy to remove with a large syringe (think those meat tenderizer injector things) if there's any leftovers which almost never happens.


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## comet (Jun 10, 2006)

What size tank is it? And do you have good filtration on it? I break my algae wafers in half for smaller tank feedings, and they only get fed three times a week. 
I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you've been overfeeding daily. It sounds like you have enough shrimp in the tank to clean up the mess. And don't feed for a few days now.


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## pwolfe (Mar 2, 2011)

i bought a shot glass, shoved it in the substrate, and put my wafers in there. keeps everything clean and when placed inconspicuously, you can barely see it.


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## MrFusion (May 20, 2011)

Yeah, those wafers do that. Just take some small gauge tubing and squeeze it with your thumb to limit the flow. If you accidentally suck up a baby shrimp, cut off the flow entirely and drain the hose (reverse flow) back into your tank. Gravity will do the work for you. No harm done.


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## Scipio (Feb 18, 2008)

:icon_neut The thing with shrimps is that most have bad table manners.... they will drag of any food they can carry off of a dish. 

I personally would just syphon out the gunky waffer into a pitcher and then scoop any shrimpy back into the tank.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Thanks guys for all the replies.

I removed the big chunks of wafers with a mini syringe meat baster thing (something that came with an Ammonia test kit) [No worries I rinsed it VERY thoroughly lol]

I didn’t bother to suck up the smaller chunks because baby shrimp were all up on it.

They seemed to eat the rest of the small bits now that I woke up in the morning. 

Lesson learned… I'm totally going to break the wafer in 2 or 3 pieces from now on.
Time to remove the mini chunks now, thank you all.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

I break them up into small pieces to feed, because as said, a shrimp always wants to grab a piece and run away with it, so smaller pieces makes it easier for them to run away with a piece. I don't feed many because they do get mushy quick and suck them up after with a turkey baster. Thats if the snails don't swarm it and eat it all first which usually happens. lol.


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## james0816 (Jun 26, 2008)

I don't worry much about it personally. I do break them up in pieces when I feed them and drop them in and walk away. They don't last long enough to impact anything.


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

You might want to try the H20-stable algae wafers from New Life Spectrum. I use these for my Amanos and Cherries, and they seem to like it.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Okay does this sound good?

Break a Hikari Algae Wafer in half.. then break it into mini pieces (4) and put it into the aquarium 1cm apart?

I'm thinking 4 separate pieces is okay? I don't want the Shrimp to fight over it and have some babies not get any food :|


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

yea those circle algea tablets are way TOO big for shrimps... they are meant for BIG plecos. (barely otos). because mine turned into big cloudy white fungus looking after like 4 days in water.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

sayurasem said:


> yea those circle algea tablets are way TOO big for shrimps... they are meant for BIG plecos. (barely otos). because mine turned into big cloudy white fungus looking after like 4 days in water.


You should never leave any food in your tank for 4 days. If its not eaten within a few hours most say to take it out. I usually wait till the next morning and suck up any uneaten food.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

I usually check the food at the 2 hour mark (like it says on the package)

However, if they are still nibbing at it I let them eat it until the morning and take it out lol...

4 days is a bit overkill so yeah.. and white fungus will contribute to water pollution so that isn't good..


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## Dgup (Jul 5, 2011)

As said, use smaller pieces or have some kind of dish for them.

I just give my shrimp 1/4 or 1/3 of a piece and they will finish that off.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

shrimpzhu said:


> I usually check the food at the 2 hour mark (like it says on the package)
> 
> However, if they are still nibbing at it I let them eat it until the morning and take it out lol...
> 
> 4 days is a bit overkill so yeah.. and white fungus will contribute to water pollution so that isn't good..


hehehehe sorry for my noobieness


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Dgup said:


> As said, use smaller pieces or have some kind of dish for them.
> 
> I just give my shrimp 1/4 or 1/3 of a piece and they will finish that off.


I tried using a sushi dish (the one where you put soy sauce in) but I was wondering why they have a hard time reaching the food if you don't cover the deep gap with substrate (as you recommended to do).

What is the science or physics behind it? I'm curious...

I'm undecided of whether I should use the dish or just plop a fraction of the food in... (I think I'm going to just plop the food in but I just want to know why I would have to fill a shot glass or dish with substrate)


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