advice

[SteveNMegz]

hey guys
we have alot of algae in our 65 gallon tank its been up and runnning with cured live rock and live sand for about 3 or 4 months we have like 6 blue legged hermits 5 or 6 snails 2 pepp shrimp and 1 cleaner shrimp 1 serpant star.... what else eats hair algae and just alage in general

 

[Packersfan21]

Emerald MithraxCrabs would certainly help for 65 gallon about two of them would be the amount to get. Maragarita snails also do a good job.

 

[mokeyz]

Sea hares eat hair algae, but you need to give him to someone or bring him to an LFS after he has done his job or he will likely starve.

 

[Pea-brain]

I've found scarlet reef hermits do an *excellent* job. They are a bit slow and eat coralline but they are very thorough. Urchins are good but will also eat corraline. Most margarita snails come from cold waters and will die within 4 months in a tropical system. Nerites are good glass cleaners and astreas are excellent rock cleaners. Also you'll want some sand stirrers such as ceriths and nass snails.

Dan

 

[LobsterMan]

Some sand sifting crabs do the job for me and a sand sifting sea star.

 

[Pea-brain]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11695154#post11695154 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterMan
Some sand sifting crabs do the job for me and a sand sifting sea star.

By Greenbean36191

Agreed. One is most likely too many. They do such a good job of keeping the sand turned over because they're constantly searching for critters to eat. There are several species of star sold as sand sifters, and most of them don't eat anything you want eaten. Some will feed on detritus when other food is scarce, but it's not something they live off permanently. Others are so general in their carnivory that they have been used as a way to sample the diversity of the bottom. Others are extremely specific in their diets and only eat certain small snails or crustaceans that live in the sand.

In nearly all cases, a 120 is too small to produce enough food to keep even one alive long term. They eat the tiny critters that really make a sandbed work and then they can take up to 18 months to starve after they've exhausted their food, all the while showing no signs of ill-health.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1290068

Dan