Algae crew?

[jazzsaxdude]

Hello. I'm new to keeping SW and I have my 55g ready to go for fish. While I was curing my liverock, I had an explosion of algae growth. The macroalgae I put in my refugium but wat is a recommended crew for the microalgae? You name the type, I have it (green on glass, diatoms, red slime, brown dusty stuff I think I read was cyanobacteria, etc.) What types of snails are good for this stuff and how many do I need. Eventually I will wind up with:

55g w/ 20g refugium
Tide Pool S.O.S overflow
Rio+ 2500 return pump
Skilter 250
2x power sweep 228
Aqua Clear 70 for added flow
200w heater
65 lbs. live rock
4 in. sand

Also, what degree of clean up crew should I need for:
2 sm. Maroon Clown
5 Blue Green Chromis
6-line Wrasse
Court Jester Goby
Algae Blenny

I appreciate any help as I am clueless with inverts.

Thanks,
Brady

 

[ECEKatko]

About how long has it all been set up? Any idea of the levels, esp nitrogen compounds and phosphate? Do you use tap water, RO, DI, distilled, etc? A diatom bloom is often a sign of cycling completion, and a lot of the time people go through an algal succession from diatom -> cyanobacteria -> coralline/macros. Sometimes just having time will cure the problems. Cyanobacteria does well in low flow areas, diatoms do especially well with silicates, but they're all fueled by excess nutrients.

Red slime is cyanobacteria, be careful how you get rid of it. I've heard of several different creatures likes assorted snails and crabs eating it, but they're mostly hit or miss (miss IME). A lot of the commercial remedies are antibacterial, which can wreak havoc with your cycling bacteria.

Several of the snails can help a lot. IME, if you're not planning on a lot of corals, different species of turbos are great. They're pretty clumsy but do a good job, esp with diatoms. Astreas, trochus, and ceriths will do well also with stuff esp on the glass and rock, but astreas can't right themselves if they fall over upside down. Nassarius are great for cleaning up detritus in the sand before it fuels algae growth.

A lot of people like urchins for algae eating. Sometimes they eat coralline, but they often do a good job on nuisance types. They can also be a little clumsy, but often aren't.

If you have a problem with valonia (bubble algae), mithrax/emerald crabs are great for that. The hermits of different species can eat a lot of different types, but they're pretty opportunistic. I've watched a red leg kill snails to get their shells, and a lot of the time they'd rather eat meaty foods than algae if they can. You can tell a little about them by looking at their claws. Some have really short, powerful looking claws, which probably aren't for cutting off algae. The others, like scarlets, generally have longer and thinner claws, probably better for snipping off algae to eat. Hope your blenny can be trained onto other foods, some of them only eat hair algae of different types, so there has to be enough to sustain them. There are a bunch of variables that help algae, and a bunch of ways to combat it.

 

[jazzsaxdude]

Thanks so much for the info. I'm still not sure how many I need. The tank has been up for 3 months. I use tap water and the parameters are: pH 8.3
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrates 0 or undetectable
Calcium 380 ppm
kH 10 dH
Phosphate 0.1 ppm

I'll probably get astreas, trochus, and ceriths. I'm going to steer clear of hermit crabs. I'm pretty sure I have two emerald crabs (though not very green) that hitch hiked on my live rock along with a bigger, magenta legged crab with spines all over it. I guess I have a few pieces of bubble algae so maybe they aren't emerald carbs after all.

 

[drummereef]

Hello fellow Missourian! Algae blooms in new tanks are quite normal. But a cleanup crew is a great tool. In your 55 I would probably get:

10-20 Astrea for hair algae
10-20 Nassarius for diatoms/detritus
10-20 Cerith for diatoms/detritus
1 fighting conch for detritus

Just see how it goes, you can always add more later. In the long run you might want to up your skimmer to something more fitting for a 55. Also think of investing in an RO/DI unit too. More flow and better skimming can go a long way for reducing nuisance algae.

 

[dc]

[welcome]

''astreas, trochus, and ceriths''

My favorite snails. You might want to get rid of the 'emeralds' and any other crabs first. Even the ones people consider safe are not always, and most hitchiker crabs rarely are.

 

[ralphie16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8142283#post8142283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
Hello fellow Missourian! Algae blooms in new tanks are quite normal. But a cleanup crew is a great tool. In your 55 I would probably get:

10-20 Astrea for hair algae
10-20 Nassarius for diatoms/detritus
10-20 Cerith for diatoms/detritus
1 fighting conch for detritus

Just see how it goes, you can always add more later.

Very bad advice this gentlemen is giving you. Do not go anywhere near that number. For a 55 gallon the most you would need would be 10 snails and even that is too much. The problem is they eat all the algae and whatever that sustains them but for such a small tank, the growth rate of alge could not keep up with so many sails as this guy is suggesting.

People, stop suggesting to get 1 snail for every gallon or 1 snail for every two gallons. That number is a complete fabrication by the people who want to sell you the clean up crews.

Please trust me on this. Keep you snails numbers under 10 in that 55 gallon. IMO 4-6 would be even better. You will have a tank that is just as clean but instead of 60 starving snails in a month you will have 4-6 thriving specimens.

 

[ECEKatko]

Definitely good advice to get rid of the crabs, especially the mystery one. Some types of hitchhiker crabs, depending on the rock's origin, can get 12"+. I would not go crazy on Astreas or anything else for hair algae, since you're planning on the blenny. If he's a good blenny, he'll do a large part of the job for you.

Start off with just a couple of each type. You can always add more later, but it's easier to deal with adding more snails than fishing out your 30 dead ones. One advantage ceriths have over others is that they seem to breed pretty easily if conditions are good, which is great if you end up with corals (they'll eat the larvae). Just get a couple of each and see what kind of job they do.

 

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8143945#post8143945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
Very bad advice this gentlemen is giving you. Do not go anywhere near that number. For a 55 gallon the most you would need would be 10 snails and even that is too much. The problem is they eat all the algae and whatever that sustains them but for such a small tank, the growth rate of alge could not keep up with so many sails as this guy is suggesting.

People, stop suggesting to get 1 snail for every gallon or 1 snail for every two gallons. That number is a complete fabrication by the people who want to sell you the clean up crews.

Please trust me on this. Keep you snails numbers under 10 in that 55 gallon. IMO 4-6 would be even better. You will have a tank that is just as clean but instead of 60 starving snails in a month you will have 4-6 thriving specimens.

Just ask MELEV how many snails he would recommend. I think you are little off on this one, honestly. Snails are your best friend. You don't want to over do it of course, but each snail you employ has a purpose. They don't eat the same thing. Variety is key here. :thumbsup: