Algae eaters?

[jjensen6823]

Hi! I have always had trouble with calcareous (sp?) algae growing on my glass. It's slow growing, but it's a pain in the shorts to scrape off. Furthermore, I was recently trying out the "No Sick Fish" medication on an outbreak of ich in my 150G reef (it's just not practical to try to remove all those fish--I'd have to tear the whole tank down), which required I leave the skimmer off throughout treatment (the medicine didn't work that well, IMO). The skimmer ended up being off almost four weeks, and now I have a hair-algae bloom.

Any suggestions on which snails make the best glass/rock cleaners? I have tried keeping a few snails in the past. The ceriths all died in short order, but the trochus lived quite awhile. Are trochus the best, or something else?

Also, are chestnut cowries among those that are "reef-safe"? Live Aquaria has them, and I was thinking of getting one.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=567

Thanks for the help,

Jim

 

[Sk8r]

Run phosban. That will help immensely. Scarlet hermits are good cleaners. I'm not sure about cowries.