Mightyfish
New member
Apart from Kole tang and tomonic tang, are there any other small tang that eats alage and suitable to keep in a 100 gallon tank?
Algae eating tang for 100 gallon tank
- Thread starter Mightyfish
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Stevenliu9
New member
+1, Foxface is the best grazer I have had among all herbivores.
woodnaquanut
Active member
I'd vote for both a tang and a FF. They seem to graze on different areas. My Kole likes flat surfaces and the One spot FF likes to stick his mouth into the crevices.
All tangs are herbivores, though not all if them will necessarily eat all of the algae that you would deem to be pest-worthy. Unfortunately it's a bit of a crap shoot as to whether an individual will, for example, eat GHA. My current display tangs are murder on the stuff, with not a strand to be found. In my frag tank, connected to the same system, my scopas tang is completely useless as an algae eater - despite being generally considered as an excellent choice. Go figure.
brett559
New member
My purple tang devours all kinds of algae. I bought a rock with some cool mushrooms from another reefer. Had a bunch of red hair algae on the rock. Dude I bought it from said the algae had been on the rock for years. Purple tang ate it all in a day. Purple tangs are pricey but awesome fish!
scooter31707
New member
With only a 100 gallon, them 2 tangs or a foxface are your only options, you might be able to get away with a yellow tang.
i have a kole tang in my 75g. i have zero gha. this guy never stops grazing, never! he is constantly picking at the rocks and glass.
funniest thing...i recently watched him at the front of the tank. the sand in front is almost non-existent. i don't like looking at the gunk that forms under the sand so i keep it pushed back in the front. the tang was on his side, kind of moving oddly. i watched him closely as it almost looked like he was flashing on the sand and i was mortified to think i had ich since i have taken every single precaution known to man. turned out he was simply going on his side to be able to reach the algae down low where the front glass meets the bottom glass. whew! LOL
funniest thing...i recently watched him at the front of the tank. the sand in front is almost non-existent. i don't like looking at the gunk that forms under the sand so i keep it pushed back in the front. the tang was on his side, kind of moving oddly. i watched him closely as it almost looked like he was flashing on the sand and i was mortified to think i had ich since i have taken every single precaution known to man. turned out he was simply going on his side to be able to reach the algae down low where the front glass meets the bottom glass. whew! LOL
Bpb
New member
I'll echo others. Some people will put yellow tangs in smaller tanks like that, but they're a little too spastic for my taste in a smaller tank (4 foot). For a 4 foot tank I'd really not look into any tangs other than Tomini or Kole. They're decent algae eaters. But the Foxface will graze circles around the tangs. My onespot foxface is the most spectacular algae eater I could imagine. Relentless and not at all picky. Muches down red turf, cladophora, green hair, bubble algae, you name it. For a 100 gallon though, I would limit your searching to the onespot foxface, as they top out at around 7" or so. All other rabbitfish and foxfaces will get much too large too quickly for your tank. My foxface went from 1" to 6" in less than a year, so be prepared, they do grow very fast.
Mightyfish
New member
Thanks everyone for their input. Since a lot of people recommend foxface can i assume that they are reef safe especially with zoa?
Bpb
New member
Reef safe with caution. Mine has never touched any zoas (aside from grazing amongst colonies). It bit a chunk or two off the palau nepthelia initially but decided leather corals weren't all that tastey so hasnt touched anything since. I've read stories here and there with foxfaces getting a taste for zoas, clams, or acans, but those generally seem to be rare. If kept well enough fed it should be totally safe. Fish like that are herbivores and will usually only develop a taste for coral if they begin to be starved of their primary food source, which is algae.
jpa0741
New member
They are as reef safe as any tang. You will hear the occasional story of one messing with something but no more then hearing stories of a tang doing the same.
scooter31707
New member
I agree with Bpb.. As long as they have algae and a food source they will be ok.
Bpb
New member
Can't help with the venomous fear. Some people consider that a selling point. The brown coloration is what they do when stressed or afraid. A healthy confident onespot foxface should be bold bright yellow and only have the brown camo look if he's about to be in a fight, or trying to defend himself.
Stevenliu9
New member
+1 with the coloration, I the fish must be stressed out from another source or lack of hiding place. Mine only appear like that in the night when they put on their "pajama". Also, the venom is not that bad for human if you ever get stun, can't be worse than lion fish anyways and I've had my fair share of lessons learned with that. it's a heat degenerating venom for rabbitfish just like lion fish so hot water (or in my case, I placed my hand on a Metal halide fixture all night, probably cooked the finger but it sure alleviate the pain)
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