Algea eater recommendations please

reefgoddess808

New member
I have a 56 gal FOWLR, with plans to add corals eventually. I have 40lbs sand and about 10-15lbs LR and plan on getting one or maybe two more pieces. I am looking for a small size algea eater for my tank. I have an ocellaris clown, coral beauty and a small toby puffer. Mexican turbos and a small hermit crab as well. I will be getting a few nassaris snails soon.
Looking for something peacefull and I understand that no matter what I get I will need to supplement its diet. I already have an arsonal of herbivore foods ready to go!
Any ideas or suggestions will be much appreciated!
 
Get a CUC from reefcleaners.

Yup. After my tank cycled I had bouts with green hair algae. Tried a sea hare, tried phosban reactor, was buying more snails every weekend.....seen reefcleaners banner on RC and it was the best money I have ever spent. Tank has been clean ever since.
 
I had a large algae clean up crew from reefcleaners for the past 2 years. They were decent cleaners. Just recently I tried out some Banded Trochus snails and they are IMO the best cleaners I've come across. There are many reasons why I consider them the best all around cleaners compared to other snails.

1. They have a shell twisting jerk action that can repel hermit crabs.
2. Large appetites so they are cleaning day and night.
3. They are very agile which allows them to navigate and clean all surfaces in your aquarium. They can also upright themselves if they get flipped upside down.
4. They can breed in your aquarium.
5. They don't wander out of your tank like the Nerites

I would say the only negatives to the Trochus snail is that they don't stir your sandbed up like the florida ceriths. I would also start out slow with the amount of Trochus snails as I'm now in the situation where there's no more algae in my tank and I'm having to feed them myself.

EDIT: Actually I just saw that you said you had a Toby Puffer. In that case I would recommend the Nerite snails from Reefcleaners. My Toby puffer could not resist the exposed flesh of the Trochus snails. He bit half of the face off of one which died a few days later. The Nerites have a much better chance of survival since they have little to no exposed flesh. I have since moved the puffer to a different tank.
 
Thank you all for all the suggestions! I have a mini clean up crew now and wasnt too keen on wanting to add any more but maybe I should look into that more. I think before I add anything though I should add some more live rock so there will be enough to graze on after the algea is under control.
 
You will definitely need much more live rock than you currently have if you want your tank to support the bioload that fish produce.
 
Ok so I checked out the CUC's from reefcleaners. Do I really need 100 snails?!?! It just seems exsessive. I have a hermit crab and two lazy turbos now. Im just worried that its more than my tank can support. I will be getting another 10-15lbs of rock soon. I purchase the most poreous rock they have to get the most bang for the weight.
 
I would definitely start small. When I made my order I was also sent 5x the amount of dwarf ceriths that I ordered. While it's great that you're getting more than you payed for, I found them to just be a bit much. My entire tank was filled with black spots because I had a million of them. Since you already have 2 turbo's, I would just get 5-10 Nerites, and maybe 10-15 Florida ceriths.
 
I just placed my order.
10 Dwarf Ceriths
5 Nerites
3 Nassaris
1 Fighting Conch

Looking into maybe a goby or blenny too later one. I love how they perch on the rock :)
 
I would definitely start small. When I made my order I was also sent 5x the amount of dwarf ceriths that I ordered. While it's great that you're getting more than you payed for, I found them to just be a bit much. My entire tank was filled with black spots because I had a million of them. Since you already have 2 turbo's, I would just get 5-10 Nerites, and maybe 10-15 Florida ceriths.

+1

I ordered 15 Ceriths from ReefCleaners and received close to 50 or 60. Also received a lone Nassarius to boot. Tank looked pretty ridiculous when I first put them in, but they've distributed throughout the tank now.
 
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