The Truth About Reef Cleaners

[The0wn4g3]

I'm planning on downsizing my tank due to financial reasons in the near future, and need some reliable advice on a clean-up crew.

Here are the details:
-- Tank will be 36" x 24¾" x 10" Rimless (37 gallons) stocked mainly with coral and very few fish.
-- 4x 39W T5's on IceCap 660
-- DAS EX-2 Skimmer
-- DIY kalkwasser stirrer
-- Deltec FR509 Fluidized Reactor
-- 29 gallon fuge w/cheato
-- Mag-7 Return Pump
-- 1x Koralia 3
-- 1x Maxi-Jet 1200 w/Sure Flow mod

I've had a very tough time with hair algae due to multiple reasons in tanks in the past. I have the Deltec reator, but I would much rather rely on a natural clean-up crew than a GFO. I'm downsizing for financial reasons, and would like to avoid spending money on GFO if possible. So I've been looking over many site selling marine invertebrates and they all seem to stake different claims.
So, I'd like to see if I can't get a consensus on your opinions on these cleaners:

-- Blue Leg Hermit Crab
-- Red Leg Hermit Crab
-- Scarlett Hermit Crab

What's the difference? I've read the blue leg hermits are best for eating hair algae, is that true?

-- Astraea Snail
-- Margarita Snail
-- Nerite Snail
-- Trochus Snail

I don't believe I've seen a Nerite snail in a LFS around here, and I think they call anything with a cone-shaped shell an "astraea" snail. So what in the world are the differences?
At the moment I'm planning on ordering from bluezooaquatics.com as they look to have a wide selection with great prices. Where do you guys recommend buying from?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GrimReefer82]

I'd like to help you but you are probably an auburn football fan.

Just kidding, I bet you are using treated tap water in your tank aren't you. If so you will always have hair algae once you get it.

 

[The0wn4g3]

War Eagle! Not only a fan, a student, too

No, actually I'm not. Pure RO/DI. 0 TDS according to the meter. It's not massive amount of hair algae, just enough to be very annoying. Makes for difficult coral fragging, and I'm tired of removing it manually every month or so.

 

[BuddhaKiss]

If hair algae is your main concern, IME nothing beats a sea hare. Problem is they'll do such a good job it'll probably eventually starve unless u can provide other means of algae for them such as nori. I know that didn't really answer your question...just figured I'd throw that out there.

 

[bidny]

FYI, margarita snails are a temperate water snail, so I would avoid them.

 

[vikubz]

Something is causing the HA. What are your water parameters? From my experience, the snails and crabs you mentioned won't touch it. You'd be better off to find the cause before treating the symptom.

What are you using for a clean up crew now?

 

[bsagecko]

With a tank that small no fish would be small enough to help you out........

Without a phos reactor the only sure gurantee would be the sea hare...however a tank that small would never be able to support the algae required to feed it on a regular basis....if you could work out a deal to only borrow one like a couple days every month...that would be the best....no snail/hermit is reliablely able to remove hair algae in any quanity.......

 

[the_rider]

Margarita will die or espace like bidny said

also, astrea vs tronchus. I always forget which one is which but you have a white one and a purple/stripe metallic one. The white one will not be able to flip himself and the purple one can. HUGE ++

You can also look for zebra turbo snails, they get huge and often knock some frag off due to their size but they are the hardiest in my tank.

 

[Amoore311]

I've had the same Margaritas in my tank for over 2 years. I got them from Reefermadness, before they were sold. I see them spawning in my tank all the time. I don't think the babies survive though, as I have never seen any.

Astreas suck, they can't flip themselves over. Zebra Turbos work well. Cerith are really good too, but if you get hermit crabs the crabs will kill them all. The cerith are strictly sand bed -> glass only. They won't ever be on the rock work.

Nerites I have as well, only a couple though so I couldn't tell you specifically how good they are. I can tell you I never see them on the rock work either, only on the glass.

 

[Robb in Austin]

I agree with the others that you need to get to the source.

I have been battling GHA for months now. Tried everything; sea hares-killed 3 of them without any real impact, 3 giant turbos-same, I've had some success with a pencil urchin but he's cleaning the coralline algae much faster. None of the mentioned snails really helped. My lawnmower blenny doesn't touch it either.

I read that there are 2 kinds of GHA, and one of them is poisonous. I think it is the kind I have.

Mine was caused by old rodi filters, feeding nothing but flake, and somewhat lax maintenance.
I started by manually removing a ton. Then I replaced the filters, reduced greatly the amount of flake I feed. And added a BRS dual GFO/Carbon reactor. The reactor has made a HUGE impact on the amount of algae.

So spend the coin on a reactor of some type. The Two Little Fishies is cheap. Match it with a Maxijet of appropriate size and watch that nasty stuff disappear! Also, manual removal will help as will lots of water changes.

 

[Patroklos]

I have blue/scarlet/zebra/holloween hermits in my tank and none of them really do anything as far as algea control.

My conchs, however, mow the stuff down. Your tank is eaisly big enough to handle one or two. Then can be a bit of a bull dozer though.

Don't some urchins eat algea?

 

[sanababit]

2 words, algaefix marine and kiss your problem away...

sana

 

[The0wn4g3]

Ok let's see...

BuddhaKiss - I've used seahares in the past. They definitely eat algae like monsters, but they seemed to always die from some unknown cause - not due to starvation. I remember I acclimated one (bought from an LFS 10mins from my house) for almost an hour. Going from 1.023 -> 1.025 SG and 80deg -> 78deg in an hour is a pretty dang slow acclimation in my eyes. He lived about a week and then kicked the bucket, and I've had that happen 3 times so far.

bidny - Thanks for the info. I'll remove them from the list of possibilities.

vikubz - Nitrate and Nitrate are undetectable. I've never had a problem with them. I'm 90% sure it must be a PO4 issue, but even on my current tank with a 50 gallon fuge packed with liverock and chaeto growing like crazy the algae still grows. I even did some vodka dosing at one point. It definitely colored up my corals, but only slowed the algae growth- no big difference.

Amoore311 - That's good to know. The HA is only growing on the rock, so it's looking like ceriths, nerite, and astraea's aren't going to help me much.

Patroklos - That's not good news on the crabs... I'll have to read more about conches. I've never tried those. From what I've read, urchins eat algae similar to seahares. They also eat coralline algae. This can be bad in that they are eating it, but also good in that their beaks crunch the coralline algae and allow it to spread. Some can eat and topple coral, also.

sanababit - I may actually try that before I order any cleaners. I've seen a few threads where it really helped people. I'm just hesitant at the effects of putting any chemicals other than basic alk and cal supplements in the tank.

 

[OceanDweller]

I wonder if it could possibly be the rocks if they are really old and have a lot of collected detritus over the years some of them maybe need to be cooked. You could always try it out on a small one first with a small powerhead in a dark container. Sure would beat scrubbing rocks monthly. I think it is phosphates as well as you seem to have your husbandry down. How is the flow/lighting schedule possibly old bulbs to long a lighting schedule. How do you feel about chizik?

 

[GrimReefer82]

chizik....the worst hire in NCAA history! This what everyone else thinks.

Paul Clark, CycloneReport.com: " ... I must admit, even I am surprised at the bizarre turn of events whereby he failed miserably at Iowa State and still got to jump on the very first opportunity that came along to move back south. What the hell Auburn is thinking is anybody's guess. And who cares. Because it just unburdened Iowa State of its most unprepared, overmatched and incompetent head coach of the modern era."

• Jay Coulter, Track 'Em Tigers: "To say this move is shocking is an understatement. For many Auburn fans, this is a worst case scenario. There appears to be little logic in the choice."

• Jerry Hinnen, Joe Cribbs Carwash: "I don't know how to react. It doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem like they could possibly be so shortsighted. I'm going to spend tonight trying to figure out how to react. That, and drinking."

• Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register. "The only thing the man did consistently over the past two years was keep a lot of people at arm's length. The losing looked as if it was taking tiny bites out of his soul."

• Dave Curtis, The Sporting News. "Can Chizik win? The track record says no, and that Auburn might be in for even more disorganization than last season's internal meltdown."

• "Rowdy 73," in an apology on behalf of the "Auburn family" to Turner Gill" "I trust that you understand that these people (Jacobs, Gogue, Lowder et al) are stuck in the 19th century and not representative of the great majority of Auburn men and women. To reject you for an over-the-hill retread is a decision made by the 'good ole boys' and for the 'good ole boys'. Please do not judge the rest of the Auburn family by their stupidity."

• Cole Cubelic, former lineman: "... you look at his record as a head coach and you have to scratch your head and wonder what Auburn was doing and why they think it's a good move."

 

[The0wn4g3]

Cooking the rocks may be a possibility. They're about 3 years old and might just be harboring phosphates that are slowly being released. I really have no idea. That's a good suggestion. Seems I somehow forgot about cooking liverock.

On Chizik, I believe there were multiple choices available to Auburn that were much more logically sound. I can't say I'm excited to have him, but at the same time I don't believe all is lost. Hiring someone who last season was 2/10 seems insane to me. He was hired at IS in '06 (not that I'm really up on my Iowa State football facts) but they hadn't had a winning season since '02 anyway. On the other hand, he has 2 undefeated season under his belt, largely due to his excellent defense.

And for some reason everyone forgets the offensive coordinator: Gus mahlzahn. He has a wicked record as an offensive coordinator. national offensive coach of the year in '05, ranked 1st in the nation in total yards per game at Tulsa in '07, and 2nd in the nation in 08'. Auburn did poorly last season due to a massive lack of offense. With Mahlzahn in place and Chizik's defensive background there's definitely potential.

 

[hotrodolds]

my tank is small but of the hermits and snails i have the only thing that touches hair is the conch if its growing low on the glass or rocks and the turbo snail. It was starting to get bad and long about a month back. Added the turbo and it was mowed down to nothing inside of a weekend.