What will eat this algae?

Lilwormy2003

New member
This is my first time posting. This is my first salt/reef tank and I need some help. It's going pretty well except I have *some* green and red colored fuzzy algae that I want gone. I have a 1" diameter clump that is growing on my sea fan that is killing the polyps in is covering. I tried the hermit crabs and the mithrax crabs with no luck. I have a molly I keep in one of my freshwater tanks to eat algae that I thought about acclimating to salt to eat the stuff. Any thoughts or comments???? Thanks.
Warren Berg
 
if it is hair alage i suggest tring turbo snails. and also getting your phosphates and nitrates down to 0 will help also.

[welcome]
 
green and red fuzzy huh? well I can't pinpoint what it is, but mexican turbo snails do a number on most algaes. I also like to use limpets, but they can be very hard to find.
 
if it leafy a tang will pick at it. if it is like a mat sometime an algea blenny will do it but I would try turbo snails as well
 
I think the only kind of snail I don't have is a turbo. Will it climb up the sea fan?? The algae is a fuzzy type. Any thoughts on the molly idea?? Thanks for all the advice so far.
 
mollies may also eat it. it is well worth the chance if you already have it.

as for a tang like bilabong stated i guess he didn't see you only have a 20 gal. tank lol
 
yeah it will fit but whats the point of buying a fish just to return it? lots of better ways of doing it without a tang.
 
well its apparent that your the fish guru and all knowing being of this fourm but you might want to look back at the title of this thread which is "what will eat this algea?" on which I answered with taking in all considerations of his current setup and a small tang will live a long time in a nano. I only suggested a fish that not only serves a purpose but will also be appropriate for that size tank.
 
a tang will not live a long time in a nano. you will stun their growth and shorten their life that way. or it will get other thicgs like ich and such from being stressed out. i understand a tang may eat the alage but it is not responsiable reefkeeping to keep a tang in such a small tank long term.
 
buying a tang for that tank is bad idea. you should go up to all your friends with tangs in their tank and hit them with a rolled up newspaper and say "bad, no." like kau_cinta_ku said, it is just irresponsible. That would be like me putting a huma huma trigger in my tank if I wanted to get rid of all my hermit crabs. As for lilwormy, I'm not sure how the molly would do on the algae consumption, you could always try, but I would just get a mexican turbo for now. They are pretty big and I do not think they would attempt to climb up a sea fan, is your sea fan having problems with algae growing on it, if so that is usually a problem with a lack of water flow.
 
it is 5 years ty. and i am not claiming to know all but i have learned things which i can tell you haven't. and if you have been in this hobby for 13 years then i would expect that you should know better than to keep a tang in a nano. :rolleyes:

go to the reef fish forum and look for the thread. what tang can i keep in a 30 gal. that will help you out better or you just don't care about the fish in which you are keeping. which IMO means you shouldn't be in this hobby then.
 
I love that book that they took the facts from. I find myself referencing it every now and then, or just going back and learning more about some fish. The invertebrate one was good too.
 
Let's get back to the question.
Arguing about wether you should put a tang in a 20g is silly.It will grow and die.A tragedy,since some of these wonderful creatures have lifespans of over thirty years.
I have not tried mollies but have heard of others who have had sucess with them. Acclimate it slowly over a week or two weeks time with small and steady increases in sg. Put it in a small tank and slowly replace some fresh water with slatwater each day.
It will need to regulate it's internal body fluids to stave off dehydration and will need to drink alot and its kidneys will have to process alot. As a brackish fish it should be able to do this if it has enough time and if the changes are slow and steady.
If you do use a mollie,please let us know how it works out.

Good luck
 
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