Fish Advice

[sleeman]

I have some type of macro algae that is starting to get out of control. I have tried scubbing it off the rocks a couple times, but obviously it keeps coming back. I am not willing to pull the rock out. Mostly because I feel that the algae has seeded into pretty much every corner of the tank. I am looking for a fish (or possibly urchin?) to help get rid of the tank. I currently have a Regal Tang in the tank but he is much above picking this stuff off the rock. The other fish are : Coral beauty, clowns, firefish, and a royal gramma. Obviously another type of tang is not an option. The fish must also be reef safe as there are corals and several inverts in the tank. Unfortunately I have a very nice growth of Halimeda that I'm sure will get eaten as well, but that's the way it goes.

Thanks for the help Y'all.

Cheers,

Al

[Skimmerking]

try trading the regal for a SAIL FIN or get a ACHILLES tang in it;s place.
It worked for me. BUt first of all how big is the tank that you have?

or how about a sea hare....
but dont forget about after its done it will starve to death, unless you have a huge refuguim.



mike

[BMW Rider]

My new foxface which did not want to eat nori while in QT has started grazing on algae in the tank. He also now eats the nori as fast as the yellow tang which is also a proven grazer. Between those two, a bunch of snails and a spiny sea urchin my algae is well under control.

[kuatto]

Al
Go pick up a lawnmower blenny,mine is none stop eating all kinds of algae.Maybe try 2 in your tank,great little fish for sure.

[AJ_77]

Aren't lawnmower blennies mainly for film/surface algae? Mine is always scraping, scraping, scraping - don't think he has the teeth for much else.

:smile:

[marie]

An urchin is probably your best bet if your rock and corals are all secure. They like to send things crashing to the sand if they can, but they will eat just about all the different kinds of algae.

[sleeman]

I can't trade the tang, as my kids would kill me if I got rid of "Dory". Everything is secure except for a few zoo's on plugs. Is there any particular urchin I should try to get? I see J&L carries 3 differnt ones.
Jim, wanna rent out the Blenny :biggrin: I also got some digitata frags for you.

Cheers,

Al

[hawk]

what does the algae look like? Depending on what type you have,it may require a specific remedy.

[kuatto]

He's always saying he could use a tropical vacation to an exotic location :mrgreen:

[Cap'n]

Sleeman, I have a scribbled rabbitfish here that you can have if you think it will help. It's always pecking away at the rockwork but not nearly as effective as the yellow tang in my opinion.

[hawk]

An urchin may or may not work. I had an algae called dictyota, that was close to getting out of hand, the faster I cleaned off my rock the faster it would grow. Water changes made no difference, my yellow tang , several varieties of crabs and snails, or my tuxedo urchin wouldn't touch the stuff. Finally I found out that the only thing that would eat it was, either a Naso tang or a Foxface, both of which grow too large for my current tank, but since I was in the process of up- grading, I went with a baby naso. It took care of my problem in about 2-3 months. Long story short, try to find out what type of algae problem you have, then look for the remedy. Good luck.

[johnny rock]

WELL, if you already have the REGAL and depending on tank size it might be hard to add another tang, ACHILLES is NOT a good choice as there a very hard tang to keep alive and if you don't know the type of ALGEA you have then I'm assuming ACHILLES care is not ready for you yet. IF your tank is large enough and you WANT another tang then the YELLOW is an AWSOME choice as they'll just abouit take care of any macro. LAWNMOWERS are hit and miss. you will also have to cutback on feedings so that the macro is attractive. you will also probaly have to manually remove lots. when RAZMOSA or GRAPE CAULERPRA[spelling?] take over they really take over

[bear27]

How about bubble algae what is the best cure for that i have a yellow tang,a maroon clown,and a yellow tail damsil

[Quinn]

An urchin may or may not work... Long story short, try to find out what type of algae problem you have, then look for the remedy. Good luck.

I agree. Look for the cause of the problem, what is feeding/contributing to the algae growth. You can't count on any fauna to eat any particular type of algae, and I think doing so is foolish.

[hawk]

How about bubble algae what is the best cure for that i have a yellow tang,a maroon clown,and a yellow tail damsil

Is the bubble, round(Valonia) or tear drop(Ventricaria Ventricosa)? these are two of the more common types, how bad is the outbreak? The valonia tends to grow slowly and usually not a problem. The ventricaria can grow very quickly, but not necessarily going to be a problem unless it starts to overtake an area (ie. coral). Some people have luck with emerald crabs but this totally hit or miss. If you think it's starting to become a problem, manual removal is going to be your best bet. Try to do this without popping the bubble and releasing spores (some say this is a myth but it makes sense to me) by gently rocking, twisting lifting etc.There will be some that will not be accessable and some that will not be coaxed off I would leave these for another day. Good luck

[Quinn]

If you think it's starting to become a problem, manual removal is going to be your best bet. Try to do this without popping the bubble and releasing spores (some say this is a myth but it makes sense to me) by gently rocking, twisting lifting etc.

What's your source for the species names? I'd be interested.

Don't quote me on this but I read somewhere (WWM perhaps) that whether the bubbles contain spores depends on the life phase of the algae.

[bear27]

This paticular outbreak is bad it is in every corner of my tank. I was hopeing for a fish to help but alas if I must romove by hand I guess i will

[hawk]

What's your source for the species names? I'd be interested.

I found it here:
http://netclub.athiel.com/algae/algae.html

Don't quote me on this but I read somewhere (WWM perhaps) that whether the bubbles contain spores depends on the life phase of the algae.
I have read similiar statements about releaseing spores by breaking the bubble. It's reasonable that the life phase would be a determining factor, but at what stage it comes into play I have no idea. I just go by "better safe than sorry" If they can be picked off without breaking, great, if not I just leave them. So far, so good (knock on wood). Cheers.

[sleeman]

Quinn, I know what you are saying, but it's not a nutrient problem. The halimeda and Chateo should be taking care of it. I know I overfeed, just like the other 95% of us :biggrin:
Besides, The Digitata I got off you is growing faster than the algae. But I know what type of fish to put in there to take care of that. :lol:
The algae is not that fast growing, just too fast for me. It is however starting to get close to some corals, so I would like to take care of it other than manual removal.
I tried the link above to ident it, but it is not in there. Does anyone know of any other good site to help identify algae.

I'll try to take a picture in the next couple of days.

Cheers,

Al

[bear27]

Ive actualy been syhponing them out when i do water changes seem to be winning the battle

[hawk]

sleeman,
maybe this will help?
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_algae.htm

[sleeman]

Here is a picture of the algae. The more I look at it the more I think it is a form of Caulerpa. Anyone else able to ident it? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Al
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/747Algae-med.jpg?1016

[hawk]

Al,
That looks like Dictyota to me. If you go to the above link, they refer to it as brown or red antler shaped. Ignore the picture of the red branching algae but go to the highlighted 'Dictyota' link which shows a picture that is much more dense than yours, but if yours is anything like what I had, it will only be a matter of time before it grows from sparse to thick. In Bob Fenner's book The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, he shows a picture of Dictyota on page 132, it has the same "Y"shape as yours and mine but totally green. Mine was more on the pale side of green, some spots almost golden brown, but the exact same "Y"shape. Good luck

[hawk]

Hey Sleeman,
I don't mean to freak you out, but check this out. This guy left his tank for a week and he returned to this:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=685272

It came from this thread
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100746&highlight=dictyota
The top link is obviously an exterme example but. I thought worth a look.
My outbreak was nowhere near that bad, but it didn't take long before it became very clear that I had to get it out of my tank. I additionally found out that there are over 140 Dictyota sp. names, accounting for the variation in colour and density. They all share the flat "Y" branching growth as well as the potential for very rapid growth, and the difficulty of control. After alot of hesitation, I have made the decision to up grade my system, but of all the reasons that I considered not to go big, ie. cost, time, space etc, for me, dictyota was the number one reason not to. I just didn't want to fight that battle again.

[sleeman]

Hawk,
Thanks. I can't get on RC right now will try again tomorrow. When you say you had to get it out of your tank, did you pull the rock or get rid of it another way? It has moved to a fair number of rocks now. I don't really want to pull my rock and recure it in a dark bin for several weeks. Even that may not kill the bugger.
I wonder if an urchin will eat this stuff?
Anyone got any other suggestions?

Cheers,

Al

[hawk]

So you guys still can't get RC?
Once it started to grow I would pull what I could out. Some would come out in mats easily but other areas like the sparse stuff in you pic was hard to grab. All of a sudden it seemed the faster I picked the faster it grew. Then it started to grow on some of my corals, I removed any coral or rock I could get at and used tweezers and or a toothbrush to clean the piece. I always have fed very lightly and knew excess nutrients were not the problem. It grew directly under the lights and in the shadows. I had lots of flow and fresh bulbs. I was lost because I couldn't find a pic anywhere and didn't know the name. None of my fish or crabs or tuxedo urchin would touch it. After alot of time on RC I finally found a pic of Dictyota and without a doubt that is what I had. Once I had the name, I quickly found out that a Naso or a Foxface very often, but not always will eat it. Some have success with emerald crabs, I had several and they did nothing for me. I remember a RC thread where a certain urchin might help but I can't remember what kind. I'll check it out and post if I can find it. My tuxedo didn't help at all. I finally went with a juv.naso 2-3" i kept him hungary in QT for the first couple of days then put a small rock with this stuff on it for him to eat which he did right away. When he was put in the display he continued eating the Dict with avengence. I continued getting what I could out manually and it wasn't long before I could see I was winning. It took 2-3 months. When I put the Naso in, about 75% of my total rock had some, of which 30%-40% was heavily covered. That fish saved my tank. It's been about 1 1/2 years since then and it hasn't come back. I sure hope RC is back for you guys soon. At least then you can check out some of it's threads or even post your pic.to determine if what you have is Dictyota or not. I hope it's not, but to me it really looks like it. Good luck

[hawk]

I Just did a quick search on RC and there were some suggestions that Diadema urchins may eat it, but I couldn't find any threads that actually had first hand knowkedge that diadema's ate this stuff.

[sleeman]

Well, I was in AI yesterday. They had a small diadema for 20 bucks so I grabbed it to see what happens. It cant make it any worse. I'll let you know what happens in the next week or so.

CHeers,

AL

[AJ_77]

When I put the Naso in, about 75% of my total rock had some, of which 30%-40% was heavily covered. That fish saved my tank. It's been about 1 1/2 years since then and it hasn't come back.
How's the Naso Tang now?

[hawk]

great, he coloured up nicely, bothers no one and is very friendly.