Algae eaters- which ones?

[vetteguy53081]

Its that time of the year where sun has shifted and UV has impact on tanks. We then see added algae and algae issues.
There are snails, urchins, sea hares, crabs and others such as conch and cowries.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLEANER AND WHY?

Mine is astrea and cerith snail. I never see them in my tank, not active and they address not just algae but also diatoms and cyano.

 

[Paul B]

I prefer manatees but the plastic bags to ship them in are expensive.



Some of them even come with starter algae to test them out.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I prefer manatees but the plastic bags to ship them in are expensive.



Some of them even come with starter algae to test them out.

 

[RZGreef]

In my tank, I have a varied crew, but of all of them the ones that seemed to make the biggest difference when I added them were a bunch of dwarf ceriths and a single tuxedo urchin, so I'd give them both the vote. I particularly like how the dwarf ceriths get into tighter corners that others can't reach, and the urchin is an absolute rock cleaning machine.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Triple T’s. Tangs, trochus, tuxedos

 

[Wasabiroot]

Urchins are my favorite. Their negatives are vastly outweighed by their positives. Two short spine urchins almost single handedly take care of algae in my 50g cube. I like turbo snails for hair algae, but they need to be the non-Gulf of Mexico variety

 

[JoJosReef]

Tough one, but I'd have to say my "small assorted conch" from ReefCleaners. I have a particularly effective one (and a somewhat effective one, too) that reaches for the highest spots it can on the rock and cleans up any GHA that grows between zoa polyps.

 

[Shibaken3]

Conch and Halloween urchin. I can see a dent.

 

[Snowxcross]

Definitely Urchins for me and Conch, turbo's and then any sand sifting snail like a cerith, bumble bees too, they get into the nooks and crannies better... Fish too, but last on my list.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Almost forgot- my Hector's Goby loves snacking on hair algae. I've never seen a fish that goes after it like that. He/she is a model citizen