Best Attractive Algae Eaters?

hockeyhead019 · Jun 8, 2018

+1 for the urchin. Pretty cool little animals that will add another thing to watch motor around in the tank

drcrook · Jun 8, 2018

Regarding Square Anthias & feeding - I've been feeding this: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product...ina-brine-shrimp?pcatid=3722&c=3468+3631+3722. 1 cube 3 times per day. Yesterday I swapped to 1 cube twice per day. I tried making my own ice cube things out of mussels, octopus, shrimp etc (mixed seafood frozen pack) that I added some phytofeast to ro/di water, blended a bit and froze into cubes. They don't really go for that very well. I put the cube in the sump's return chamber -> comes out the jets and makes it look like live food in the water column. They go nuts over the hikari stuff; but not my stuff so much. I definitely need an auto feeder. What is a good high quality food source that can go in an auto-feeder though?

Below are some notes on the tank & Algae Issues. Also note: My cleanup crew according to the internet is significantly understaffed. I did a measurement this morning of my levels. My phosphates, nitrates, nitrites & ammonia are reading at 0 or so close to 0 I can't tell the difference.

Crew since beginning: 5 large hermit crabs, 1 mexican turbo snail, 1 emerald crab & Chaeto in the sump (which is growing like its going out of style).
Wednesday - Added: 10 astrea snails, 5 cerith snails, 10 nassarius snails, 12 (tiny, i mean tiny) hermit crabs, 2 fighting conchs, 1 pincushion urchin, 2x peppermint shrimp, 1 coral banded shrimp
Thursday - Added: 1 foxface & 1 very large Turbo Snail (ordered 1 blue tuxedo urchin) per thoughts on this forum.

Images taken this morning before work. All of the brown rocks in this picture have brown algae on them. Even that big live rock to the right has a fair amount starting to grow on it. Also note there is a spot on the far right where the critters tend to not go to pick up.

Here is an image of one urchin making its way through the tank.

This rock gives you an idea of the length of the hair currently:

And here it is developing on the ground. Notice that there is fish poo in this image as well. For some reason; nobody goes over to this corner and everything just collects here.

JBKReef · Jun 8, 2018

Some pictures as well, my urchins/blennies has cleaned the rock to look like new. I was showing zero measureable nitrates though so I upped my feeding, which has increased some algae growth. You can see the progress my urchins alone have made on it. Aesthetically it’s enjoyable for my fiancé and I however some people might get annoyed by the tracks they make.

Scott Campbell · Jun 8, 2018

drcrook said:
Regarding Square Anthias & feeding - I've been feeding this: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product...ina-brine-shrimp?pcatid=3722&c=3468+3631+3722. 1 cube 3 times per day. Yesterday I swapped to 1 cube twice per day. I tried making my own ice cube things out of mussels, octopus, shrimp etc (mixed seafood frozen pack) that I added some phytofeast to ro/di water, blended a bit and froze into cubes. They don't really go for that very well. I put the cube in the sump's return chamber -> comes out the jets and makes it look like live food in the water column. They go nuts over the hikari stuff; but not my stuff so much. I definitely need an auto feeder. What is a good high quality food source that can go in an auto-feeder though?

Below are some notes on the tank & Algae Issues. Also note: My cleanup crew according to the internet is significantly understaffed. I did a measurement this morning of my levels. My phosphates, nitrates, nitrites & ammonia are reading at 0 or so close to 0 I can't tell the difference.

Crew since beginning: 5 large hermit crabs, 1 mexican turbo snail, 1 emerald crab & Chaeto in the sump (which is growing like its going out of style).
Wednesday - Added: 10 astrea snails, 5 cerith snails, 10 nassarius snails, 12 (tiny, i mean tiny) hermit crabs, 2 fighting conchs, 1 pincushion urchin, 2x peppermint shrimp, 1 coral banded shrimp
Thursday - Added: 1 foxface & 1 very large Turbo Snail (ordered 1 blue tuxedo urchin) per thoughts on this forum.

Images taken this morning before work. All of the brown rocks in this picture have brown algae on them. Even that big live rock to the right has a fair amount starting to grow on it. Also note there is a spot on the far right where the critters tend to not go to pick up.

Here is an image of one urchin making its way through the tank.

This rock gives you an idea of the length of the hair currently:

And here it is developing on the ground. Notice that there is fish poo in this image as well. For some reason; nobody goes over to this corner and everything just collects here.

Your tank doesn't appear to actually have all that much algae. You should be prepared to give the Foxface an alternate source of food - like sheets of seaweed. And you may lose some snails if there is not enough algae growth. It is rather challenging trying to balance a clean-up crew against available algae to keep them alive. Just my two cents!

Kyl · Jun 8, 2018

With CUC I've realised less is more. Over-do it with CUC, they die and just add more nutrients to the tank. Given the no3/po4 export methods we have today, some of which are very effective, I am really reserved with chasing numbers of inverts per gallon, etc. The other thing is time; nothing good comes quickly with the tanks, and imo that includes the natural removal of nuisance algae too.

BubblesUp · Jun 9, 2018

I'm surprised no one mentioned the lawnmower blenny. Mine has done a good job of reducing algae and has character.

Zeal · Jun 9, 2018

I kinda only have a small algae issue with the glass, and I would also love a Tuxedo urchins. Would it be an issue not having that huge of a algae issue and having one?

drcrook · Jun 9, 2018

My current crew has chowed down. I think I still need the tuxedo to keep it all down. My plan is once.algae is down to add nor I on clamps. I'll post pictures after, progress is very good. I'm happy to add nor I if they continue to keep algae down.

PhreeByrd · Jun 10, 2018

That little urchin has a lot of ground to cover, drcrook. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But it will take him a good while to cover the whole tank, so remember: patience, patience, patience. Your tank is large enough to handle at least a couple more urchins if you chose to add them, but I'm not recommending for or against that. FWIW, my urchins have always preferred to eat coralline, but in the process of doing that, they also removed any other algae growing on the rocks. They still occasionally cruise around on the glass, eating microalgaes.

Urchins are the only things that ever actually ate hair algae in my tanks, even if it was incidental. I tried all the suggestions given here -- tangs, crabs, snails, rabbitfish, a lawnmower blenny, a sea hare -- none of them ever wanted anything to do with the stuff. Even when I fed the tank only once every other day, the grazing fish still wouldn't touch it, and preferred picking at the "clean" rock.

Your algae problem isn't severe, and since your free nitrate and phosphate levels are low, I'd say you're on the right track. Your tank is still new, and it has a lot of natural maturation to undergo. That also takes a lot of time and stable conditions. Also, your hair algae is not healthy or thriving. It is struggling to survive, which is a very good thing for you. Eventually, it will naturally burn itself out. I would keep doing pretty much what you've been doing, with some small changes:
I'd add another frozen food or two. Maybe some small frozen plankton or mysis. The spirulina brine shrimp is a very good food, but fish need some variety to cover all their nutritional needs. Your livestock is a mix of herbivores, carnivores, and detritivores, so make sure all of the bases are covered.
I would not feed through the sump. Food will be caught in the sump and in the return pump and plumbing, slowly decaying and adding nutrients to the water. Thaw your frozen foods in a little pure water and add it directly to the display tank. Turn off your return pump before doing this so the food doesn't get taken back to the sump.
The corner of your tank appears to be a dead spot regarding flow. You should consider adding some powerheads to increase the water flow in the display. Natural reefs are often rather violent places in terms of water movement, so don't be too shy about this. The fish will adjust. This will also help keep waste items suspended in the water column so that your filtration system can remove them.

Keep us updated on how things progress!

vetteguy53081 · Jun 10, 2018

Sea Hare and YES when algae is depleted, they DO eat seaweed sheet(nori).

drcrook · Jun 10, 2018

My gyres were only at 40% and my returns at 30%. I've upped gyres to 60% and returns to 50%. Seems to have flow and uplift of stuff in those spots now without a sandstorm.

Murica · Jun 10, 2018

How are pin cushion urchins with rock work? None of my rocks are glued.

PhreeByrd · Jun 10, 2018

Urchins are bulldozers. They will also pick up and carry around anything that isn't nailed down, so caution is warranted.

ArowanaLover1902 · Jun 10, 2018

My experience with emeralds is that an emerald that was around before the hair algae won't usually touch it, unless he gets really hungry (which happens after a while as the hair algae outcompetes the other algae). I'd suggest replacing your current two, or just adding two more, I've never had a problem with mine and coralline algae anyways. Emerald crabs are the best thing to mow down hair algae I've seen, but lawnmower blennies also do well.

saltyhog · Jun 10, 2018

I need fo have a talk with my tuxedo urchin. I've had him for years and I've never seen him touch any algae except coraline algae. He's hard on that though.

Softplan · Jun 13, 2018

Extreme caution should be used with a Foxface. I had one that was great until one day it decided it wanted to try zoanthids. Short time later they were all gone. If you don't plan on getting zoanthids you're golden. If you do I wouldn't risk keeping the Foxface.

carbene · Jun 13, 2018

i recommend quoyi parrotfish, they scrape algae down to the rock. i have 2 and my rocks are so smooth

Dogtown · Jun 13, 2018

I’ll second the dwarf Scarus Quoyi Parrotfish. It’s reef safe and cleans up algae like it’s nobody’s business - all day, every day. Mine likes long hair algae, short hair algae, it doesn’t matter. I pull hair algae out of the refugium and feed it the display all the time. Within a few hours the quoyi makes sure it’s gone every time. Again, it’s reed safe and can care less about any corals soft or hard. It just loves algae though.