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To keep bubble algae in check in my IM Nuvo 10g office tank, I've resorted to purchasing emerald crabs, mostly from ReefCleaners. So far, I've gotten 5 from ReefCleaners and 1 from AquaSD.
I am listing a few of my observations in case others have observed similar behaviors.
1. All emeralds introduced so far from ReefCleaners have eaten bubble algae. The one from AquaSD was actually a super bubble algae-eater.
2. In a well-fed reef tank (tank feeding below), all emeralds have gone an intial period of heavy focus on eating bubble algae, and then become "lazy" and prefer to eat leftover fish/coral food or steal food (e.g. from my RFAs). Seems to vary by crab. One of mine became lazy very quickly, within a few days, maybe a week. One went all the way till the bubble algae was 95% gone and then became lazy and didn't return to eating bubble algae even when the 5% remaining algae started to grow back.
3. A couple of emeralds started munching on coral after becoming lazy. Particularly my torch, but one went so far as to take a piece of mantle off a crocea.
4. The one from AquaSD, although the most voracious bubble algae eater, only lasted one day in my tank since it simultaneously wanted to eat zoas, torch polyps and even clam mantle.
5. Some territorial disputes were observed in the 10 gallon, seemingly driven by individual crabs (there were never more than 3 in tank at a time), possibly resulting in death of 3 of the crabs. Currently one has been rehomed, one moved to my Evo and one remaining in my IM 10g.
Conclusion: It would appear that emeral crabs have a limited useful work life in a well-fed tank, ranging from a few days to several weeks. I don't see a way of eradicating the bubble algae, which keeps growing back once they get lazy, except for periodically purchasing new emerald crabs, like once a month or every two months. Has anyone else observed this? Anyone else feel the same?
If interested, here is my tank feeding:
I make a slurry of Reef Nutrition liquid food that I keep in aliquoted tubes in the refrigerator. First recipe was ~250uL each of Mysis Feast, R.O.E., Oyster Feast and 125uL dead Phyto Feast. Current recipe: 250uL each of Oyster Feast, Pac Pods, Arcti Pods, Roti Feast and 150uL Phyto Feast. Each work day, I take out a tube and add 10 medium TDO pellet and ~equal mass of small TDO pellets. This gets fed to a tailspot blenny, a very fat equisite firefish, a spotted nem crab (1 medium pellet target fed), a green porcelain crab (1 medium pellet target fed), 4 RFA anemones (target fed small or medium TDO + slurry) and slurry to the remaining corals (torch, hammer, octospawn, pavona, couple of selected zoas, golden gorgonian, couple of hitchhiker corals). The rest quickly gets picked up by brittle stars, microbrittle stars, various good worms (spaghetti, peanut, NOT bristleworms), sponges, tunicates, etc.
I am listing a few of my observations in case others have observed similar behaviors.
1. All emeralds introduced so far from ReefCleaners have eaten bubble algae. The one from AquaSD was actually a super bubble algae-eater.
2. In a well-fed reef tank (tank feeding below), all emeralds have gone an intial period of heavy focus on eating bubble algae, and then become "lazy" and prefer to eat leftover fish/coral food or steal food (e.g. from my RFAs). Seems to vary by crab. One of mine became lazy very quickly, within a few days, maybe a week. One went all the way till the bubble algae was 95% gone and then became lazy and didn't return to eating bubble algae even when the 5% remaining algae started to grow back.
3. A couple of emeralds started munching on coral after becoming lazy. Particularly my torch, but one went so far as to take a piece of mantle off a crocea.
4. The one from AquaSD, although the most voracious bubble algae eater, only lasted one day in my tank since it simultaneously wanted to eat zoas, torch polyps and even clam mantle.
5. Some territorial disputes were observed in the 10 gallon, seemingly driven by individual crabs (there were never more than 3 in tank at a time), possibly resulting in death of 3 of the crabs. Currently one has been rehomed, one moved to my Evo and one remaining in my IM 10g.
Conclusion: It would appear that emeral crabs have a limited useful work life in a well-fed tank, ranging from a few days to several weeks. I don't see a way of eradicating the bubble algae, which keeps growing back once they get lazy, except for periodically purchasing new emerald crabs, like once a month or every two months. Has anyone else observed this? Anyone else feel the same?
If interested, here is my tank feeding:
I make a slurry of Reef Nutrition liquid food that I keep in aliquoted tubes in the refrigerator. First recipe was ~250uL each of Mysis Feast, R.O.E., Oyster Feast and 125uL dead Phyto Feast. Current recipe: 250uL each of Oyster Feast, Pac Pods, Arcti Pods, Roti Feast and 150uL Phyto Feast. Each work day, I take out a tube and add 10 medium TDO pellet and ~equal mass of small TDO pellets. This gets fed to a tailspot blenny, a very fat equisite firefish, a spotted nem crab (1 medium pellet target fed), a green porcelain crab (1 medium pellet target fed), 4 RFA anemones (target fed small or medium TDO + slurry) and slurry to the remaining corals (torch, hammer, octospawn, pavona, couple of selected zoas, golden gorgonian, couple of hitchhiker corals). The rest quickly gets picked up by brittle stars, microbrittle stars, various good worms (spaghetti, peanut, NOT bristleworms), sponges, tunicates, etc.
