Looking for algae eater!

[robinscp]

Here's the contents of my 4 month old 400l tank

1 flasher wrasse
2 bangaii cardinals
2 common clowns
2 firefish
1 shrimp goby with shrimp
1 red starlet dragonet

cleaner shrimp, 2 turbo snails, loads of obseleta snails, one green brittle star, loads of small white brittle stars (hitchickers)

Green star polyps, xenia, toadstool leather, mushrooms.

The problem I am having is I am starting to get quite a bit of green and red hair algae growing in the tank. I also have loads of macroalgae which I dont mind!
I am running a MC600 skimmer, have loads of live rock and a good flow round the tank.

Can I purchase a peacefull fish to fit in with my timid tankmates that will graze on the rocks?

I was maybe thinking of a scooter blennie but heard they may be nasty towards firefish.

Any thoughts guys and gals?

Craig

[Witfull]

scooters are not an algae eater. they are a pod eater. turbo snails are great at eating algae. as for fish, the best i can reccomend is a rabbit fish, but they will in time grow to 6-8".

one other thing to think about is finding the cause of the algae.

[robinscp]

Originally Posted by robinscp

I was maybe thinking of a scooter blennie but heard they may be nasty towards firefish.

Any thoughts guys and gals?

Craig

Sorry! I ment to say lawn mower blennie

[Woodstock]

Lawn mower blennies require a lot of algae and I am not certain they eat prepared fish foods which means they could starve. I like my bicolor blennie... it eats algae and prepared foods

[lcstorc]

I'm with Wit on this one. What are your nitrates and phosphates? Usually an algae growth like this is a sign of high nutrients. Fix that and you are in much better shape.

[prow]

well the obseleta snails are not good for algae eating. so the only members of your cleanning crew that mainly eat algae are the 2 turbos, not even close to your needs. you more than likely do have a nutrient problem, as you have no cleanning crew and sense i am anti crab i would have to say no to any crabs. might i suggest the following crew as a starting point.
30-trochus snails
40-nerite snails
40-cerith snails
20-margarita snails
20-astraea snails
1-2-tiger serpant start "not brittle stars, take your green one back to the LFS, it will attack your fish while they are sleeping, this will happen in time with the green ones."

for the lawnmower blenny they are great fish, mine started eating prepared foods right away. however, like stated earlier you will need lots of algae even if they do take prepared foods. they will die of malnutrition with out it. after the tank is free of algea you will have to feed him algae daily or he will starve. hope this helps and good luck fellow reefer.

[robinscp]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

Would a bicolour blenny be OK with my current ocupants?

As for the course of the algae. Phospate is at zero (as far as I can test) due to using phosban. Nitrates are a little higher than I would like and as prow says this maybe due to a lack of snails eating detritus and such.

Any more advice?

Craig

[KMP]

if new critters don't work let me know. i've got an seven step process to getting rid of the problem. good luck.

[fishinchick]

Lawnmower blennies and Bicolor blennies end up niping at corals and such as they age and less at your algae. They often become pretty beligerent.

How about getting some cerrith or astrea snails? The problem with the big turbo snails is they only eat a particular kind of hair algae. Not all hair algae is the same. Most snails only eat one or two types of algae so you should really go for diversity in your clean up crew instead of putting all your snails in one basket (figuratively).

[iluvzigz]

i agree about the bi-color blennies niping at your corals...try some QUEEN conchs they seriously eat the algae off your rocks everyday..you wnt need 100 of them i have just 2 in a 55 gal and they control it pretty good ....as long as your levels are corrcet
I had a slight algae bloom one week and i fixed the problem ,but they also helped control it ....everytime i see a rock with algae usually in a couple of days they've gotten to it.

[fishinchick]

I've always seen conches in the sand, never on the rock. That's a new one on me. Thats why people usually recommend the queen (not so good) and the fighting (much better) for handling sandbed algae and cyano. Mine reach up as high as they can but never leave the sand.

[iluvzigz]

It is very rare that i se my conchs on the sand ,they do but very rare..i dont know.. Maybe i have a new breed of queens cause they tear up the algae like no tomorrow....both of them.IMO they are great.

[lcstorc]

I have read that the fighting conchs are good for the sand and the queen conch is good for the rocks. That may be the difference, but I am too new to be anything but a parrot on this one. LOL Just bought a fighting conch and it has stayed in the sand so far.

[KMP]

I am too new to be anything but a parrot on this one

i like that one. have felt that way myself several times

[robinscp]

I would love to hear this 7 steps KMP!

Craig