Algae eater recommendations

[BrianH]

Hi,

I have a 50gal reef tank. My gulf-view rock came with so much macro algae that I'd like to try having something trim it back a little. Since my tank is 36", a yellow tang is out of the question. I've heard of some blennies that will eat algae. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have seen algae blennies and don't consider them too attractive but are there any other blenny species that will also eat algae?

Thanks

Brian

 

[t-byrd]

ive got a bi color, midas, and a lawnmower blenny.
non, ime, would be considered effective at removing
macro. they may nip at it, but they graze mostly filamentous
and film algae from the rock and sometimes the glass.
your best bet is probably to just to pull it off. i like having the macro
in the main tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never seen my algae blenny eat macroalgae...film algae, yes, but never macroalgae.

What about the possibility of a pygmy angel? C'mon guys...help the man!

Chris

 

[t-byrd]

got a scribble and and a coral beauty.
i wouldnt consider either of those all that effective either.
lately the only thing the coral beauty does is nip at my
anenome crab in my long tentacle.
maybe try aggresive carbon/resin and ro/di frequent
water changes to eliminate excess
nutrients so the macro will die off? i did this to get rid of
hair algae and it worked great

 

[Will C1]

nothing short of a tang will eat it well. my lemmon peel destroys the sea grapes but dosent touch anything else. on the other hand my flame in my reef dosent touch the stuff. your best bet is to pull it out when it gets too bad and possibly trade it in to your LFS for some credit. you could possibly get your fish food for free this way.

 

[wombat1]

My pygmy won't touch macro either. I'd yank it by hand also.

 

[Anonymous]

Macros can be a pain, but I would not get a fish to remove it. Just keep trimming it hopefully eventually it will peter out if you keep the nutrients low. You can get a tuxedo urchin that won't eat the macros itself but will chew down the holdfasts and get rid of it that way. They eat some corraline too but if you have good calcium it grows fast enough anyway.

 

[EmilyB]

A foxface, or other rabbitfish, will obliterate that, but you will have to have a home in mind...they grow big.

 

[Reef Goalie]

I ordered Gulf-view rock also and had alot of macroalgae on it. The only method for control was manual, trimming it back by hand. Some of the hitchhiker red mithrax crabs that came with the rock nipped at it and consumed alot of it also. I dont think resorting to adding a fish to control it is the answer. For sure a blenny wouldnt work. The rock inspite of the macro coverage is great and highly recommended.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a sargasso problem and I tried a foxface for a while but he wouldn't touch the stuff. Any green macro I think it would tho.