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Guest floridaboy

Everything is going well: fish are happy and tests are good

unfortunatley a shrimp has died  :(  and algea is up.

 

I have a 10 gal. with two clowns, one shrimp now, snails hermit crabs and a crab I dont see much that I am unfarmiliar with.  My neighbor told me I could get a yellow tang for it.  I trust him, but I dont want to kill anything.   Is it safe too?

 

Sam :cool:

Sam-

can you describe the algae?  Does it look like a plant with leaves or is it like a film on the glass?  I hope that neighbor wasn't Mr. Howard!  There is an urchin that may due the job- it is a blue "tuxedo" urchin.  A pretty animal, and doesn't get too big.  If it were to clear out all the algae, you could easily find a new home for it in a bigger tank.

Guest floridaboy
the algea is a a layer of reddish slime over many of the planta lot of algea has died down since i have gotten 2 ernormous snails                    :p  :O

guilty as charged.

 

Two kinds of algae in the tank (three actually).  Two varieties of calerpa (grape and feather) and he has a bit of a red slime cyano bloom going.

 

For my system, adding tangs solved the calerpa.  Other advice may prevail here.

 

He added a couple of the large trocus snails and they are munching on all the algae.  I get the impression they may solve a lot.

 

As for tangs in a 10G, I've heard both sides.  Small tank = bad idea -or- baby tang in a 10G never seems to notice.  If it out-grows the system, trade it with a member.  Other advice?

 

s

Hi Sam,

 

Putting any tang in a tank that small is not an option. I thought you were joking!

 

The reddish slime is cyanobacteria, a sure sign of high nutrients. Cut your feeding in half, then half again. Along with manual removal, decreased photo period (cut it by 25%), increased water changes you will see improvement.   An additional powerhead running low in the water column will also help.

 

Additionally you could try either a Sally Lightfoot or Mithrax (emerald) crab, but IMO it's a mater of too much nutrient input and not enough export.  The blue tuxedo urchin is probably your best option.

 

Please, do not put a tang into your tank.  Tangs are open water grazers, in the wild they can cover several acres in a day.  Sometimes I feel a 6' tank is much too confining for them.

 

HTH

Glenn R

Are those blue tuxedos reef safe?  Or do they just plow over everything like those big mexican turbo snalis I currently have?  I hate those friggin' things sometimes... :)   They do clear out some algae though...  A love, hate relationship I guess.  Will they take out the coralline algae like other urchins?

 

Cheers,

Mike

Guest floridaboy

i'v also had the suggestion of a royal gramma if that will be fine with false perculas

 

sam :ghostface:  :cool: :O

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