Think I am getting a tang

Well the new skimmer is rocking. The rock scrub
http://www.3reef.com/forums/live-rock/lr-cook-scrub-34571.html
was the best thing I have ever done for my tank and the colors in my SPS are coming back. BUT... BUT I am not going back. I couldn't get all the algae and I still need something that will eat the algae in some quantity. The Lawnmower Blennie is the only one that eat the full growing algae hairs. I am thinking of getting him back up. My hair algae was a very common and very eatable species of algae. I think it is Cladophora but I am not a 100% sure. if it is cladophora it is suppose to be one of the favorite algae for Yellow Tang in the wild. I have kicked around the idea of getting a tang for the longest time but I am trying to be a good SPS keeper and keep my fish load low. Thing is without much to stop it I could see the algae coming back the Blennie needs back up. I like Tangs but is adding a good sized messy fish to eat algae really a step back?

 

I dont think tangs are messy. I have three and they actually eat everything in sight and keep the sand clean. I like the tangs and think the tank would be very dead looking without them. Give it a try.

 

I've never had a tang that ate nuisance algae. Lazy ingrates

I would never get a Fish to combat a water quality issue. Odd are their presence in the tank will produce more Nitrates than they remove

J

 

I would go the snail route. I use a variety of different snails to help keep algae in check. I also like the little scarlet red hermit crabs as they stay small and dont seem to bother anything else in the tank. I've also used emarld crabs and with caution. I had 1 that would eat only algae and another that had a taste for snails, but they made quick work of any hair algae in the tank. If you decide to get a tang you might want to consider a Kole tang or bristle tooth tang.

 

My tang will eat algae but only if I dont feed more often than 2X a week.
They poop like a bear.

 

Snails don't seem to do anything for the full grown hairs. They probably are eating new growth but once it gets past a certain size all 2oz. of the lawnmower blennie are the only thing to eat it. The study I read studied Yellow Tangs perference for algae in the wild. Out of 55 tracked algaes my stuff was the 4 most perferred. I was going with a yellow tang because I was the most certain it would eat the algae and there ont bad looking to boot. Still have a week to think about it.

 

Hi Covey,

I have a Blond Naso and a Sailfin in my FOWLER. I had a little string algae that an existing Hepa was not taking care of. They did a great job on it. I got them at the same time in a 2 for 1 deal. I'm not sure who is the real algae eater. The Naso is destined for the 300.

BTW, I just saw Sailfin Tangs on sale at a local Petco if you have a Pals card. $19. There are 2 Petcos out by me that seem to have healthy fish. I don't know if there are any out by you and if this is a national deal, but it might be worth a look. Needless to say I now have 2.

 

The biggest reason I avoided tangs to begin with was disease issues. I was at the LFS yesterday and they had 6 yellow tangs. One was breathing heavy, one had bad HLLE, and two had ich. So i wasn't real thrilled about those selections.

 

Hi,

Personally, I think the disease issue is over rated. Tangs are very sensitive to water quality. If the water quality is bad, they get hit by parasites. If the quality is good, you get a happy fish. Diet is important too. Make sure they get seaweed. I have 1 Hepa that is over 5 years old. I have lost 2 powder blues in the past, but 1 was when I killed a whole tank while out of town on vacation. I think they are the most sensitive tangs. Obviously, bringing in a sick fish isn't in the game plan. I'd have walked away too. They were probably stressed in capture. Maybe they were hit with Cyanide? I've seen a lot of stressed Yellow Tangs over the years and currently don't have any.

With your skimmer and good maintainance you should be fine.

ttyl

 

well...you could get a chevron tang...but snails might be a good way to go 2...the chevron tang is always the guy i see eating algae...but idk if 75 gals will be big enough