Advice: Algae eating Gobies Blennies

[cgill311]

I'm thinking about buying a fish to eat the little bit of hair algae in my 30G tank. I've narrowed it down to two potentials. Does anyone have experience with either of these two and could provide some good insight?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=176">Hector's Goby</a> - Will sift sand as well (supposedly), stays small, & eats just about anything

[IMG]http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=164">Court Jester Goby</a> - Cooler looking, stays small, & eats just about anything

I'm shying away from blennies b/c they get larger and have been known to nip at corals. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Hector's goby, since it seems more utilitarian.

Also, is filamentous algae and hair algae the same thing?

 

[matttvi]

CGill311;41346 wrote: I'm thinking about buying a fish to eat the little bit of hair algae in my 30G tank. I've narrowed it down to two potentials. Does anyone have experience with either of these two and could provide some good insight?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=176">Hector's Goby</a> - Will sift sand as well (supposedly), stays small, & eats just about anything

[IMG]http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=164">Court Jester Goby</a> - Cooler looking, stays small, & eats just about anything

I'm shying away from blennies b/c they get larger and have been known to nip at corals. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Hector's goby, since it seems more utilitarian.

Also, is filamentous algae and hair algae the same thing?[/QUOTE]

The Ranford's goby is not much of an algae eater. Most of its "algae eating" is the goby searching for pods and picking at them among the algae. In that small a tank, the ranford will probably wipe out most of the beneficial infauna in your sand bed. It will also need a lot of live rock to hunt for pods. I've been told they have similar characteristics to a mandarian when it comes to eating.

 

[tsciarini]

+1 on the pods... they are in the same playing field as a mandarin IMO

 

[cgill311]

MattTVI;41350 wrote: It will also need a lot of live rock to hunt for pods. I've been told they have similar characteristics to a mandarian when it comes to eating.

Then why does liveaquaria say it requires a min 10G tank? If it's like a mandarin, shouldn't that be a lot higher?

 

[matttvi]

CGill311;41368 wrote: Then why does liveaquaria say it requires a min 10G tank? If it's like a mandarin, shouldn't that be a lot higher?

Probably the same reason they suggest Epinephelus summana, </em>a fish that grows to a foot or more, would be fine in a 70g tank... because they want to sell fish...

If you can find a a. ranfordi</em> that eats prepared food and won't be intimidated by faster moving fish during feeding time, then you can probably keep him in a 10g. But to be honest, he should be the only fish in a smaller tank.

However, you may want to try a nudibrach to deal w/ the hair algae. If you think you have enough to keep the creature fed... i.e., you don't mind always having some in the tank for it to eat.

 

[cgill311]

MattTVI;41370 wrote: However, you may want to try a nudibrach to deal w/ the hair algae. If you think you have enough to keep the creature fed... i.e., you don't mind always having some in the tank for it to eat.

No, not enough grows in there to keep an herbivore fed. That's another reason why I'm avoiding blennies.

Does anyone have advice on the Hector's Goby?

 

[george]

I've noticed LiveAquaria's tank size recommendations have no bearing on feeding needs of the fish, but on estimated size of the fish and swimming habits. Some larger fish are very sedentary so they downsize the requirements.

For anything other than their "nano" ranking which is useful for finding smaller breed fish, I place those tank recommendations right up there with estimated tank sizes for skimmers: subjective at best.