Best Algae Eating Reef Safe Fish....

[darren24]

I have a small amount of hair algae popping up. Just got a skimmer to try and help with the export but is there a reef safe fish that will munch on it? It is very small just a few strands here and there. No tangs in the tank so I am not concerned about compability. Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[darth reefer]

My foxface is a algae eating machine. Runner up would be my yellow tang.

 

[darren24]

Darth I was considering a Foxface. Never had one. I have had YT in the past. Thanks.

 

[ralph atl]

another choice....lawnmower blenny...never had one, though

a few turbo snails also might do it.

 

[jef4y]

Depends on tank size.
Lawnmower blenny
Starry blenny
most any tang
fox face
big mexican turbo snails (like golf-ball size)
Emerald crabs
hermits

 

[enderg60]

Tangs or angles, they all like to graze

 

[djatl]

I went looking for a lawnmower blenny to help with GHA, and came home with a starry blenny. Very interesting and entertaining fish, and I like the coloration more. He eats more than GHA, so if you run out, he won't starve.

 

[glxtrix]

Sadly many of those fish are all hit and miss....at least with my experience. I'd pull the rock (if you can) and treat.

 

[tony_caliente]

My hand holding a razor blade. Found all to be hit and miss.

 

[darren24]

The issue is some pieces of the algae are growing up in the middle of some nice zoas. Just 1 or 2 stalks coming up over the zoas. That is why I figured a fish would be best.

 

[shanepike]

My turbos absolutely decimate GHA. It never lasts more than 12 hours. Don't how they find it, but they do. And once they do, it's over.

 

[darren24]

Shane would a turbo go over a zoa colony and just eat the algae? Just weighing out all options. Thanks.

 

[brandonmason]

I have emeralds, lawnmower, and tangs, They are graze well enough but once it gets out of control they cant keep up, I havent had any luck with any of my livestock taking care of hair algae... thus I run Phosguard to help maintain less nutrients for algae to thrive on... I would clean whatever you could without removing the coral and then let whatever you decide to buy try and stay ahead of the curve... toothbrushes work great for getting into tight spots......

 

[shanepike]

Darren24;830025 wrote: Shane would a turbo go over a zoa colony and just eat the algae? Just weighing out all options. Thanks.

Yep. Watched mine do it one day. It was crazy. Took it out like a surgeon.

 

[gafishman]

JeF4y;829946 wrote: Depends on tank size.
Lawnmower blenny
Starry blenny
most any tang
fox face
big mexican turbo snails (like golf-ball size)
Emerald crabs
hermits

What about a Pico/Nano Tank

 

[midas]

Using phosguard will help starve the algae, and any of the fish/inverts mentioned can be a good choice - in our tank the foxface and turbo snails have done a great job.

 

[darren24]

Ok I got a lead on a possible remedy. It involves Hydrogen Peroxide. Going to try it on one of my zoa colonies....

 

[kirkwood]

I've had a yellow tang and a blue tang both handle ha with no problem. They were in separate tanks. I'd say the yellow was better. I don't think you can go wrong with the yellow.

 

[jimmystephens]

Hp works great if u can pull the rock or frag out. Not sure if i would dose the dt with hp though

 

[slickwill613]

H2o2 is a great way to kill algae. My tank is small enough to do this, I drained almost all the water, spot treated all the bad spots, refilled with the water I drained them did a massive waterchange. For just rocks with no coral attached, you just just give them a ten minute peroxide bath. If there are corals attached you don't want to go stronger than a 50/50 peroxide saltwater mix. Zoas and sps are very tolerant of this kind of dip. Different results with LPS and leathers, so be cautious with those. Also, if you have a skunk cleaner shrimp setup a small qt for it as these shrimp almost never survive the treatment. Best part is after around 24 hours the peroxide just turns into oxygen so just drop the shrimp back in after a day.

Dosing directly to the DT is not as effective as the methods listed above. If you do decide to dose the DT don't exceed 1ml per ten gallons, you can SLOWLY up the dosage as everything gets used to it.

Also if you dip the rocks you will kill pods, but they'll repopulate.

Edit: Almost forgot, the highest DT dosage I've ever heard of was 4ml per ten gallons.