Herbivore fish question..

[Anonymous]

I'm curious are there are herbivores that are truly suitable for a smaller tank (50 gallon range or cube style where any one direction isn't very long).

I'm thinking of downgrading to a smaller tank for various reasons, but small tanks get algae as well. Now I'm talking the green diatom like stuff, but macroalgae that for whatever reason has imbedded into the rock and regardless of how much you pull there always seems to be enough to continue sprouting new shoots.

I know the foxface is IMO the king of algae removal, however they get rather larger for a small tank. Tangs are out for similar reasons. I've heard lawnmower blennies chew threw algae fairly well but never actually seen a lawnmower eat, only scrape rocks.

 

[WRASSER]

yes Blennies :wink: i have a queen blenny, bi color blenny and midas blenny. They all work well on eatin the green stuff

 

[brandonberry]

When you say macroalgae are you referring to Caulerpa. If so, I had the same issue. I tryed numerous fish and inverts to control it with no success. While tangs tend to pick at it, they did not seem to care much for it. Rabbitfish didn't even like it. I finally caught a juv. blue angel while scuba diving and, surprisingly, he ripped it to shreads in a matter of days. He hasn't allowed it to come back yet. You may be able to get your LFS to get you a juv. blue angel with the agreement that they will buy it back when it outgrows your tank. Even if they won't, you shouldn't have a problem getting rid of this fish. It is gorgeous, and there is bound to be someone else out there with a caulerpa problem looking for a cure.

 

[SnowManSnow]

<-- hates trying to catch a fish in an established tank with all sorts of rock and corals haha...

b

 

[brandonberry]

I agree, but considering my blue angel eats Nori from my hand, I'm sure it couldn't be to hard to teach it to eat Nori clipped to a dip net either. LOL

 

[Anonymous]

The trouble with lawnmower blennies, as I understand it, is that they get fairly big, and when they do, they stop eating algae and get fairly aggressive as well. One might work for a smaller tank for a while, but if you wanted this tank longer term, it might not be as suitable.

 

[bleedingthought]

Get snails for diatom. Replace the rocks with macro algae on it with 'clean' rocks and put those in the sump/fuge.

 

[Anonymous]

When you say macroalgae are you referring to Caulerpa. If so, I had the same issue. I tryed numerous fish and inverts to control it with no success. While tangs tend to pick at it, they did not seem to care much for it. Rabbitfish didn't even like it. I finally caught a juv. blue angel while scuba diving and, surprisingly, he ripped it to shreads in a matter of days. He hasn't allowed it to come back yet. You may be able to get your LFS to get you a juv. blue angel with the agreement that they will buy it back when it outgrows your tank. Even if they won't, you shouldn't have a problem getting rid of this fish. It is gorgeous, and there is bound to be someone else out there with a caulerpa problem looking for a cure.

caulerpas are for the most part quite noxious to fish-most won't eat it

 

[brandonberry]

I had always heard that. Evidently some angels like the blue angel are immune to this. If you think that is noxious, what if I told you his other favorite food was zoanthids? I probably should have mentioned that before too. He does have a taste for them and certain really fleshy lps corals. Fortunately, he doesn't bother my clams. For anyone who delt with a caulerpa outbreak like I did, a few zoanthids are a small price to pay. I ended up just setting up a seperate small tank for them anyway.

 

[Caulerpanator]

SFSUphysics-
The best way to get the Caulerpa out of your rocks is to pull out the rock and freeze it overnight. Otherwise little hair "roots" will always remain and regrow. A 1mm piece of Caulerpa can regrow a new plant. Don't forget: it's illegal to possess 9 species of Caulerpa in California, and responsible aquarists have switched primarily to Chaetomorpha, which doesn't go sexual or grab on to everything like Caulerpa does.

 

[brandonberry]

I'm a responsible aquarist and I still use certain species of Caulerpa in my refugium. I just don't go throwing it in the ocean like irresponsible aquarists do. I also advise anyone who I give some to to do the same. It likely would not survive our winters here in NC anyway. Aside from that, I only use native caulerpa which I personally collected in Florida. I'll be sure not to send any to California.

 

[Caulerpanator]

It's great to hear an advocate for responsible aquarium keeping!

The aquarium strain of Caulerpa taxifolia has been demonstrated to survive for three months in water temperatures of 50deg. This makes large portions of the US coastline vulnerable to releases of this species, including North Carolina. For this reason North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Plant Industry Division – Plant Protection Section lists the aquarium strain of Caulerpa taxifolia as a Class A Noxious Weed.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a responsible aquarist and I still use certain species of Caulerpa in my refugium. I just don't go throwing it in the ocean like irresponsible aquarists do. I also advise anyone who I give some to to do the same. It likely would not survive our winters here in NC anyway. Aside from that, I only use native caulerpa which I personally collected in Florida. I'll be sure not to send any to California.

BAM!

you have no idea or control over what others will or won't do- and to simply assume that they won't does not absolve you of any contribution you may make to its spread if they do :idea:

(just pointing out the severe flaw in your reasoning/logic )

(it's kinda like giving someone a loaded gun and and assuming they won't shoot anyone simply because you warn them not to, and thinking you have no contributing resposibility for providing the weapon in the first place) :idea: