Amphipod eater wanted (must meet some requirements)

[jason_mazzy]

So I want/need someone to dwindle my amphipod population. The vacation curse had struck and lost 99% of my corals and a few fish. Now the tank that has the issue is a 30 gallon biocube, no sump.

currently has 1 occelaris, and 2 pajama cardinals. Corals consist of zoanthids, a small hammer, and a plate coral. I will rebuild the sps so no polyp biters.

I would use a 6 line as my go-to but in a tank that small I think that is a problem for the day he turns into a psychotic monster. So, since the 6 line is out what is the best 30 gallon appropriate fish to keep these suckers at bay?

 

[cohlton]

Dragonet!

 

[TheLadyCrash]

Dragonet!

A dragonet will deplete your pods very quickly...they eat a TON. If you get a dragonet you will need to supplement with pods or it will starve to death.

 

[jason_mazzy]

I would not put a dragonet in the biocube. That is actually why I posted no sump in the tank description.

 

[Maritimer]

What about a possum wrasse, genus Wetmorella?

~Bruce

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Kumohara blenny. Red scooter blenny.

The kimohara is a fanged blenny and , venomous. And cute as a button.

 

[TheLadyCrash]

Is there a specific reason you want to get rid of your pods? As you rebuild up stock, they will make good snacks for new coral/fishies

 

[lion king]

Pink streaked wrasse; I tried to run a fishless system, amphipods got as big as shrimp eating corals. Pretty fish, very entertaining, cruises through the rocks and doesn't bother anyone. Very under appreciated fish.

 

[jason_mazzy]

I have 10's of thousands running around the tank at any given moment between 1mm-7mm in size. I want to hold them in check a bit for many reasons and it will help support my final fish addition. My sps are unlikely to benefit from anything in that size except perhaps suspended waste product. They're ugly when in plague proportions and they are obviously breeding unchecked and that is never healthy in any ecosystem.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Is there a specific reason you want to get rid of your pods? As you rebuild up stock, they will make good snacks for new coral/fishies

Good point. As juviniles they are almost invisible and snakes for things with tiny mouths. At night in the ocean that's when the plankton bloom and the corals open up to feed.

In a smaller biosphere blooms come and go. Sonas the bugs exhaust the obviously large amount of extra food in the tank the population blooms. Once they finish cleaning the tank for you the population will crash.
That's the problem with introducing a species to clean up the bugs in the short term. Once the little bugs are gone now that the cleaned the tank Mandy now goes hungy.

 

[jason_mazzy]

Exactly why a mandarin should never be introduced into such a small closed system.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I second pink streak wrasse or a Wetmorella species.

 

[Cment]

i had a pink streaked wrasse for 3 years. Great little fish but they are very cryptic as most of the wetmorella are. He did settle in after a few months but would always just lurk in the shadows when I approached the tank but it was a 75g and not a 30g so you'll probably see him a lot more in yours. He never bothered anyone and ate anything I put in the tank. I think he's gonna be the best fit for your tank. He was a little harder to find as not many places around me carried him so be patient with availability...

 

[evolved]

Pink streaked wrasse

Yup, +4 on that.

 

[Tori]

i had a pink streaked wrasse for 3 years. Great little fish but they are very cryptic as most of the wetmorella are. He did settle in after a few months but would always just lurk in the shadows when I approached the tank but it was a 75g and not a 30g so you'll probably see him a lot more in yours. He never bothered anyone and ate anything I put in the tank. I think he's gonna be the best fit for your tank. He was a little harder to find as not many places around me carried him so be patient with availability...

I can second that. You'll definitely see them more in a smaller tank. I have a yellow banded possum wrasse and a Pinkstreak wrasse in a Nuvo 20g and I constantly see them hunting around the rockwork.

 

[revhtree]

Will any of these wrasse eat zoa eating nudibranchs?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Will any of these wrasse eat zoa eating nudibranchs?

I've found most small Halichoeres will eat them if not overfed.

 

[evolved]

^Agree; Halichoeres are your best bet there.

But Flatworm Exit supposedly kills zoa nudis too.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Hector's goby

 

[Vaughn17]

Exactly why a mandarin should never be introduced into such a small closed system.

So you know this from experience?

Feed the pods. IME, if you feed your pods and have lots of rock for pod habitat, you can keep a mandarin long term in tanks as small as 20 gallon (never tried smaller).