Clean my rocks without a cleanup crew

Jase4224

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Hi Guys, my mixed roof has been set up about 2 1/2 years now and I’m starting to get a little algae and detritus build up on my rocks now. I blow them off before water changes but they are just starting to look a little dirty. I can’t keep snails or hermits because my Harlequin Tusk smashes them.

I’m thinking of trying sea stars but not sure how effective they are or if Mr T will go for them. Not willing to try urchins because my Majestic Angel scuffs himself up enough on the rocks asserting himself.

So I’m thinking that some kind of bacterial solution might be worth trying??

My nitrate and phosphate are undetectable by my Red Sea test kits so excess nutrients are not a problem and don’t want to strip them any further.

I also use chaeto so not sure if I can use Vibrant.

What CAN I do?
 

Sosuke

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Starfish won't really eat that algae. Perhaps a type of urchin?
 

reddogf5

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A tang or blennie? I have zero faith in "clean up crews", I bet there is no tank overrun with algae that didn't have a butt load of snails and hermit crabs to start with.
 
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Jase4224

Jase4224

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A tang or blennie? I have zero faith in "clean up crews", I bet there is no tank overrun with algae that didn't have a butt load of snails and hermit crabs to start with.
I’m waiting on a tang but my LFS in Western Australia is having troubles getting overnight shipments so it’s been literally months! I’m either getting a purple tang or a chocolate/hippo combo.
 

Waters

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When I had my semi-predator reef the only CUC I had that would do anything was astrina stars and cowries. My wrasses tore up all my snails and urchins.
 

swebb

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Turkey baster (put it in every hole you can find in your rocks) and a toothbrush (scrub anywhere that the algae is bothering you). If your tank is old and you have never used a turkey baster before do not do all of your rocks at once or you could create an ammonia spike FYI!!
 
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Jase4224

Jase4224

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Turkey baster (put it in every hole you can find in your rocks) and a toothbrush (scrub anywhere that the algae is bothering you). If your tank is old and you have never used a turkey baster before do not do all of your rocks at once or you could create an ammonia spike FYI!!
I regularly blast my rocks with a hose connected to a pump. It’s amazing the crap that builds up in just a week, but I feed heavily. Thanks
 

Timfish

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I would try the long spine urchins. Instead of blowing stuff off before water changes use steel straws to scrap and siphon off the algae. This is a tedious method but you can also use H2O2 in a syrenge with a silicone muffin cup to hold a small amount of H2O2 on a small area of rock to kill algae.

 
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