Cleaner crew

[NeilSharpton]

Hey fish people I need some help!! I have a 125 gallon FOWLR tank and the algae is getting out of control. I have green hair algae and diatoms everywhere!! Currently I have a Niger Trigger and a Panther Grouper in the tank. I am also going to be adding some tangs, angels and a lionfish at some point. I know I need to go up to a bigger tank eventually ( I have plans to get a 325 within a year) so I know I can keep the grouper. What I need help with is what clean up crew can I use? I know snails are out of the question as are shrimp, but is there any other crew I can use? I also plan on getting a few sand sifting gobies to help with the substrate. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jekyl]

Are you using photosynthetic lighting?

 

[NeilSharpton]

I have a 72" beamswork led leftover from when it was an African cichlid tank

 

[jda]

You can totally keep snails. Keep your water temp lower than 78 and the no3 at a reasonable level and you can have Turbos, astreas, ceriths and many more kinds. Even with fish much more aggressive than a niger trigger, they could not get to the turbo snails. Most snails will slow down when the temperature gets too high, so keep the tank more cool - 75-76 is a nice place.

Urchins work too unless you have just some nasty fish like a Queen Trigger or parrotfish.

I have kept niger triggers in a reef with minimal damage (not none, but also not much).

 

[Magicsoftimage]

I have hallowen hermit crabs, snails, and cleaner shimps. They have been doing a great job on removing algea in my nano tank but with your tank size you might want to have an army of those.