CUC:Algae Balancing- When? How? How Fast?

[Euphylliaphyle]

I have spent months building up my CUC force. It now contains snails (Cerith, Nassarius, Astria, Marginella, Turbo), hermit crabs (red, blue), Emerald crabs, urchins (Purple & White, Pencil), Mini Serpentine Stars, pods, a Feather Duster Worm, a Lawnmower Blenny, and God only knows what may have hitchhiked in.
I'm beginning to turn the corner on my ugly stage algae, and am beginning to think about how to best prevent a mass starvation event.
Each of the ideas in the poll has a downside, so discussion of how to mitigate the downside and why you choose one or several of these over the others in spite of the downside is strongly encouraged.
Any advice on signs to watch, when to act, what to do, how fast to move, etc. will be most welcome!
Too little algae? Now, that's new!

 

[BryanM]

I never gave it much thought, and through different events my cuc has downsized, mostly due to toxic dinos.

Even though I have 5 tangs and a lawnmower blenny (for a year+), they are always finding things on the rocks to eat.

I would only really worry about rehoming things like nudibranches for aiptasia, since when aiptasia is done, they will starve and die.

 

[kdx7214]

I'll let you know when (if) the algae ever disappears.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I don't think I ever worried about my cuc starving just because I had GHA and dinos

 

[dvgyfresh]

If you have a ton of CUC and yr tank is spotless , I would put a sheet of nori under some rock. I have an insane amount of algae lol I don’t need to worry about that

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I never gave it much thought, and through different events my cuc has downsized, mostly due to toxic dinos.

Even though I have 5 tangs and a lawnmower blenny (for a year+), they are always finding things on the rocks to eat.

I would only really worry about rehoming things like nudibranches for aiptasia, since when aiptasia is done, they will starve and die.

Thank you. I never gave it any thought until now because my CUC is now doing a great job - I must have finally hit critical mass in adding them. I still have plenty of algae, but the long and really ugly stuff is limited now in locations. It's remarkable how fast it is being consumed after doing nothing but increasing for nine months.
I have no nudibranchs that I am aware of.
My concern comes from my error of adding herbivorous inverts too soon when the tank was new and seeing them die without connecting the dots.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I'll let you know when (if) the algae ever disappears.

Yeah, I have the feeling that I'm in for a humbling algal event before I actually run out. Thank you.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I don't think I ever worried about my cuc starving just because I had GHA and dinos

I'm probably overthinking this, but it's what I do. Thank you.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

If you have a ton of CUC and yr tank is spotless , I would put a sheet of nori under some rock. I have an insane amount of algae lol I don’t need to worry about that

Thank you. It seems like just last week I also had an insane amount (and didn't worry about it!)

 

[dvgyfresh]

Thank you. It seems like just last week I also had an insane amount (and didn't worry about it!)

Another idea is to start “cleaning” disturbing the sand / dark areas to kick up food / sediment but don’t remove it. let the cuc eat it. I used to have a sump and would turn the return pump to max shooting algae / detritus all over the tank. It turned into another feeding event without me feeding anything lol tangs would go crazy for any algae that came out

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm probably overthinking this, but it's what I do. Thank you.

I think it's human nature to overthink certain things! Nothing wrong, and I would rather be over-cautious than not cautious at all!

 

[ScottF]

I use mostly Trochus snails. I have a bunch that have grown to almost tennis ball sized. I've moved several of them into my refugium and let them chomp on my chaeto.

 

[ScottF]

I would only really worry about rehoming things like nudibranches for aiptasia, since when aiptasia is done, they will starve and die.

Good luck with this. I rarely see berghia in my tanks. They are very good at hiding in the rocks.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I use mostly Trochus snails. I have a bunch that have grown to almost tennis ball sized. I've moved several of them into my refugium and let them chomp on my chaeto.

I don't have a refugium or a sump, but have some macro in my DT. I suppose when that starts disappearing is when I start worrying. Or just buy some more.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

Good luck with this. I rarely see berghia in my tanks. They are very good at hiding in the rocks.

I have no Berghia. I have no Aiptasia. So for me at least, this is moot.

 

[Marc G-L]

I slowly added over 6 weeks a variety of CUC critters for my 95 gal DT. Large Trochus, Asterena snails, LG Pyramid snails, Large snoorkel Olive snails ( not the killer kind), a Lettuce Nudibrach, Red and Blue leg Hermits, a Fighting conch. Several Cerith, 20 tiny false ceriths ( west indies false cerithsnails ) and two very industrious pitho crabs..

Yeah, there was a lot of GHA, diatoms, and other forms of algae with my lights on bright 12hrs a day. There's LOts of Ulva and Codium Macroalgae in the fuges (night time light scedukle for Ph balance) and 8 varieties of Macro in the DT. Algae is well under control nobody is starving and I believe I have reached balance, both in water params and algae control.

I think it's far better to incrementally add more CUC, than to buy those massive packs recommended by the larger supply houses, only see your critters starve and Hermits start attacking snails. a few weeks later.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I slowly added over 6 weeks a variety of CUC critters for my 95 gal DT. Large Trochus, Asterena snails, LG Pyramid snails, Large snoorkel Olive snails ( not the killer kind), a Lettuce Nudibrach, Red and Blue leg Hermits, a Fighting conch. Several Cerith, 20 tiny false ceriths ( west indies false cerithsnails ) and two very industrious pitho crabs..

Yeah, there was a lot of GHA, diatoms, and other forms of algae with my lights on bright 12hrs a day. There's LOts of Ulva and Codium Macroalgae in the fuges (night time light scedukle for Ph balance) and 8 varieties of Macro in the DT. Algae is well under control nobody is starving and I believe I have reached balance, both in water params and algae control.

I think it's far better to incrementally add more CUC, than to buy those massive packs recommended by the larger supply houses, only see your critters starve and Hermits start attacking snails. a few weeks later.

I did add CUC incrementally, but my mistakes were 1.) I started adding CUC too soon, 2.) I added too slowly to keep up with the algae growth, 3.) I added a Lawmower Blenny and two urchins last, without allowing sufficient time between them to see what each was capable of before adding the next. I was treating these as if they were snails or crabs, but they're super-CUC. If doing this over, I would spread those last three out more among the other CUC purchases and wait until I had some appreciable algae before adding even the first herbivorous snail to a new tank.

 

[Reefchik]

I try to add a little nori sometimes, but my tangs wipe it out immediately unless I do it after lights out. I will also let my nutrients get a little higher if it doesn't seem like I'm getting enough algae growth to sustain the cuc.

 

[Marc G-L]

I did add CUC incrementally, but my mistakes were 1.) I started adding CUC too soon, 2.) I added too slowly to keep up with the algae growth, 3.) I added a Lawmower Blenny and two urchins last, without allowing sufficient time between them to see what each was capable of before adding the next. I was treating these as if they were snails or crabs, but they're super-CUC. If doing this over, I would spread those last three out more among the other CUC purchases and wait until I had some appreciable algae before adding even the first herbivorous snail to a new tank.

Waiting is hard, especially when we all want one of those sparkly tanks we see in kids. ( I think they scrub clean and filter like crazy before taking their pics. Then proclaim, "Bah, not much effort just on autopilot.")

 

[Marc G-L]

Not kids, videos.