Sabregoalie
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Trochus and Lawnmower Blenny
Nominate: One Snail + One Fish (BEST Algae Fighting Combo)
- QUESTION OF THE DAY
- Thread starter revhtree
- Start date
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Nicholas Dushynsky
Valuable Member
What would a good sub 24gallon combo be as tangs are a no no. I use trochus and hermits.
Perfect pair, if i could add and emerald crab to the mix it would be a great trio!
There is no duo in my opinion that's a good well rounded solution. A combination of a zebrasoma or acanthurus tang and a rabbitfish combined cortez red legs and turbo and trochus snails along with maintaining parameters that allow coraline algae to grow quickly and not give other algae a surface to take hold.
The rabbitfish (preferably a foxface) will eat all types of algae, but most importantly they will consume bubble algae and algae that tangs won't touch. They're typically voracious eaters and I have had foxfaces that can strip bubble algae from a rock in no time.
Tangs can get lazy and stop grazing, this seems to happen more often with zebrasoma but acanthurus seems pretty diligent. However, it can vary among individuals.
The snails and the red legs act as a first line of defense and help prevent algae from taking hold, the red legs also seem to help with cyanobacteria as well and I've observed in my own attached systems where the tangs without the red legs have more cyanobacteria. I've never observed a red leg go after a healthy snail and they seem nearly incapable of killing healthy snails. So, I like to have a lot of them in tanks that are having algae problems and 1-2 per gallon makes a nice impact. Tiger trochus are voracious eaters and are more agile and better at clearing glass and smooth surfaces as well as nooks and crannies allowing fish, crabs, and others snails to focus more on the rockwork.
Lastly, manual removal is also a big help. Once algae takes hold and growth is older fish and inverts are less likely to graze. Therefore, keep it trimmed down will only aid the grazers in doing their job.
The heavy lifters here are the foxface and the mexican turbo snails, so if you need max efficiency those are the most important. If you don't want to zoanthids being eaten then stick with tangs and add more snails and hermit crabs.
Lastly, adding a Ctenochaetus tang to this mix can help as well as they consume detritus and film algaes which will contribute in a couple ways to the algae cycle and help turn phosphates bound in detritus into nutrition for the fish that will then not be released back into the tank.
Good luck to those of you battling algae!
The rabbitfish (preferably a foxface) will eat all types of algae, but most importantly they will consume bubble algae and algae that tangs won't touch. They're typically voracious eaters and I have had foxfaces that can strip bubble algae from a rock in no time.
Tangs can get lazy and stop grazing, this seems to happen more often with zebrasoma but acanthurus seems pretty diligent. However, it can vary among individuals.
The snails and the red legs act as a first line of defense and help prevent algae from taking hold, the red legs also seem to help with cyanobacteria as well and I've observed in my own attached systems where the tangs without the red legs have more cyanobacteria. I've never observed a red leg go after a healthy snail and they seem nearly incapable of killing healthy snails. So, I like to have a lot of them in tanks that are having algae problems and 1-2 per gallon makes a nice impact. Tiger trochus are voracious eaters and are more agile and better at clearing glass and smooth surfaces as well as nooks and crannies allowing fish, crabs, and others snails to focus more on the rockwork.
Lastly, manual removal is also a big help. Once algae takes hold and growth is older fish and inverts are less likely to graze. Therefore, keep it trimmed down will only aid the grazers in doing their job.
The heavy lifters here are the foxface and the mexican turbo snails, so if you need max efficiency those are the most important. If you don't want to zoanthids being eaten then stick with tangs and add more snails and hermit crabs.
Lastly, adding a Ctenochaetus tang to this mix can help as well as they consume detritus and film algaes which will contribute in a couple ways to the algae cycle and help turn phosphates bound in detritus into nutrition for the fish that will then not be released back into the tank.
Good luck to those of you battling algae!
JimFuller
Active Member
I currently have turbo snails, pincushion urchin, chocolate star, and Blue Hypo Tang for the algae crew. While the star is a light weight, the pincushion urchin more than makes up. The tang is always picking and doing great work.
hooligan76
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I like some type of bristletooth tang like a Kole or Tomini and as many Trochus snails as I can fit in a tank!
Alistairn1
Community Member
Rabbit fish and bumblebee do well for me but I do have 2 Conch’s hoovering up tooLet's have a little fun on this Monday and maybe learn something or help someone in the process! We're going to give an award to the Best Snail and Fish Algae Fighting Duo of Reef2Reef! So it's up to you to nominate your favorite! After we get the nominations in we'll create a poll and award the winner!
What is your favorite FISH and SNAIL for fighting algae? Pick ONE of each!
Isabel’s Hobby
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Fox face ? I thought they might nip on corals ... so are they actually ok with all kinds of corals ?
divewsharks
Active Member
Ctenochaetus tang and URCHINS. I have snails, but my urchins carry the load with the tang. Both move way quicker than snail, they can cover a bunch of ground in a short time.
eric.tech
Active Member
Mine fav for algae eaters on rocks is the tiger trochus snail. The move quite rapidly, can right themselves, eat a ton of algae, and spawn easily. Favorite for the sand bed would be my tiger conchs and large Nasarius snails. They do a pretty decent job stirring up the sand bed.
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