Which decorative macros would survive my tank?

[ZzyzxRiver]

I love to feed my fish and my nutrients show it.
I also love decorative macroalgae, but I’m not sure if there’s anything I can keep given the inhabitants of my tank:

- 25 red legged hermit crabs
- 10 blue legged hermit crabs
- 3 emerald crabs
- Trochus, Astraea, dwarf and regular cerith, margarita, periwinkle, and nassarius snails
- Starry blenny (a very hungry one who loves salad, LOL)
- Six other fish that don’t eat algae.
- 50g tank

Do I have any hope for keeping decorative macros? If so, which ones do you suggest for this situation?

 

[courtneykeeps]

I doubt it

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Any other votes? Is it the hermits or the blenny that’s the main issue?

 

[painter1982]

Hermits and snails don’t bother mine. My tang prunes it though. My blennies perch on it but don’t eat it that I’ve noticed.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Hermits and snails don’t bother mine. My tang prunes it though. My blennies perch on it but don’t eat it that I’ve noticed.

What kind do you keep?

 

[JoJosReef]

Any other votes? Is it the hermits or the blenny that’s the main issue?

All an issue. You will anchor your macros to a rock or something, and then a hermit(s) will nibble right at the stem commected to the rock and your macro is now blowing around the tank and gets stuck in the overflow... your best bet for a decorative macro in a tank full of crawling herbivores is to make an unclimbable flower pot. Like a rock on top of an acrylic rod or something.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

All an issue. You will anchor your macros to a rock or something, and then a hermit(s) will nibble right at the stem commected to the rock and your macro is now blowing around the tank and gets stuck in the overflow... your best bet for a decorative macro in a tank full of crawling herbivores is to make an unclimbable flower pot. Like a rock on top of an acrylic rod or something.

……. What I’m hearing is it’s time for me to get a second tank.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I think it would be fine to put some macro in there just started with something cheap. Blennies usaully dont eat a lot of macro but they do help keep it clean. Thats been my experience and there's this British dude on YouTube that pretty much only keeps macroalgae and I think he keeps blennies in most of his tanks. Ill try to find his channel but he is very helpful for macroalgae knowledge. Hermits might just eat off the stem like Jojo said, haven't had that happen in my tank yet.

 

[BristleWormHater]

This dude
https://youtube.com/@everydayaquarist?si=NJct_kh31FMSUvSxHeres a good video

 

[JoJosReef]

I think it would be fine to put some macro in there just started with something cheap. Blennies usaully dont eat a lot of macro but they do help keep it clean. Thats been my experience and there's this British dude on YouTube that pretty much only keeps macroalgae and I think he keeps blennies in most of his tanks. Ill try to find his channel but he is very helpful for macroalgae knowledge. Hermits might just eat off the stem like Jojo said, haven't had that happen in my tank yet.

Now I just have three dwarf red hermits. Tiny little guys, but they still give it their best on my pom pom and my dragons breath. Always at the anchor, too! I've always had good luck with Codium. Even when I had my tux urchin, two turbos and my good for nothin pencil urchin, they couldn't mow down all the Codium. I'd see branches drifting, but never the whole "thicket". Botrycladia was a lost cause. I managed to keep it a long time with snails and emerald crabs by putting a clear plastic tube around the base, but once I got the tux, it was game over for the Botry.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Now I just have three dwarf red hermits. Tiny little guys, but they still give it their best on my pom pom and my dragons breath. Always at the anchor, too! I've always had good luck with Codium. Even when I had my tux urchin, two turbos and my good for nothin pencil urchin, they couldn't mow down all the Codium. I'd see branches drifting, but never the whole "thicket". Botrycladia was a lost cause. I managed to keep it a long time with snails and emerald crabs by putting a clear plastic tube around the base, but once I got the tux, it was game over for the Botry.

Ive always wanted to try codium, I think I'll get some soon. Botrocladyia is my favorite but it is such a nightmare, everything eats it and its a gha magnet. Luckily I only paid $5 for my piece.

 

[JoJosReef]

Ive always wanted to try codium, I think I'll get some soon. Botrocladyia is my favorite but it is such a nightmare, everything eats it and its a gha magnet. Luckily I only paid $5 for my piece.

My biggest problem with Botrycladia was always snails climbing it and breaking the branches. I'd find a huge branch nearly snapped in the middle with a big trochus hanging on at the end.

I've since moved on to string of pearls but did a poor job keeping it and it is overrun with bubble algae at the moment...

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

String of pearls? Bubble algae? Together, that’s just double the pearls, haha.
I love string of pearls, and I kept them successfully, growing out of a crevice within my GSP rock! I might try that again, less likely (not impossible) a crab will mount the rock.