[fishgeeksrus]

We just noticed traces of bubble algae starting to grow on the lr in our new tank. We just finished curing the lr we put in. Any suggestions on critters that will help with this? Should I be worried?

[Reefland]

Emerald Crabs will usually eradicate Valonia spp. and would be my recommendation. Make sure that when you do maintenance, you do not "pop" the bubbles as it will release spores that will compound your problem.

Scott Z.

[fishgeeksrus]

How many would you recommend for a 180g?

[Reefland]

I would probably only get 2 or 3 to start and see how they do with it. I'm not a fan of emerald crabs but they will eradicate the Valonia.

Scott Z.

[patsfan1130]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I would probably only get 2 or 3 to start and see how they do with it. I'm not a fan of emerald crabs but they will eradicate the Valonia.

Scott Z.

I would probably go with the emarald crabs as well. I dont like them either as they can get semi large and have been known to eat coral polyps. I've used them in the past but always returned to my LFS once the bubble algae was gone.

[fishgeeksrus]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I would probably only get 2 or 3 to start and see how they do with it. I'm not a fan of emerald crabs but they will eradicate the Valonia.

Scott Z.

I bought six of them and they are eating the valonia. I am curious as to why you don't care for them? I thought that these were good for a reef aquarium? They are also eating these skinny, cotton ball looking things. Any idea what these are?

[patsfan1130]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

I bought six of them and they are eating the valonia. I am curious as to why you don't care for them? I thought that these were good for a reef aquarium? They are also eating these skinny, cotton ball looking things. Any idea what these are?

check out this thread
emerald crabs?

I have personally watched emerald crabs eat SPS. They are evil!

[farewellnite]

i dont care for emerald crabs either, there pesky, nosey..... ummmm just anoying to me haha i got rid of mine a while ago

[fishgeeksrus]

Well, it sounds like to me that I will be getting rid of these just as soon as they finish off all of the bubble algae. Man i wish i knew this. grrr

[Reefland]

The catch is, there isn't really anything else better to eradicate Valnia sp. than Emerald Crabs. The key is to remove the Emerald Crabs as soon as they have finished their work.

Scott Z.

[fishgeeksrus]

I will have about 6 of them to catch. What type of clean up crew should I keep in there at all times?

[Reefland]

A large mix of snails, and if you have DSB, a Conch or 2.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

Well, it sounds like to me that I will be getting rid of these just as soon as they finish off all of the bubble algae. Man i wish i knew this. grrr

At least you learned one of the most important lessons in this hobby: "Never believe everything you read on a vendor's website. Their job is to talk you into buying what they are selling, not the other way around." Saying that Mithrax spp. crabs are completely reef-safe is like Cheney telling us that the war in Iraq will cost us little or nothing because it will be funded by Iraqi oil sales.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

I will have about 6 of them to catch. What type of clean up crew should I keep in there at all times?

I agree with Scott that a conch would be a valuable addition if you have a sand bed; however, since your tank is only 55 gallons, limit yourself to one fighting conch (Strombus alatus). That's about all your size tank can support in this area. Another good addition, if you have a sand bed, would be a sand cucumber (Holothuria spp.).

Nassarius vibex snails would be nice -- if you have a sand bed. Same goes for Cerith snails. Then you would want some grazer snails, such as Trochus spp. You might want to consider a few hair worms (aka spaghetti worms), but these are pricey. The good thing is that they multiply. A few bristleworms would be good but some people don't like these. That's a personal decision. Also, consider adding a small serpent star if you are very careful to avoid the nasty species. Whatever you do, do not get an Atlantic green brittle star/serpent star. Those guys are not safe. I have all of those things in my 120-gal tank, plus micro stars and mini stars.

There is a catch 22 here: Ideally you would want to start out with just a few of these things and then add more gradually as your tank matures but you will soon learn that the best pricing is based on volume quantities. I started out with more of everything than I really wanted. This meant that I had to feed my tank/sand bed just for the benefit of all my cleanup crew critters until my tank was more balanced. It seems to have worked out but it's not the best approach. Here is where I purchased a lot of my stuff: www.reeftopia.com I also got stuff from www.inlandaquatics.com and www.ipsf.com Another good idea is to buy a small quantity of real live sand from each vendor every time you place an order. I ended up with live sand from five different sources, mostly just two or three pounds from each except for 12 pounds from www.palmettoreefs.com Just about any vendor who cures his own live rock will also offer homemade live sand.

[fishgeeksrus]

Wow, lots of great information. I have written all of this down. Anyone want some emerald crabs?? hehe

Andrea

[fishgeeksrus]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I agree with Scott that a conch would be a valuable addition if you have a sand bed; however, since your tank is only 55 gallons, limit yourself to one fighting conch (Strombus alatus). That's about all your size tank can support in this area. Another good addition, if you have a sand bed, would be a sand cucumber (Holothuria spp.).

Nassarius vibex snails would be nice -- if you have a sand bed. Same goes for Cerith snails. Then you would want some grazer snails, such as Trochus spp. You might want to consider a few hair worms (aka spaghetti worms), but these are pricey. The good thing is that they multiply. A few bristleworms would be good but some people don't like these. That's a personal decision. Also, consider adding a small serpent star if you are very careful to avoid the nasty species. Whatever you do, do not get an Atlantic green brittle star/serpent star. Those guys are not safe. I have all of those things in my 120-gal tank, plus micro stars and mini stars.


There is a catch 22 here: Ideally you would want to start out with just a few of these things and then add more gradually as your tank matures but you will soon learn that the best pricing is based on volume quantities. I started out with more of everything than I really wanted. This meant that I had to feed my tank/sand bed just for the benefit of all my cleanup crew critters until my tank was more balanced. It seems to have worked out but it's not the best approach. Here is where I purchased a lot of my stuff: www.reeftopia.com I also got stuff from www.inlandaquatics.com and www.ipsf.com Another good idea is to buy a small quantity of real live sand from each vendor every time you place an order. I ended up with live sand from five different sources, mostly just two or three pounds from each except for 12 pounds from www.palmettoreefs.com Just about any vendor who cures his own live rock will also offer homemade live sand.

For the spaghetti worms, do I have to worry about the fish or crabs picking or eating them?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

For the spaghetti worms, do I have to worry about the fish or crabs picking or eating them?

Maybe, maybe not. I started out with six of them ($5.99 each!) about eight months ago and I now have at least 15 of them that I can see. I have about 8 mature Scarlet Reef hermits and they don't seem to bother them at all. Sometimes some of my hair worms seem to be sporting new crewcuts and I suspect that the guilty party here is Comus, my Orchid Dottyback; but lately all of them seem to have nice long buccal tentacles, so I guess Comus got tired of fooling with them.

P.S. -- You would definitely have to worry about some fish eating them if you simply drop them into a tank with fish in it and the lights on. I added mine to a tank with no fish, just a sandbed. Always add critters like these about two hours after all of the lights have gone out and the fish are all asleep unless you want to provide them with a rather expensive lunch.

[fishgeeksrus]

I definitly want some of those but I am going to wait until i have all of my live rock. 100-150 lbs to go.

[Minh Nguyen]

For me, I just tank a BBQ skewer and poke hole in my bubble algae. The tangs will finish them in shor order after that. This will not release spores into the water. However you kill them with biological control, the fish and crab will punture them first just as you do it. Once it is puntured, it defense mechanism is breached and the fish will finish the job.
Minh