i got an algae problem

[emz88]

hi there guys, got a bit of an algae problem on the front of my tank , i got lots of snails , crabs , gold rush tang , lemon tang, but it dont seem to be going , any ideas

[Ninong]

Hi emz88,



What algae problem are you talking about? Are you talking about the coralline algae at the bottom of the front glass? If so, you need to scrape that off by hand with an algae scraper. It's too late for you to keep it clear with a magnet cleaner because it's already established and, besides, it's hard to use a magnet scraper on a curved glass (or acrylic?) tank.

The only thing that will eat coralline algae would be an urchin and they may ignore it in favor of other algae first. Besides, you have to really like urchins to put one in a 50-gallon (190l) aquarium.

That brings up topic Number 2: How did you end up with three tangs in a little 50-gallon tank? Is that what the other guy already had in there when you bought the tank or did you add those yourself? You list only two tangs in this thread but a few days ago you posted a picture of your tank showing a regal tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) and a yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens). The reason I'm using the scientific names along with the most popular English language common names in America is because common names vary from country to country, even from region to region within the same country. For example, the regal tang is known by at least five different common names in this country.

Unfortunately a 50-gal (190l) aquarium is much too small for even a single tang. Sorry.

Good luck!



P.S. -- I entered "gold rush tang" and "lemon tang" as common names in FishBase and came up blank. They're no showing up as known English language common names any place in the world. So I guess that's two more common names we will have to add to the list.

I will assume that "lemon tang" refers to the solid yellow tang in the picture you posted on Oct. 13, right? If so, that's Zebrasoma flavescens, which is usually called a "yellow tang." That same picture also includes a Paracanthurus hepatus, commonly called a regal tang, or palette tang, or hippo tang, or Pacific blue tang, or yellow tail tang, or hepatus tang, or flag tail surgeonfish, or wedge-tailed tang, etc. Some new hobbyists call it "Dori," since that was its name in Finding Nemo. Those are just the English language common names for Z. flavescens. Obviously it has common names in other languages, too. Fortunately for all of us, it has only one scientific name that remains the same all over the world.

[emz88]

yes they where in the tank when i bought it , i am selling one soon though and i am thinking about upgrading to a larger tank, they pretty small at the moment , and all get along fine