[merlynstar]

Hi,

I have a 20 gallon saltwater tank (my first). I have a grouper of some sort and a lawnmower blenny. And I have three pieces of rock. I know one is a living rock (according the pet store women) She sad the other ones were coral. My question is on two of the rocks there is white fuzzy stuff,(living rock and coral) And on the third rock there is green grassy looking stuff(other coral). I have no clue any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. The green stuff almost looks like flowing algea. But the white stuff is like little fingers coming out of the rock, and there is a lot of it.

[Reefland]

Hi merlynstar,


I'm not sure about the white stuff you describe but my thoughts are it is not harmful. It would take a picture to know what you have. The green stuff sounds like it might be an algae of some sorts. You try to do a search here for "hair algae", "derbesia" or "bryopsis" to see if any of these is what you have. If so, I would manually extract it as soon as possible.

[merlynstar]

Thanks

[merlynstar]

PS: you have a beautiful tank.

[Steven Pro]

You might also want to reconsider that grouper. If it very likely that it will grow far too large for a 20 gallon tank.

[merlynstar]

This is my tank. Does anyone know what kind of grouper this is?
PS: the puffer in the tank is not mine I was babysitting. I had one last question what are tiny white wriggles in the tank. Are they bad or good?

[showfish]

That does not look like a grouper, it looks like it belongs to the snapper family. Not sure what the white stuff is. What type of substrate is that, looks like crushed rock.

[showfish]

In fact it looks like a (Lutjanus griseus) juvenile Mangrove snapper.

[merlynstar]

It is crushed rock. I thought it looked like a snapper too, but she insisted it was a grouper of some sort. Thanks for your help. You see the little guy under the rock she said it was a gobby that changes colors, but to me it looks like a lawnmower blenny any suggestions? Sorry picture isn't better.

[showfish]

Where did you get that fish, for this species is generally not sold in the LFS, for he will get to be about 17 lbs in the wild. Excellent table fair however.

[showfish]

Cannot make him out from the pic. He must be camouflaged out in the Red Cyano algae on that rock.

[merlynstar]

I got him at the pet store but I think she has a local shrimper bring her fish for her to sell. I'm not positive though. Also what do you mean by table fair?

[Reefland]

Both of those fish get much too large for the tank you have them in. I can't tell you much more than that about them. I would suggest you return them to the store and pick up a few fish that are more suitable to your tank; a few clowns, Royal Gramma, etc. These would make a much better addition to your tank. Secondly, I would suggest adding more liverock. to help with natural filtration.

[showfish]

What I mean by that is Mangrove Snapper sometimes called (Gray Snapper) are very good to eat. Of course there are size restictions on catching them. I would not put any smaller fish in that tank with him however, for he will eat anything he can catch. IMO, you probably would be better off taking him back to the LFS and see if you can trade him for a more suitable species. Doing some research on your livestock before you purchase them can and will save you many headaches down the road. I learned that the hard way. Reefland also makes a good point, you might want to add more live rock to your set-up. 1 lb. per gallon is the general "rule of thumb", but of course with everything else in this hobby it depends on who you ask.

[merlynstar]

Thanks,
If thats the case I will bring them back because I don't want to mess them up having him in such a small tank. With clown fish don't you need a anemeny (excuse my spelling). Thank you for all your help.

[showfish]

No, in fact anemones can live fine all by themselves. Some species require special lighting requirements however. Do your homework before you decide to purchase one to make sure you can provide the animal with the proper environment.

[merlynstar]

Thanks a lot for all your help. I will definately do some reading about this before I just purchase something. I'am happy you were here to help, I wish the pet store women had told all this stuff, so I hadn't put fish threw all the stress. But if they are better off I will return them, and definately do a lot of research before I purchase anything else. Again thanks for all your help.

[showfish]

You are quite welcome.