tang

[killian]

i need an answer. i half a 55g/l and there is a major hair algae problem in my tank. i have a couple of watchman gobis and blennies not much else i am wandering if i would be able to get a yallow tang or some sort of tang to put in the tank to try and get rid of the algae. is this ok or will the tang outgrow the tank too fast.

[Mikeman]

I like to say you can keep yellow tangs in a 55g, itcould get cramped though, you might want to add a Yellow Eyed Kole tang. they can be kept in smaller tanks

[the_blue_tuna]

If you really want the tang , you could use the 55 . Be aware though some tangs wont eat the hair algae. You may be better off treating the problem , rather than the symptoms. What are your water param's?Typically , this problem usually indicates high nitrates and phosphates.

[JRoweNole]

I battled a severe hair algae problem in my 92 gallon for several months.

My solution: quality RO/DI water, weekly 15%-25% water changes whereby I siphoned the algae (never scrape algae), stopped feeding gel based frozen foods (used pellet foods so I could monitor amount), and beefed up my cleanup crew with zebra hermits from etropicals.com and a few large Mexican turbos. Also make sure your alkalinity and calcium levels are up, making sure your magnesum levels are adequate to insure stability for your alk and calcium.

I tried the algae eating fish route and had no luck.


JRoweNole

[Desert Fish]

I have found that many algae problems are light related and not necessarily due to water quality (within limits). For example I have two tanks on one system, one with heavy hair algae and one without. Water quality is the same in both tanks - 0 NH4,NO3,and NO4, .02 PO4. No algae in the tank with 6500K flourescent but heavy growth with additional actinic lighting.
Lawnmower and diamondback blennies have a hugh appitite for algae on rocks and glass.Pearly jawfish will take care of anything on the sand and also do a good job of stirring the sand bed if you have a DSB.

[Bughead]

You say pearl jawfish stir the sand. Do they deposit sand all over the rocks and corals like sand-sifters such as banded gobies do? I find that to be a pain in the *** to clean the rocks off with a turkey baster every several days, but I would like a fish that would stir the sand a bit.

[Desert Fish]

Jawfish do throw the sand around somewhat but mostly build slopes around the lowest rocks. They work faster and with less damage knocking things over than cucumbersfor example