View Full Version : Need a Tang...
makai
02-13-2003, 12:50 PM
Check my specs below......
Got some hairy algae for it to take care off...and no not want a Yellow Tang.
Anybody got any options for me?
thanks
Corax
02-13-2003, 12:59 PM
by "hairy algae", do you mean the dreaded bryopsis? If so, then a tang will not touch it.....
slipknottin
02-13-2003, 1:19 PM
Nobody is going to suggest a tang.
Originally posted by makai
Check my specs below......
Got some hairy algae for it to take care off...and no not want a Yellow Tang.
Anybody got any options for me?
thanks
No offense makai, but you still don't need a tang in your tank. You already lost a Kole right? Your tank is just too small for a tang.
Find the cause of the hair algae...please don't buy another tang in an attempt to mask the problem.
Originally posted by slipknottin
Nobody is going to suggest a tang.
Slip's typing quick this morning...beat me to it :)
how about a algae blenny??
Think the algae is a tap water problem with my weekly water changes. I have a "fill-it-yourself" R/O station down the street and have been thinking of using that for water. Any suggestions.
OrionGirl
02-13-2003, 2:14 PM
Putting a small blenny in there might be a problem. The triggers are getting along so far, but adding another fish of any kind might upset that, and a blenny is no match for a trigger on a rampage.
If the algae is from your water, best solution will be to change water sources. Otherwise, you risk getting a fish to solve the problem, then running out of algae, and having to supplement the fish or having it starve.
Very good point oriongirl.....
the algae blenny are pretty large and the LFS said that the algae blenny hardly ever takes care of the algae you want it too.
Do you think the R/O station will help at all?
OrionGirl
02-13-2003, 2:54 PM
It really depends on what kind of algae you have, and why. High phophates can be from using tap water, as can silica. If this is the case, then yes, RO will get rid of it eventually. If the algae is from too many nutrients, RO won't help a bit. Reduced feedings will. If the algae is from light bulbs that are old and have shifted spectrum, new bulbs will help. If you have the red slime algae (that's actually bacteria, not a true algae), RO may help, but probably isn't a sure thing.
In my experience, it's usually not just one thing that causes an algae problem. It's a combination of several things. This is a starting point.
We have a lawn mower blenny, and he eats a lot of algae off the glass. Because we don't mind the natural look of some algae on the rocks and back walls of the tank, it's no big deal. If we were trying to get rid of the algae completely, the blenny would be a silly waste. As is, it's fun to watch him 'kiss' the glass and scrape the algae off. Leaves weird little tracks through the algae, like some sort of bizarre crop circle.
That mower blenny sounds cool....
I'll try a few things and see what happens. Like you said, the algae look doesn't really bother me. I have some green type algae that actually looks like hair or fur. It mostly grows on the back of the galss in blotches untill it fills in. there is also some on my decrative dead corals but not on my LR.
Thanks for your imput....
OrionGirl
02-13-2003, 4:15 PM
I think the lawn mower and algae blenny are probably the same fish, different names. Here's a link to what we have:
http://ozreef.org/directory/chordata/salarias_fasciatus.html
Color variation is pretty wide, but you get the general idea. I still wouldn't add one into your tank, so you don't mess up/initiate a turf war.
latazyo
02-13-2003, 6:37 PM
I know a guy with a bicolor blenny that eats a lot of his algae
and what about a load of snails, they mow through my algae very well as well as my hermit crabs
ps: don't your triggers eat all of your small stuff?
MonoSebaelover
02-13-2003, 7:07 PM
I would never trust a Trigger with any kind of slow or stationary fish like a Blenny. Triggers and Puffers are very well known for tasting fish to death. I am almost sure this would happen especially with the Undulated. I wouldn't worry so much about the Niger. They generally tend to be *****'s. I have a pair in my 209 and it is so cute because they always hang out together. They don't bother anything else except for making sure the other Triggers are kept in check (White tail and Rectangular Huma). It is just a matter of time before the triggers kill all the snails if you decide to get them. Pretty much no invert is safe with a Trigger. I used to have a red Hermit in the 209 but have not seen it in about a month or so, so I think the triggers got it. As far as keeping an Undulated with other fish, I used to have my boy with a Niger Trigger, 3 Silver Scats, Arthron Puffer, and 2 Volitans Lions. It worked fine. Then I set up the 209 and most of the fish got moved to the 209 while I moved the Undulated (now approaching 4 inches!) to the 46G with 4 Bar Gobies. Everybody gets along great... for the meanwhile anyway. Undulateds have totally different personlities but as babies they are generally pretty laid back. As they grow they can get pretty nasty. This is true with all triggers. Undulateds and Queens are by far the most unpredictable. If an Undulated blows a fuse, you will have no more fish tankmates. And this can happen overnight. I have heard of people going to bed with the tank fine and waking up to only an Undulated Trigger with the corpses scattered over the tank! Just to warn ya. He should be fine for now but watch him in the future.