Saltwater tanks have algae problems?

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Milton Friedman

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Oct 26, 2003
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I'm mainly a freshwater guy (mainly due to finical reasons. To set up a nice saltwater tank is expensive. And the fish! Oh my:thud:. The do look nicer though;)) so when it comes to marine tanks, I am totally ignorant and naive. I'm a bit curious if marine aquarist have the same notorious problem that freshwater aquarist have (Especially freshwater planted tanks), which is annoying algae growth. You guys have the same type of algae (i.e. bearded algae)? How do you guys control it?
 
We do have algae prob.'s but they are with "hair" algae and cyano algae, They are controlled best by adding things that eat the algae, certain fish, snails, urchins, shrimp, and crabs and by not overfeeding the tank. It is also controlled by adding higher algae like Cheato and Calpura that compete for the same nutrients. There is also algae that we want in our tanks such as corraline algae that come in a large variety of colors and are more calcium based.
And if you really do want to start a salt tank there are less expensive ways to do it. Second hand and DIY equipment is a good start and you don't need all the bells and whistles as long as you are vigilant with water changes and husbandry. Check out some of the local marine clubs in your area you may be surprised how nice most of these people are and how willing they are to help a "newbie":D
 
I can bet I am poorer than you are and I have a 55 salt tank. Best thing I ever did. It doesn't have to be fancy like the 1s I am so jealous of. I have a fowlr-fish only with live rock. I have 7 fish that cost me about $100.00 total. Seeing how you can only add 1 fish at a time and wait for the bioload to catch up you can certainly save some more money while your waiting.

Of course, I want a bigger, better, nicer tank but I really couldn't be happier with what I do have.
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interesting.. Most of what im hearing is that the main cleaner of algae in a tank are hermits and other bottom dwellers. How do you keep algae off the glass of your aquarium? (assuming if you have that problem)

Also, what if you have fish that love eating hermits and various crustations :p ??
 
Cerith and astrea snails can control a whole lot of algae. (Mexican turbos chew through algae like no tomorrow, but are big enough to rearrange rockwork, too.) All of these snails can clean glass, or you can get an algae scraper to do it. Hermits are more omnivores that will grab whatever they happen to want at the time. This is true of all crabs, but my emerald mithrax crab cleans about a baseball sized piece of liverock of algae in a day. So, you can get crabs that prefer algae, they just may switch to meat if it's more convienent.

If your fish eat crustaceans, you might get a bigger tank and put in a lawnmower blenny. It will eradicate huge swathes of algae. The solution depends on the desired fish or corals in the tank in question.
 
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