Myka vs Valonia Round 672

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Drock169

In addition, even though your phos are undectable, most likely the PO4 is being absorbed by the valonia first, valonia is excellent at scavenging PO4 in low nutrient systems. Honestly I would use a combination of manual removal for large ones in a separate container and a lot of emerald crabs for the small ones.

Ya, I'm quite aware of the phosphate reading being pretty much useless. My tank is fairly low nutrient, has been from day 1. I don't have any other nuisance algaes. Coralline algae has never really grown much in my tank. My rocks are mostly white. I'm hoping the higher Kelvin lighting may help with this as well. It doesn't have enough food in it for even a Peppermint or Cleaner shrimp to survive long-term. Nutrients are well addressed in my tank. The only other thing I could do is upgrade the skimmer. Current just have a Remora.

I've been looking for Emerald Crabs for probably 6 months, and haven't been able to locate any. They seem to be REALLY hit or miss though as to whether they will eat Valonia (do a search for the poll I made). Some people say hermit eat Valonia, but most people say they only eat hair algae. As a rule, I don't keep crabs of any kind in my tanks because I like my snails more.

So here's what's in the tank (and how long):

1 True Perc (1.5 years)
2 Bangaii Cardinals (1 year)
1 Kole Tang (1 day)

3 Astrea coelata (almost 2 years; original snails, never lost one)
1 Black Cerith (almost 2 years; original snail, had 3 of them)
3 Nassarius (1.5 years)
2 Ring Cowries (1+ year)
1 Brittle star (1+ year)
1 Margarita (6-8 months)

Critters that have died (and how long they lived). They weren't all in there at the same time:

1 Peppermint shrimp (1 year)
1 Orange Lip Conch (~8 months)
3 Ring Cowries (<1 month)
2 Black Cerith (6 months, and 1 year)
8-10 Nassarius (3-6 months). 3-4 were eaten by a Hermit crab I had, so the hermit was banned.
4 Margaritas (1 week-6 months). They fall on their backs, and die.