Good thing Im using ULNS

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Clean up crew...snails, hermits etc

Oh. DOH !

I have lots of trochus snails, several red leg hermits & blues. The algae is to long for the snails. I have a few emeralds who love to eat the algae but they can't keep up to that much. I also have a sea hare that likes glass hard algae instead of what its suppose to be eating.

No fish, as Im in my 2nd month fishless from the velvet disaster. I have 6 shrimp which I feed daily plus the feed keeps the biological alive.

It something would eat it besides the emeralds I would add a bunch of them but don't think thats going to happen.

[Doug]

Here,s an example. As seen in the pic, its starting to affect my corals. For whatever reason the coral is not focused correct but algae is, so you get the idea.

[Doug]

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

I have lots of trochus snails, several red leg hermits & blues. The algae is to long for the snails. I have a few emeralds who love to eat the algae but they can't keep up to that much. I also have a sea hare that likes glass hard algae instead of what its suppose to be eating.

Gimme some numbers Doug!

I'd be suggesting something that looks like this (this is your 50-gallon right??):

15 Scarlet Hermits
5 Trochus
5 Turbo
3 Spiny Astraea
3 Pyramid Astraea
6 Ring Cowrie
6 Nerite
6 Tongan Nassarius
1 Fighting Conch

The key is variety. Don't buy the small-type Nassarius or Cerith snails with hermits in the tank - they are just too easy pickings for hermits. My Scarlet Hermits have never touched any of the above suggested snails. I have all of those in my tanks for years. You will probably have to remove 20% of the above numbers once they've trimmed out all the algae.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Myka

Gimme some numbers Doug!

I'd be suggesting something that looks like this (this is your 50-gallon right??):

15 Scarlet Hermits
5 Trochus
5 Turbo
3 Spiny Astraea
3 Pyramid Astraea
6 Ring Cowrie
6 Nerite
6 Tongan Nassarius
1 Fighting Conch

The key is variety. Don't buy the small-type Nassarius or Cerith snails with hermits in the tank - they are just too easy pickings for hermits. My Scarlet Hermits have never touched any of the above suggested snails. I have all of those in my tanks for years. You will probably have to remove 20% of the above numbers once they've trimmed out all the algae.

I have to skip the last two as its bare bottom.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

I have to skip the last two as its bare bottom.

Uh yeah, skip the sand dwellers. I'd add CUC and wait a few weeks to see if that makes the difference or not. It doesn't cost much, and it's easy.

[Doug]

Not the easiest to buy unless one of my friends is going by JL.

So I have a CUC order at CC waiting for the rest to come in next week.

Mindy, have you ever used the red leg crabs, similar to the blues, instead of scarlets?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

Not the easiest to buy unless one of my friends is going by JL.

So I have a CUC order at CC waiting for the rest to come in next week.

Mindy, have you ever used the red leg crabs, similar to the blues, instead of scarlets?

Oh yeah, I forgot you live in Kamloops. Yeah, the red legs are just as murderous as the blue legs. Scarlets are the only ones I keep - they are worth the extra few bucks.

[Doug]

Another thing about this algae is that it will not come out. I scrub with a stainless steel wire toothbrush. We removed a large one covered with it and replaced it, which is now covered in algae anyways.
My friend had it in a tub in the dark for a month and the algae actually grew. He took a large wire brush to it and removed nothing.

ALGAE FROM HELL

This past year must be making up for the 35 good years I had before..