Naso tang, rabbitfish or sea hare?

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Dolf

Taken from: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/cleanupcrew.html
FISH - I know of only one species of fish that can be considered truly beneficial, and by that I mean it performs such a good service that its contribution in keeping the majority of algae species in check far outweighs its contribution to dissolved nutrient levels. Zebrasoma scopas - The brown scopas tang, the one fish species that I will always have in any coral display aquarium where algae must be kept under control.

*** I know it is another tang... and I do not know for certain it eats what you want it to eat- but you may want to look into it.***

Thanks for the suggestion and the link but alas....the scopas doesnt eat either kind of my problem algae(according to the link in post #2 of this thread).

[untamed]

It is unlikely that the Naso would be in conflict with your other tangs. Althought they are "tangs", they are so different as to be generally left alone by other "tangs".

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by untamed

It is unlikely that the Naso would be in conflict with your other tangs. Althought they are "tangs", they are so different as to be generally left alone by other "tangs".

Thanks for the input. I dont like to generalize about fish behavior....each fish is truely an individual. My regal is a shite...he initiates almost all new comers to the tank and at 5" he would put a thrashing on a 2 1/2-3" naso, if so inclined. Or it could be that the naso is small enough not to be seen as threat. He is also one of the rare and elusive coral eating regals. He loves his LPS I also personally witnessed my two "reef safe" male fairy wrasses(lineatus and hooded) hunt down and kill a peppermint shrimp Its hard to say for sure what may or may not happen.

[JDigital]

Doug, you know there is only one option.... 72x24x24.... + the Naso...

[Snappy]

Doug the naso is a 99% guaranteed solution for keeping those varieties of algae in check. I have yet to find a foxface or other rabbit that will do the job. The Naso is a safe bet and as stated by untamed, other tangs don't seem to get aggressive with them like they do with other tangs. Well at least this has been my consistent experience with them.
Good luck,
Greg

[marie]

I'll share my experiences with the nasty stuff. I had it bad (every rock was covered) in my old 55g tank. I did add a naso tang and he had it cleaned up within 2 months ( I sold the tang afterwards and have regretted it ever since)
I have dictyota in my 175g tank now too and the foxface does nibble at it occasionally but never puts a dent in it.
Interestingly, every once in a while large clumps of it disappears like magic and I have a suspicion (no proof though) that my abalone will come across it in his travels and will mow down all of it in his path. Worth a try because abalone can be fed nori when you run out of algae and they don't rearrange the frags and rock work like large snails do (and they haven't come up with abalone police yet )