Help green algae on aquarium walls and equipment

daj0424

daj0424

Member
I have a 55g FOWLR tank and I need something to clean my back wall and equipment. on my back wall I have a HOB skimmer, Filer, and UV sterilizer so I cannot clean it very easliy. I change my water every 2 weeks and clean it off but it seems like it comes back in only a few days.
I have PC lighting that is on for 10 hours but that is not going to change for me. I like to enjoy my fish and that is what works with my schedule.
What inverts would keep my back wall clean. I purchased a couple small snails ( cannot recall the name) but they have not done anything to my back wall.
I see big snails at the LFS would those do the trick? How about an urchin? I hear they eat algae. Any other suggestions other than changing my lighting schedule.
Help!!!!
 
btuff

btuff

New Member
You should have at least 10 turbo snails and I wouls also get a cleaner shrimp. They are fun to watch too!
 
marine fanatic

marine fanatic

Member
Small snails like nassarius snails? I have a few of those that mainly stick to the LR and rarely go to the glass. Maybe try some astrea snails??? Mine stay on the back and clean the wall all the time. Urchins might be good since you do not have any corals. I have never had urchins so another member with more experience with them might give you some better feedback on them.
 
daj0424

daj0424

Member
I have about 5 nass snails, a cleaner shrimp and a snad star now. I also have 1 very small snail. Must of been on a piece of LR that was purchased.
The nass snails just stay in my sand and I very rarely see them. I purchased about 10 nass snails and 5 small other snails and now I only have 5 left. I am a little hesitant to purchase snails.
Reason for death: I used copper in my tank a while ago and I am still working on getting it all out. These inverts have been in the tank for about 3 months now with no problems. The only problem I had was when I first introduced the total invert package and 10 snails died.
Someone also said that I may not have acclimated them properly but either way some are still alive so I am not exacly sure what went wrong.
Copper is at .01 and I have cuprisorb in my filter to take out the copper in the LR so at this point so I am not worried about the copper effecting the inverts too much.
Any more suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 
marine fanatic

marine fanatic

Member
Group acclimation of snails can sometimes cause some of them to die.....odd huh!
Grab some Astrea (turbo) snails and turn them loose on your back wall/equipment...they will go to town on that algae.
 
fraggle_a

fraggle_a

Member
1 smail per gallon?
Are you seriouse??.
Quesion time. Margarita snails are ???
I got 4 "Turbo" snails which turned out to be nass and 2 of them promptly died. I then got 4 more "Turbo" snails and they love claning the rock.
However, after a trip to the LFS, the snails in my tank that I belived were 'turbo' (although they do move pretty quickly) actualy look more like 'Margarita' snails. Same thing or no??
 
daj0424

daj0424

Member
It is slime algae I think. Their seems to be alot forming in the glass right next to where my UV sterilizer water comes out. Maybe I will try to face it another way. I will get some turbo snails and see what they can do for me. How do I acclimate them? Will they be a problem with my Crabs. I forgot to mention that I have about 10 small Zebra crabs.
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
margarita snails are different from turbos, I have both ,Margarita snails get much bigger,they clean alot!!Both are good to have :joy:
 
marine fanatic

marine fanatic

Member
Nass snails, at least mine do, primarily stick to the live rock and not so much on the glass.
Astrea stay on the glass just about all the time cleaning the glass and submerged equipment. Again, this is what mine do...others may act differently.
Mexican snails are algae workhorses but they can knock over your rock formations but if your rock has a solid foundation these guys are good.
 
rusting

rusting

Member
Most snails willnot eat slime algae. How much are you feeding? What is your water flow? Do you use RO/DI water?
 
jhov2324

jhov2324

Member
If you want a cleaner crew, you can count on the Mexican Turbos, Get three of them, and in a couple of days your tank will look cleaner, they are workhorses,
 
subvillian

subvillian

Member
Get a Sea slug or Sea hair. they are big ugly slugs that feed on algea in large amounts
If you got that much algea growing he will destroy it.
 
daj0424

daj0424

Member
I use the tap water filter for water changes. water flow is very strong. I have Seio power head, emperor 400, bak pak II Skimmer, and UV sterelizer so it pushes a lot of water around. I feed once every other day. A variety of frozed, flake and seaweed on a clip.
I noticed that I have alot of red algae growing on the glass as well. Will the turbo snails eat that as well.
Also, I heard that sea slugs are hard to keep, are you sure that would be best for my situation.
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
I second the turbo snails. they aren't best suited for tropical temps but astrea snails just dont work hard and fast enough to keep glass clean. I have 8 in a 30g. they move along the glass and once in a while mow a powerhead clean but don't cut it for full glass cleaning. really I dont think you can get around elbow grease.
 
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