not enough snails?

[cardstars]

I have a 75 gallon tank and I frequently have too much algae growth. i have 25 regular snails, 5 mexican snails, 15 hermits, and many other various shrimp and crabs that also eat algae. is this normal? cause i thought that with how many algae eaters i purchased i would have this problem solved..... and i was also wondering if there are any snails or crabs that eat algae off the sand because it seems like nothing i have eats algae off the live sand, or do i need some gobies for that?

 

[angelofdeath132]

nassarius and cerinth snails for your sand cleaning.

 

[seaham358]

I have a sand sifting cucumber that cleans the sand real good. As well as a sand sifting star. many opinions out on the stars.

 

[bee2isme]

I use have a real bad algae problem in my 100 gal reef tank. You need to have aleast one snail/gal tank capacity and 1 hermit for every 2 gal., etc. Margarita snail s are my favorite for this job because they don't get as big as turbo snails and they do just as well if not better, I think. found that Emerald crabs are excellant hair algae eaters. One Sand shifting tiger starfish works an equivalent to 20+ narcissus snails when it comes to cleaning your sand bed,brittle stars are great deteris eaters. The best algae janitor i believe has to be the Algae blenny but remember that you should have more than one in a tank. Yellow tangs also eat alto of algae.Phospate removeers also help a great deal.I no longer have an algae problem. I still have a little bit of algae but every tank has some, somewhere. Good luck and let me know how it works out for you.

 

[clarkiiboi]

I too have a 75 gall., set up over a year, with a lacking clean up crew. My next purchases are going to be as follows. (I want to keep mine clawless, so add crabs and such as you see fit.) Cerith, nassarius, mexican and astreas snails, probably 15 of each. And 2 fighting conch. I have margaritas, they do a descent job, but I dont have enough and they stay on the glass (at least mine do). I also have a lawnmower blenny (algea blenny) and IMO, would not add more than one. Emerald crabs--mine also ate the coraline (but personalities differ). Starfish--there aren't many that are truely reef safe, but from reading and talking with ophuria (sp), the shark guru on starfish, the Linckia multiflora, is a better choice. Its diet consist of algea. But with everything we get we need to make sure there is still enough to keep everything happy and eating. HTH--thats just what I am gonna do and what I have done so far.

 

[joey d]

Why would you have more than one algae eating blenny...
ie lawnmower ? per tank ....
thanks,
joe