tang question????

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newreefers

Guest
Which tang would eat hair algae.... a yellow tang or a purple tang.? I am thinking of adding one sometime, but with a bout of hair algae going on now I'm thinking of getting one sooner.
 

stcardoza

Member
Hi,
I have a yellow tang and he won't touch my hair algae. He only eats the nori I put on the algae clip. From what I have read, they are supposed to love hair algae, but it has not been the case IME. I'm not sure about the purple's though.
-Steve
 

bang guy

Moderator
All Zebrasoma sp. should be interested in hair algae provided there's nothing else tastier to graze on.
 

brooklyn johnny

Active Member
Along with what Bang was saying there isn't much difference between a purple and yellow... both in the same genus. Typically what these tangs will do when added to a tank is graze on the algae they prefer, little by little wiping out their most preferred and moving on to their least preferred. If nori or something else tastier is offered they will shy away from the other nuisance algaes. Do not offer these until the nuisance algae is gone OR the tang is completely refusing to graze on whatever nuisance algae you have. You can easily tell if the tang is getting enough food from whatever source by looking at the belly and it's habits grazing. Think of the crab legs and how fast they go at a seafood buffet. Sort of like that. Also be sure that you attack the source of the hair algae... the tangs more of a bandaid than a cure and in certain tanks will never keep up...
Johnny
 

bigjohn

New Member
I had a terrible time with hair algae a while back! Adding a tang will take away the algae but not WHY the algae is there. Hair algae is usually a lighting problem. Either cut back on the amount of light per day or if your lights are more than eight months old then i suggest getting new bulbs. Hope this helps.
 
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