to tang or not to tang?

[gfunkera]

I have a oceanic 72g sps tank that has been developing green hair algae. I am using a ETSS skimmer, snails and hermits and nothing seems to be helping. I've been doing battle with the algae for the past 2 months and i am worried that the algae is gaining ground. Does anyone else have a tang in a sps tank? and if so what kind, and maybe does it prefer geen hair algae to acropores?

[Sir Knight]

Hey gfunkera,
I have kept a few tangs in reef tanks without a problem. The yellow tang is pretty easy going and in my opinion doesn't eat acro's but loves to pick on algae all day. It doesn't get that big. The other tang that I would recommend is the Purple tang however it can be agressive in small tanks.

Hope this helps
Joe W.

[gfunkera]

Joe,
I currently have 1 firefish, 1 mandarin, and 1 randalls goby w/ shrimp. Do you think the yellow tang would be fine with this setup?
Thanks for the help,
Glenn

[SmartWrasse]

I also vote for a yellow tang, especially for your size tank. Mine is great at picking algae off the rocks. They are active fish and a great addition to an SPS tank. I have not tried any other algae eating fish. Even though they can be aggresive in some situations, my tang does not bother my wrasse or 2 clowns. I don't think collection pressure is a problem, since I saw schools of these yellow beauties in Hawaii!

[Sir Knight]

Glenn,
You maybe ok with a very small one. The fish that may have a problem with the tang in my opinion is the firefish. It may spook him.

Joe W.

[EvilMel]

My experience with a yellow tang is that he was pretty fine to the fish that were already present. But when I tried to introduce any other fish he would kill them right away. So now he's out of my tank!

This is in a 135g tank as well. Now I will grant you that I did not feed him very well and so he may have been a bit more aggressive than he would otherwise have been.

Anyways, just my thoughts.

Mel

[gfunkera]

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I will start looking for a small tang.

Thanks again,
Glenn

[Pandarian]

every think about a lawnmower blenny? they would make quick work of your hair algae.

[BlackOcellarisUT]

I will swear by fighting conch, I have seen them bury themselves in algae fields, and ever cyanobacteria and eat until its gone! If you want a fish the foxface is a very good algae controller. I have a friend with one in a 60 gal hex sps(awesome tank) and he loves it, never touches anythign. There are a few morphs of this fish, one of which I have seen called the "fiji foxface" which was very attractive. Good Luck. -tj-

[easttn]

Iv'e never seen a tang eat ha. What kind of snails do you have? The only thing I ever found that thrives on HA are the mexican turbo snails. Look for the ones that are about the size of a quarter and larger. Some lfs sell asteras and call them turbos, they are not the same. The best way I can tell you to see the difference is if you look at the snail from the bottom on the glass his mouth is seperate from his foot. The lfs in Kinsport sells them for $3 each. Best investmet I ever made for the tank.