refugium clean up crew

[rcmike]

Hello everyone,

My main tank is mostly algae free but I am having some algae outbreaks in the refugium. It grows on the macroalgae and chokes it out eventually. What clean up critters can I add to the fuge that will eat microalgae but leave macroalge alone? I have some astrea snails and small hermits in there but they are not getting it done. I am planning on getting more but was looking for suggestions on other things that would help.

Thanks
Michael

[fishdoc11]

I know coralreefing has a formidable cleanup crew in his prop tank but have no idea what type of snails and crabs they are. You might want to go to www.garf.org to check out their "reef janitors". They have several different types of crabs and snails that are good for different situations and they will send in different combinations depending on what types of algae are present. I have thought about ordering from them. I am interested in following this also as I am having a hair algae outbreak in my 55. I have also added about 40 blue legs and 25-30 astreas to not much avail.
Chris

[Countzer0]

turbos! kicked butt in my 29g i got several and they mowed through the hair algae .... they will not eat it if its too long ... so pull as much out with your hands as you can .... thats my 2 cents

[rcmike]

Yeah, I had turbos before but I thought they would eat macro algae also. I had even thought of a lawnmower blenny but my mantis shrimp may have him for lunch, I don't know.

[A. Critter Killer]

Purple Nudibranches!!(Chromodoris bullaki) ----Sean

[rcmike]

Ummmm..... Sean, I want to keep the SPONGES and get rid of the ALGAE. Might want to check this site out. http://seaslug.info/hypsbull.htm

[A. Critter Killer]

I know that they can eat sponges (I did bot realise you keep alot of them), but the suck down algae (mainly hair) faster than any critter than I have ever seen! ----Sean

[rcmike]

Not a whole lot but I would like to keep them. I have some cool colored ones that came on some live rock. Do they really eat algae that good? From everything I read they just ate sponges. It is not a lot of algae, mainly just growing on the macro algae keeping it from growing.

[Sir Knight]

rcmike,
These guys may help and they reproduce in the tank. I have used them and they kept my tank clean. They are called Lettuce Nudibranch, Hair Algae-Eating Nudibranch.

The scientific name is Tridachia crispata . Not venomous. They are commonly collected from the Caribbean.

Maybe these guys can help

[rcmike]

I actually had some lettuce nudibranches in my main tank when I had bryopsis problems. They ate it up like crazy. They eventually dissapeared though. I may try some more.

[gflat65]

I second Turbos. I have ordered the reef janitors from garf before (many years ago). They send a decent mix of critters. They cleaned my tank in about a month and it was covered in hair (lawnmower blenny helped too). When they finishe cleaning up, it was cannibal city. The crabs won. Then they turned on their own. Would have made a great movie;) Aside from bumpng thinks around from time to time, they don't cause many problems.