Mathew0
Active Member
Hello,
I am also fighting to balance the algae growth in my tank with the critters that eat it. Contrary to the "Stop killing these animals" comment, it only seems to make sense to provide predators for an overabundance of prey. It's only when people go overboard with dumping in like 100+ inverts that obvious starvation issue arises.
We have a 125 reef, still under a year old. I have a Foxface, he was 3rd fish we put in after the initial pair of PJs did not cause an ammonia spike. The GHA started small, but Foxy wasn't making a dent. We picked up a tuxedo and 20 snails and hermits. After a month, the GHA was still winning. I picked up 25 hermits. Again, after a month, more GHA than ever. I was pulling off large pieces from the rockwork and handfulls of gravel that I rinsed in peroxide. We added a Scopas and Powder Blue tang, because they're beautiful, and are known to snack on algae. They've been in there 2 weeks, and I'm pretty sure the GHA has gotten worse.
I am now considering adding a Hector's and a Rainford's Goby. Again, they are really pretty, and have been known to chomp down on algae.
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience keeping this type of goby. Will the 2 try to kill each other like the tangs initially did? Will the Powder Blue try to kill them like it did to Foxy? Also, to Paintman's point, will they eat the nori if they do happen to turn the tide of the GHA? Since the tank is growing algae now, I know it will probably continue to grow algae. The idea is to introduce enough predation to establish a good balance. I pretty much never clean the back glass, so there's some good grazing back there.
I am also fighting to balance the algae growth in my tank with the critters that eat it. Contrary to the "Stop killing these animals" comment, it only seems to make sense to provide predators for an overabundance of prey. It's only when people go overboard with dumping in like 100+ inverts that obvious starvation issue arises.
We have a 125 reef, still under a year old. I have a Foxface, he was 3rd fish we put in after the initial pair of PJs did not cause an ammonia spike. The GHA started small, but Foxy wasn't making a dent. We picked up a tuxedo and 20 snails and hermits. After a month, the GHA was still winning. I picked up 25 hermits. Again, after a month, more GHA than ever. I was pulling off large pieces from the rockwork and handfulls of gravel that I rinsed in peroxide. We added a Scopas and Powder Blue tang, because they're beautiful, and are known to snack on algae. They've been in there 2 weeks, and I'm pretty sure the GHA has gotten worse.
I am now considering adding a Hector's and a Rainford's Goby. Again, they are really pretty, and have been known to chomp down on algae.
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience keeping this type of goby. Will the 2 try to kill each other like the tangs initially did? Will the Powder Blue try to kill them like it did to Foxy? Also, to Paintman's point, will they eat the nori if they do happen to turn the tide of the GHA? Since the tank is growing algae now, I know it will probably continue to grow algae. The idea is to introduce enough predation to establish a good balance. I pretty much never clean the back glass, so there's some good grazing back there.
