Rabbitfish and bubble algae

[reefsamurai]

I'm looking to add a rabbit or rabbit pair to my MT for aesthetics and algae control. I've always had great success with scribbles for bubble algae and not eating corals, is there other species like Golden's or orange spots that will do well also?

 

[jda]

IME, magnificents are the best at eating all algae. The rest can be hit or miss. I have had naso tangs just crush bubble algae.

DO NOT buy a captive raised rabbits. I have had a few and they don't seem to know that their friends eat algae in the wild... these things never even pick on the rocks for me. It kinda makes sense since they just ate rotifers and pellets and stuff their whole lives.

 

[GarrettT]

Mine wouldn’t eat bubble algae unfortunately. Sometimes it’s just a hit or miss, but agree some fish have a higher success rate than others. A good CUC is going to be more reliable.

 

[jda]

Emerald crabs from the Florida Keys have always crushed bubble algae for me. If you have a lot of bubbles, then you need a lot of crabs - don't be one of those that has a 180g tank full of bubbles and complain that their single emerald is slacking. They are coral safe as long as they have other things to eat. They only live a few years, so they often are at end of life by the time that their job is done. Since they are so short lived, you have to replace them every so often. They can just eat flake food, other algae and mysis and stuff when the bubbles are dwindling.

 

[vetteguy53081]

rabbits are hit and miss and may turn to zoa and other softies in lieu of algae and valonia. Agree crabs while sneaky address bubble algae. For me, I Take a small needle and have 3/8 tubing ready and attach to end of tubing with rubber band and pop each one and siphon at same time- You will have removed all spores and foreign material in area.
Had to do this in the past with birdsnest coral and was gone 100%.

 

[GarrettT]

Like Jda said, in order for them to be coral safe they have to be well fed. I’ve moved from Emerald crabs to Pitho. I find them to be more active. Once algae is gone, it’s important to supplement.

I feed my crabs, conchs, and other snails two sheets of nori every other night when lights go out. They eat all of it by morning. Makes all the difference if your wanting them not to go after your corals.

 

[dschuffert]

I have 3 Rabbitfish in my display tank. They grow fast and large! They are constantly nibbling on any algae that they can find in the tank. When they were smaller, I had them in my 90-gallon display tank and didn't notice them doing much other than eating whatever food I dropped in the tank. When I moved them to my 240-gallon tank, their behavior changed; they still eat anything I drop in the tank and are always scavenging for any algae that try to establish itself.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Ime my one spot took about 2 months to recognize hair algae as food, but they pretty much instantly enjoyed the taste of bubble algae. They're very fun to watch move around the tank, but they can be incredibly skittish even after adjustment to the tank. You'd think a creature lined with dozens of venomous spines would be braver haha

 

[nereefpat]

My foxface eats red bubble algae. Scopas tang too. I've been fortunate not to have had serious green bubble algae problems in my reefing career.

 

[reefsamurai]

Like Jda said, in order for them to be coral safe they have to be well fed. I’ve moved from Emerald crabs to Pitho. I find them to be more active. Once algae is gone, it’s important to supplement.

I feed my crabs, conchs, and other snails two sheets of nori every other night when lights go out. They eat all of it by morning. Makes all the difference if your wanting them not to go after your corals.

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I've had great experience with red mithrax crabs before and I found a website that sells these pithos crabs. Do you have a recommendation for how many is too many in an aquarium?

 

[GarrettT]

I've had great experience with red mithrax crabs before and I found a website that sells these pithos crabs. Do you have a recommendation for how many is too many in an aquarium?

Really just depends on the amount of algae you keep. I keep 5 in my 190g tank and that works well for me. They get big, but have tiny claws, so it’s no big deal. Theyre pretty active and like to sleep in the sand.