Algae Eaters In A Brackish Tank ....

[Infidel_Uk]

can anyone advise me ? ive just paid for some horned nerite snails , and currently my tanks got 6 bumble bee gobys in, the water has no salt in at the mo , i was planning on waiting until my nerites are in and slowly bring the salinity up . BUT heres the problem, i was planning on adding 2 f8 puffs , and it already sounds like , no matter what snails i add, they WILL get eaten , one way or the other , i know thats what f8`s like to eat , im not ignorant, but i was *hoping* that by adding the nerites weeks before the f8`s , they might have half a chance, but lets say they dont, and they are doomed, what on earth am i to do when it comes to a good algae eating *life form* in the tank , i cant have a plec , and now it sounds like i cant have adult snails either , can ANYONE offer me a solution ?

thanks everyone for reading

 

[nmonks]

Algae is a problem *only* in unbalanced tanks. My algae control is limited to wiping the front glass maybe once every three to four months. Seriously.

Since you're going for a low-end brackish system, the best approach would be to "balance" the tank. Use a strong lighting system, and then install fast-growing plants such as Vallisneria, Hygrophila and Ceratopteris. At SG 1.003 these will thrive, as will your BBGs and Figure-8s. Your nerite snails will adapt perfectly well, and in combination with the plants, you should have no algae problems at all. If you want, add algae-nibblers to tackle thread algae and such; Florida flagfish, Limia, and Ameca splendens would all be appropriate to a low-end brackish tank, and given space, the Figure-8s may well leave them alone. I've kept all those fish with SAPs and irrubesco puffers, so I'd guess they'd be okay with Figure-8s in a large tank.

There are no fish, none, zip, nada that make algae problems go away, regardless of whether it's a freshwater, brackish, or saltwater tank. Plecs usually make things worse because they add nitrate and phosphate to the system, speeding up the growth of those algae they don't eat, such as hair algae and blue-green algae.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Infidel_Uk]

thanks for a superb reply, very educational , ill have a look at the plants mentioned and get some in soon !

fingers x`ed my horned nerites make it !