The Puffer Forum

OK got the two F8's set up and happy, except I keep getting lots of algae. Not a big deal with the walls but the two larger pieces of coral(no not live) are an issue to keep clean.

anyway Algae in my past tanks I always kept a good stock of snails and algae eaters in my tanks...well that's not going to work.

I've tried..
HUGE snails like the size of my palm thinking the puffers cant eat them, they will eat the algae...problem solved..well the puffers tried to eat them and the poor snails never came out of there shells....Ever.

Moss balls, very cool looking, to expensive (IMO) but the claim they use up the nutrients the algae needs...so not true.

My tank is between brackish and fresh...the puffers were in fresh so I'm slowly switching them over...they seem happy and healthily other wise.

Any suggestions what do you do??

Manual removal is usually the only option. You can try nerite snails, which can be acclimated to brackish and have a very tiny footprint so they aren't as likely to get eaten, but they still can.

Boxermom wrote:You can try nerite snails, which can be acclimated to brackish and have a very tiny footprint so they aren't as likely to get eaten, but they still can.

I've had luck keeping Olive Nerite's with my F8's, but the 5 I have barely make a dent in the algae problem. You would likely need quite a few of them, and keep in mind that they add to your bio-load.

What about a brackish algae eater...anyone heard of one?

Nope, although there are some, none are available in the trade apparently.

I remember going through the teething pains of realising I had to clean it myself
Brackish algae eaters which are suitable tankmates for puffers are few and far between unfortunately!

And not many species of plant arebrackish tolerant, so you can't increase the planting level to outcompete algae for nutrients. This may be why the mossballs didn't work: I've used them in other tanks (FW) before and they've worked just fine.

faster growing brackish plants have been said to help --- cabomba, hygrophila (sp?), etc

i just recently planted my brackish tank in hopes to keep algae down -- lets hope it works