algae blenny, 6 line, pod population question

[grimreefer1]

Hi again,

I have lots of questions. As some of you may have read, I am getting some livestock from a guy breaking down his tank and it's coming tomorrow. The deal is, all his fish 100 dollars, all his corals 100 dollars, plus clean up crew...

So, he is bringing me one algae blenny and one six line wrasse. I'm concerned that to have both of these in my tank, the pod population will be seriously depleted. I'm thinking about selling them to the lfs instead. There are 140 pounds of LR.

Also, a 8-9" Naso Tang is coming, and I'm worried that he will prevent caulerpa from taking off.

I'm thinking about locking these guys in the corner of the tank, maybe make a partition out of plexi glass or something, so I don't have trouble catching them later, and I can sell them to the lfs.

I think the only fish I will keep are a small yellow tang, and 2 ocellaris clowns.

What do you think?

Thanks for all your help on my other posts!

-D

 

[Anonymous]

Will an Algae Blenny deplete your pod population per se, the answer is no. However it will disturb and consume the algae that the pod population lives in which will lead to the decline of its population.
A Six-line Wrasse will deplete ( consume ) your pod population unless you have a great deal of algae growth where it can reproduce.
A Naso Tang will consume some of your pod population though since its diet is mostly herbivorous it will eat the macro algae that your pod population lives and reproduces in.
Some one asked me a similar question on another list once and it's my belief there really is no pod safe fish as in one way in or another they will effect their population.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Len]

David,

How about Cirrhilabrus sp. wrasses, or other fishes that never actively prey on benthic populations or their habitat? Aren't these types of fishes "pod" safe, or am I missing some crutial criteria for that defination?

 

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by Leonard:
David,

How about Cirrhilabrus sp. wrasses, or other fishes that never actively prey on benthic populations or their habitat? Aren't these types of fishes "pod" safe, or am I missing some crutial criteria for that defination?


In the wild Cirrhilabrus wrasses feed mainly on zooplankton ( they are omnivores ) by definition copepods, amphidods, etc. are zooplankton. Since we tend to feed our critters brine shrimp, squid, mussels, flake, etc. in addition they really don't have to go hunting for food.
I'm not say it's bad to have fish in your tank because they will deplete your pods ( heck that's why I'm in this hobby, the fish ), some fish are more pod friendly than others that's all. If you have a well balance system i.e. refugium, macro-algae, etc to help with their population and not too many pod predators there's no reason you shouldn't have a healthy population of them.

Regards,
David Mohr