Wilhelm

Experienced Reefer
Location
Staten Island
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I have a 120 gallon reef tank with 12 small fish, the largest are a pygmy angel and a blue fin damsel. I am currently fighting red algae, cyano I believe. I know that Yellow tangs are listed as herbivores. Do they consume red algae? I realize I need address other issues such as a better skimmer, (I use a Tom Aquatics canister/wet dry that has a built in air pump fed skimmer) and also perhaps an overfeeding problem. Still, will the addition of a yellow tang help control red algae or do these fish prefer only greens? Are there any fish that do relish red algae?
 
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Rating - 97.4%
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I have a 120 gallon reef tank with 12 small fish, the largest are a pygmy angel and a blue fin damsel. I am currently fighting red algae, cyano I believe. I know that Yellow tangs are listed as herbivores. Do they consume red algae? I realize I need address other issues such as a better skimmer, (I use a Tom Aquatics canister/wet dry that has a built in air pump fed skimmer) and also perhaps an overfeeding problem. Still, will the addition of a yellow tang help control red algae or do these fish prefer only greens? Are there any fish that do relish red algae?

The red algae you describe as cyano ( cyanobacteria) is not algae at all but a bacterial slime. Tangs and really no fish will eat it ( some will pick at it, but not enough to eliminate it).

Your best bet is to manually remove as much of it as you can, increase your water flow to affected areas and as you say yourself, improve your water quality management via better equipment, water changes etc.

Give this a read for some really good info:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-beginners/46961-cyanobacteria-primer.html
 

DontXtripNfall

Advanced Reefer
Location
Midtown - East
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My yellow tang ate my cyano before it got rehomed, the afternoon cyano bloom would be there when I got home from school then gone by dinner.

NOTE: It did not eliminate the cyano but would eat 75% of it. It was a very special tang.
 
Last edited:

Wilhelm

Experienced Reefer
Location
Staten Island
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
My newly acquired Yellow Tang is not quite grazing it but it is nibbling here and there at the cyano bacteria. It is obviously not the answer but it is consuming bits of it along with the sheets of commercial algae I am giving it.

I have cut down, otherwise on the quantity of food I generally feed my fish as well as increasing the amounts of water changed once a week. The cyano is slowing down a tad in its growth.

My thanks to all who offered advice and counsel.
 

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