Thinking of adding kole tang

[neil82]

I am thing about adding a kole tang. I was looking into fish that are likely to eat hair algae. Don't have a lot of algae but little spots pop up here and there. Just wondering if kole tang is a good candidate for the job and if compatible with current inhabitants and tank size? Current live stock in my 55 gal mixed reef include:
2 inch picasso clowfish
Tricolor wrasse
Banggai cardinal
Purple firefish
Yellow watchman goby
Pistol shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Few different types of snails
Scarlet crabs
Pincushion urchin

 

[SynDen]

Yes, they will eat the film of gha but they wont eat big tufts of it or anything, and likely they would get along fine with all your inhabitants, but think you would be better off figuring out what the source behind the algae is instead. At least the 55g tank has the minimum length requirement for these guys, but they really should get a bigger tank. Adding a large fish like these to that tank size with the other inhabitants has potential to exceed the bio-load of the tank and in that case would cause more harm then good imo. It can be done, don't get me wrong, if you are prepared to make the extra accommodations for this fish, but fixing the issue instead of band-aiding it is always a better choice I think.

 

[FinsUp]

Yes, they will eat the film of gha but they wont eat big tufts of it or anything, and likely they would get along fine with all your inhabitants, but think you would be better off figuring out what the source behind the algae is instead. At least the 55g tank has the minimum length requirement for these guys, but they really should get a bigger tank. Adding a large fish like these to that tank size with the other inhabitants has potential to exceed the bio-load of the tank and in that case would cause more harm then good imo. It can be done, don't get me wrong, if you are prepared to make the extra accommodations for this fish, but fixing the issue instead of band-aiding it is always a better choice I think.

Agreed. Tangs, even kole tangs, need more room than their size would indicate. If they don't get it, you could find yourself fighting an almost chronic case of ich as a result of the stress. And you're pushing the limit on bioload, so you'd have to be willing to go the extra mile with maintenance, etc. I had a kole in my 125, and yes, he nibbled on hair algae, but it came out the other end in pretty much the same condition as it went in, resulting in a fish that kinda 'spread the hair algae love' all over the tank instead of eliminating the problem.

 

[neil82]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like my tank is too small to comfortably keep a tang. Doesn't seem like a great long term plan as the tang will eventually out grow the tank.

 

[FinsUp]

You might be ok with a scopas tang. I know a few people who have successfully kept those in tanks your size. But it would max out your bioload with your current stock list.

 

[neil82]

I have a couple frag plugs (with zoas on them) that for some reason keep getting hair algae on them. I do manual removal with tweezer but after a couple weeks it comes back. I have a BRS media reactor and run BRS GFO in there to help keep phosphates down and also have some chaeto growing in sump. Anything else I could try to keep the hair algae from coming back on those plugs? And is the BRS 'high capacity' GFO a lot more effective than the regular type?

 

[FinsUp]

This is gonna sound positively insane, but I used to do a peroxide dip (peroxide plus tank water) when I had zoa plugs with algae issues. Seemed to work like a charm. Do not try that with SPS, however.

 

[zombie]

This is gonna sound positively insane, but I used to do a peroxide dip (peroxide plus tank water) when I had zoa plugs with algae issues. Seemed to work like a charm. Do not try that with SPS, however.

It may sound insane, but I can second that this works very well. I use 10% peroxide, 90% tank water after my iodine dip for 5 minutes for all zoas that come in my tank. If the algae is bad, I bump it up to 25% peroxide, and for more invasive stuff like caulerpa or bryopsis, I do 50% peroxide.

 

[neil82]

This is gonna sound positively insane, but I used to do a peroxide dip (peroxide plus tank water) when I had zoa plugs with algae issues. Seemed to work like a charm. Do not try that with SPS, however.

It may sound insane, but I can second that this works very well. I use 10% peroxide, 90% tank water after my iodine dip for 5 minutes for all zoas that come in my tank. If the algae is bad, I bump it up to 25% peroxide, and for more invasive stuff like caulerpa or bryopsis, I do 50% peroxide.

I have heard of this treatment working for people. I did another round of manual removal last night. Next time I am going to give the peroxide a try.

 

[sethsolomon]

See if you are getting silicates in your RO water

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Kole tangs are awesome grazers. They are among the smaller tangs as well. He'd definitely be a loaner fish or a reason to upgrade in a year or so.

 

[Haddonisreef]

I have one and awesome personally don bother any other fish in tank, even new tangs that were added after the kole.

 

[neil82]

See if you are getting silicates in your RO water

Thanks Seth. I'm ordering a test kit.