Fish that eats Halimeda?

[Burgman]

Hi All,

Are there any fish or inverts that will eat Halimeda? This stuff is getting out of control in my tank.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

[SDguy]

Not IME. Plus, this means you have excessive nutrients in the water. Personally, I'd be happy that halimeda was my problem algae. It is, IME, one of the easiest macro algaes to harvest from the display tank.

[Burgman]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the info. Halimeda is easy to harvest but not to remove permanently(it keeps coming back). I am running a RO/DI unit and an ASM G3 skimmer. Excess nutrients? Isn't Halimeda a calcium based algae?

Dave

[cthetoy]

My Naso and Yellow tangs eats them until they're all gone. Now I dont have any.

[SDguy]

I didn't want to recommend any tangs since they aren't always a sure deal, they poop a lot (more nutrients) and a 75g isn't ideal.

Yes, halimeda is calcium based, but still requires nutrients to grow, like any algae. If you just have some patches of it, no biggie, but your OP made it sound like it's overunning the tank, which would suggest excess nutrients to me.

FWIW, I enjoy the look of halimeda. Yes, it does come back, but when you harvest it's pretty easy to pull the whole clump out....not so with most other algae.

[Burgman]

Hi Cthetoy,

I have a Yellow tang and it does not touch the stuff!!

Dave

[cthetoy]

Originally posted by Burgman
Hi Cthetoy,

I have a Yellow tang and it does not touch the stuff!!

Dave

I guess each tangs are different. I can see bite marks on the halimedas as they eat them. You can also try a Naso or Blue regal tang but they may outgrow your 75g tank. At least those fish are easy to sell once they get larger.