Abalone

[manny]

Has anyone tried using an abalone for controlling algae? I've read a lot of posts with people using hermits and snails but haven't read any with people using abalones.

[sareef]

Back when Aquarium Sales & Service was open, they had two abalones in one of their reef tanks. They were amazing. Very pretty creatures. I inquired about them and they said they were great at controlling algae. One problem...they were about $40 apiece. Needless to say I bought a couple of turbo snails instead. They did say that the abalones' muscle they use to attach to the glass is so strong that they are sometimes injured when try to remove them from whatever they are sitting on.

Will

[MikeP]

They work very very well for algae control - one problem is a large number of the ones that show up are from temperate waters off the coast of California. These won't do well long term but youc an get the Haliotis sp? which are usually tropical I believe from some online vendors.

[manny]

I had credit at liveaquaria and decided to go ahead and get an abalone the other day. I got it on Friday and it's a REALLY cool lookin thing to add to your tank. I didn't know that there could be a difference in where they're from but luckily it was the Haliotis sp that MikeP says would work. They're only 18 bucks compared to the 40 that aqss had them for so if you're lookin to get somethin new and different for your tank get one of them.

Oh yeah, it's a really good cleaner for algae on your glass and rocks too!