One of the biggest struggles faced by individuals starting to build their aquariums is excess growth of algae. Algae is not inherently bad, as it consumes ammonia, produces oxygen through photosynthesis, and can be used as a food source for invertebrates and fish. However, too much algae can lead to opposite effects. Too much algae can create light deprivation for coral, leading to an inability to uptake nutrients needed for growth and survival. An abundance of algae also means that there are less nutrients for the aquatic organisms to consume and less dissolved oxygen, as the algae uptakes nutrients to grow and uses oxygen at night when it is not photosynthesizing. This is significant because many aquatic organisms depend on dissolved oxygen for respiration, growth, and stress reduction. Therefore, these algal blooms can end up killing many species within your tanks and lead to a buildup of dead organic matter. There are ways for individuals to manually target unwanted nutrients such as incorporating protein skimmers or through adding a media reactor. Individuals can also manually scrub algae from their tanks. However, algae-eating invertebrates can provide a much easier solution in maintaining excess algae growth, as they constantly clean their tanks.

Luckily, Seastainable Supply offers a reef-safe fauna for sale that aids in ridding algae and organic waste material from aquariums. This invertebrate is Trochus Maculatus, also known as, Maculated Top Shell. These are a species of snail that can be found in the Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa to Melanesia, and North Japan to New Caledonia. These Gastropods specialize in feeding on blue-green algae, benthic diatoms, and cyanobacteria. These snails will feed off algae on live rock, egg crates, or from the glass of tanks. Another great aspect of these snails is their longevity of over 15 years, including those that are captive-bred and wild. The low cost of these snails, paired with their well-fortified reliability, make them the perfect option for passive cleaning of algae in aquarium tanks. It is recommended to keep one to five Trochus Maculatus, per gallon of system volume. This can be altered depending on the desired degree of clean-up.