Sea Urchin, reef safe? Good idea?

[mabel_photo6]

I'm thinking about different things that can help with my green hair algae.
I've made the switch to filtered water.
I moved around my Koralia to point a little more upward.
The algae used to make a "U" shape to which it only grew on the back and the sides.
Now that's all empty and the middle has taken all the algae.

Since the last time I used tap water, my red algae has gone away completely.
Green hair algae is about the same but just growing in a different part of my tank.

Any suggestions??

A friend of mine said he ordered a Rock Boring Urchin at Petco.
He also ordered a Hare in which I might try that again.
Last time I got a Hare, it lasted about 3 days with me.
No clue what happened but he was doing a heck of a job.

I also have 2 Emerald Crabs, Blue Hermit crabs, Nerite snails, Cerith snails, Astrea snails, Nassarious snails, and Turbo snails trying to help me out.
I don't know what else to do.

[msmith619]

I like urchins but, they can cause problems. A rock boring urchin will eat the coraline off of your live rock. I have used long spine urchins in the past but they can be little bulldozers and knock things down. They are quite agile despite their long spines and rarely poke anything. If their grazing goes over a coral, they could potentially do some damage althought coral is not part of their diet. My last long spine got over 10 inches across, there are some shorter spined urchins that will graze that you can get from around Port A but I have never kept one of those.

[Bill S]

I've kept Tuxedo Urchins for quite a while. They are "decorator" type urchins - they pick stuff up from around the tank and carry it on them. I've never had a problem with them eating anything they shouldn't.

[Gilbert]

i would recommend staying away from "pencil urchins" those things will mow down anything, hair algae, coraline algae, zoas, xenia.

[devonian]

i like urchins, they are cool. But as stated, they do tend to eat coralline and can easily dislodge corals that are not encrusted to your rockwork.

[mabel_photo6]

Well I was afraid of knocking stuff over.
I have a Finger Leather Coral piece up at top.
A torch coral, green star polyps, green hairy mushrooms, zoas, and a hammer coral.
I just want something that will eat the algae. :(

I've tried a hare before and it did an awesome job the 3 days it lived!
So I'm going to buy another and try to introduce it more delicately.
I'll drip it for about an hour.
It's a little difficult to drip since my tank is only 29 gallons... the water level lowers so much, I have to turn the pump off other wise I'd have a tank full of bubbles.

I'm going to upgrade when I save up enough cash for something around 70 gallons.

As far as algae eaters... what do you guys suggest?
I've had a lawnmower blenny and he did well but he was a bit annoying to my other fish.
He wasn't aggressive, just overpowered the tank and was everywhere.

[snfkotara]

my urchins are doing great cleaning up algae

[Mr Cob]

my urchins are doing great cleaning up algae

And coralline! LOL! The one I got from you leaves trails of white when passing through the rocks. I still like him though, he makes for a good conversation piece when friends and family are over viewing the tank.

FYI to readers: This urchin is from Port A. I consider it to be reef safe...it seems to only eat algae...and loves coralline algae. I would not recommend in a small tank if you like purple. I'm thinking in my 144 the coralline will be able to keep up. We'll see.

[mabel_photo6]

Ahhh I do like coraline algae but right now, my tank is a nightmare.
I need to add a buffer to it 'cause my ph is at 8.0
Would it help any if I added buffer?

I'm just darn scared of making a mistake (adding too much).
I really need some help getting rid of this algae and trying to take a natural approach.
Okay so even if it eats up the coraline algae... what would you guys highly recommend.
The guy at my petco has ordered a rock boring urchin and I'll be stopping by on Thursday to check it out.
I'm trying to figure out if I should buy it or if it's not worth the trouble.

Mr Cob, so that urchin was wild caught??
Dang, if it is, I'd have to drive out pretty far to get it!

[snfkotara]

hey i still have 1 avail come get him I'm keeping 2. Rob I'm sorry if he's eating your coralline I guess i have alot of green kind LOL I'm good at growing hair algae.

[mabel_photo6]

Me too snfkotara! lol I suppose I'm good at growing hair algae too.
I don't even know where La Vernia is. lol
My boyfriend is going to S.A. next weekend but just to skate with some of his friends. :(
I'll be stuck here. Gotta figure out something to do while he's gone. lol

[Bill S]

8.0 is nothing to panic about. It's lower than preferred, but not bad.

My tuxedo urchins don't seem to touch the coraline. You can get small ones about 1.5" across. They are known for eating hair algae - but not bryopsis.

[mabel_photo6]

8.0 is nothing to panic about. It's lower than preferred, but not bad.

My tuxedo urchins don't seem to touch the coraline. You can get small ones about 1.5" across. They are known for eating hair algae - but not bryopsis.

Well do you think the rock boring urchin is a good path?
That's pretty much all the algae I have at the moment... green hair algae and coraline.
My red algae disappeared once I moved around my water movement and stated using filtered water.
I'm afraid of the urchin knocking over my torch, finger leather, and hammer coral.
Reading that they might eat zoa's scares me too. :(

[mabel_photo6]

Uhhhhh wait, lol you said tuxedo urchins.
I'll guess I'll have to research a small urchin and see if Petco can order it for me.
Or maybe I'll try and get one in S.A. soon.

Oh and another thing, I need to replace my lights.
It might have a lot to do with my growth of green hair algae.
What sucks is that I have no place to get it locally so I'd have to order it.

[vman181]

What kind of lights? I have found a place online I feel is/are the cheapest place to get VHO's. I have bought from them a few times and it has gone great.

[vman181]

Oh and another thing is keeping up with your lights will help out on the GHA. That was the solution to my GHA a few years back. My lights were so old it was the perfect spectrum for the GHA to grow.

[mabel_photo6]

Yeah I figured if I changed my lights, it would help reduce it.
I really need to change it bad.
Right now, I just have the standard lights that come with the Biocube 29.
Where's the place you can get them online?
I'm thinking of upgrading to a 70 or 75 gallon and I'd want better lights than what the Biocube comes with.

[Europhyllia]

Oh you'll love upgrading to a bigger tank!
I went from a 29g with Compact Fluorescents to a 125g with T5s and love it.
I still have algae though because I like to feed stuff...
I am using a Poly Filter though to better keep up with my liberal feeding practices...

(PS you would not believe what kind of a money pit a bigger tank is so be careful)

[mabel_photo6]

Hahaha Well I'm getting an idea.
I have to account for the tank, stand, lights, heater, powerheads, RO filter, and so on.
So I'm trying to get an estimate but I want to do it.
I'm saving up money and hopefully getting a job. lol
So I'm looking for a 75 gallon tank.

I ended up getting a Rock Boring Urchin after all.
They had a Sea Hare too so I took him home.
Urchin isn't really being too active yet.
We'll see how they get to work on my green hair algae.
The Hare is going crazy! He's moving around eating what it can.
I hope it doesn't die! lol

[mabel_photo6]

So I'm looking around a bit for urchins.
I know I already have a rock boring urchin but can I add another later if I wanted to?
I was looking at the Jewel, Purple Bicolor Urchin, or whatever the common name is.
(Salmacis Bicolor)

If it matters, the Urchin I bought is about an inch 1/2 including pins.