Merthynia Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 My brother has two tanks currently, a 14 gal with very little algae as a problem. I think maybe one or two snails to replace a few the hermits have eaten would help here. But could you suggest anything for the coralline? I know that isn't said very often, but this stuff spreads SO quickly it is unreal. I know some urchins eat it. This is after I already scraped off a third of it. The 40 gallon tank is in much worse shape. I pulled out a pitcher completely full of dark hair algae from this tank today, it is hard to see in the picture, but I assure you it is there. It grows on everything and is very thick and dense. As you can see there are snails in the tank, turbos, astrea, I'm sure also nassarius snails in the sandbed. I'm just not sure what could assist the tank. There are hermit crabs in this tank also, but only maybe 3-4. I've changed the filtration material and hope to get ontop of water parameters before I leave here, but regardless I think we may need to boost the cleaning crew just in case. I welcome your thoughts on the matter. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I want your brothers coraline problem. Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 I would gladly ship you as much as you'd like! Takes forever to scrape it all off Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I'd say a tuxedo urchin for both instances would help immensely. Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 I was actually thinking a halloween urchin for the big tank, possibly letting it go into the little tank occasionally. There just isn't enough algae in the small tank to support an urchin of any size for a long period of time. I know on John's website they mention other things that eat coralline, I'm just not sure if they can get any of those things in. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 My regular pencil urchins did this to the skull. It eats it for sure. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Though it seems like a total pain in the butt I think that overall a razor eats the coralline best. Urchins can and do eat coralline but they're so random that IME they can't really be counted on for the task. I had one that would chill and I honestly couldn't tell it was eating for a week or 2. And then suddenly I would wake up and see it had cleared 1/2 a rock overnight. Did this randomly. Maybe if you made scraping the coralline part of your (his) weekly routine you could get it off easier? Once you finish scraping blow off the rocks and stir everything up good and then do a water change - this should help suck out all the tiny coralline pieces. Also keeping up with the mag float scraping should help. Like Sunstar I'm envious of your coralline scrapings! Link to comment
Boggers Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Urchin will not eat corraline fast enough, and will not eat down to the glass. Razor is your best bet Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 +1 all of the above for coralline. For the hair algae issue, I would recommend Mexican or chestnut turbo snails, an urchin, a sea hare (ugly as shit, the uglier the better they eat it seems!), or a rabbitfish, or a combination of all of those. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Urchins eat it, pencils and rock boring urchins I think are the most effective at it. It is unlikely that they will do a great job for you, (especially in a small tank with tight spaces), and you probably would have to scrape it still. It would help some. Link to comment
flyboy789 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 mexican turbos and a razor blade! Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I forgot about the hair algae issue... Yeah turbos are the best IMO for that stuff. Take it down as much as you can with manual removal and they should go to town. Get some of the big ones and some smaller ones if you can. Also for hair algae I can usually reduce it by: - checking the water supply (maybe filters need to be replaced or switch to RO) - how old is the tank? Sometimes it helps to really baste off the rocks in a separate bucket and hit it with a stiff brush - Vac the sand and seriously stir things up then do a massive water change - I've never done it but peroxide has a fairly well established procedure and use for these situations. Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 I'm not expecting anything to completely take care of the coralline, just provide a tiny bit of assistance to him. Got the flippermag nano the other day and it just isn't cutting it. Filters on the RODI are replaced every other month. (Lfs that I trust) Tank is just a few months old. I've been using a toothbrush and turkey baster. I'm no going to trust my little brother to do any treatments with peroxide, that will have to wait until I can come back or if the middle child can do them when he visits. I got a pincushion urchin and several trochus snails th other day to assist, they seem to be knocking a small, but growing dent in the problem. Thanks for all the recommendations guys. Link to comment
RG Rude Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 I had a hair algae issue that I cleared using Red Banded Trochus snails. They have a voracious appetite like a Mexican Turbo but they don't bulldoze your tank and they can right themselves if they get in a pickle. Of course I tightened up my water changes and cut down on light and feeding to address the underlying cause. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Red banded trochus are my personal favorite. Plus you only need to buy a few of them because they reproduce like crazy. Link to comment
ndrobey Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 If you can get one or more, chitons clean almost too good. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 They are strange looking too, which is kind of a plus. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.