Urchin prefers coraline to algae

[Rae C.]

I've had my longspine urchin now for 4 months. The green stuff on the rocks is getting longer and lusher. The pink and purple stuff has white paths through it.

Anyone else notice that these guys like the candy colored stuff and not the green veggies?

I bought a foxface two weeks ago and have seen him grazing in the back of the tank, but he hasn't touched the lawn in the front of the tank. He's still too shy to spend much time in the public eye. I hope he takes off where the urchin leaves off.

Any thought on how to get the coraline back?

[SaltyDr]

Urchins will definitely graze the coralline. Not much you can do about that except get rid of him. Foxfaces tend to be quite skittish, but will get more bold as time goes by. Mine will eat the nori out of my hand. If the GHA is quite thick, pull most out by hand. Most herbivores prefer the newer growth to the older/thicker stuff. Some Mexican turbo snails might mow it down, though.

[Rae C.]

Guess I'll haveto live without the coraline. we get too mch entertainment from the urchin. bummer. i thought he'd eat the greens.

will the foxface eat bryopsis as well? I have a few shrubs of that, in addition to GHA.

[WaterKeeper]

Coralline is an algae and urchins browse upon it. Not knowing what type of urchin it is, I can't tell you if it will feed on Bryopsis.

[will16]

IME long spined urchins won't eat gha or bryopsis. Mine ate coraline and eventually corals. Be careful. They also get really big really fast. Really just a matter of time untli they out grow your tank.

Of course the first thing to do is get your parameters in line but have you looked into magnesium to take care of the bryopsis? Working well for me.

[Alaskan Reefer]

The urchin will outgrow the tank, mine outgrew a 125. Feasted on coraline, but the mess he made caused the coraline to grow elsewhere with a vengeance. Use gloves, the heavy ones, with hands in the tank -- you'll forget one day and end up stung in the knuckle. It hurts like hell and then the hand goes numb a bit. I did it 3 times, realized the urchin was enormous, and took him to the LFS as a donation.

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14757133#post14757133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rae C.
Any thought on how to get the coraline back?
coralline alga utilize magnesium to grow so "feed" your coralline Mg ;)

A Mg overdose can be harmful so you should test for it.

[drparker]

My tux urchin will eat a little piece of nori if I put it right in front of his current path. The coraline grows fast enough that what he eats is never a problem.

[raen]

Mine does the same thing Rae. He is a trip! I love it best when he cruises on the glass.....too cute!

[Rae C.]

Well hey Rae! How are you?!

Ya, the urchin is serious entertainment. Those little waving alien arms that move it along, the sand that falls out of its pulsing "eye", the kids love him.