Violet turf

[yote]

Once you have coralline growing,a couple of urchins wont put a dent in it.
The only other way I know of to get turf algae off the rock,is bleach.But you dont wont to do that for sure.

 

[Joeysmissy]

why not?

 

[Bifferwine]

I'd just go with the urchin, myself. Giving up some coralline is a small price to pay to get rid of this velvet algae crap.

 

[KidJ57]

why not?

because it's not just a matter of tossing it in a bucket of bleach, rinsing it off and tossing it back in the tank. For the bleach to kill this stuff completely, you've got to let the rock soak the bleach in; then begins the process of soaking the bleach back out of the rock; and then you have to re-cure it because, at this point, the rock is completely dead and could cause a mini-cycle in your tank if placed back prematurely. Then, if you make it through that whole ordeal, how pissed are you going to be if the algea starts to grow back on that rock :shock:...it's just not worth the hassle.

Urchins are cool/interesting additions to tanks, and like yote said, once your coraline starts growing/spreading, you'll barely notice where the urchin has been eating.

 

[Joeysmissy]

what kind of urchin? and which one is hardy?

 

[Brian_G]

i like tuxedos :) also called pincusion urchins

they are hardy and will carry stuff around in your tank (like snail shells and stuff). thats how you know they are healthy

 

[Joeysmissy]

so they do alot of remodeling? do they all do that?

 

[yote]

Mine will pick up small frags if their not glued down,but nothing big.

 

[Brian_G]

one of the ones at my lfs picked up a pvc pipe. haha