Controlling Coraline

[maxsmart]

I finally got my wish, and the back wall of my aquarium is painted with coraline algae. So are the live rocks (though you can't see it through the flatworm infestation).

Now, though.. How do I CONTROL the coraline? My wife and I scrape it off the glass, (it takes forever, we use a credit card to avoid scratching the glass) and 3 days later, the front glass is covered again! Are the flatworms eating the coraline and making this problem? Or is this something I have to accept as a consequence of having the back wall covered? :help:

 

[fishcake]

urchins eat corraline.

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by Fishcake
urchins eat corraline.
All urchins, or just black spiny ones? I had one of those, he died... I heard later that they get large fast and topple your live rocks.

 

[bojik]

I forget the name of them but there are a few species that stay relatively small.

 

[reefstar22]

I wish i had your problem.

 

[reefstar22]

Without the flat worms.

 

[maxsmart]

LOL, you don't want my problem, trust me. I struggled to get the coraline to grow, too. But I can't describe what a pain it is to scrape it. It does NOT come off easily. I am avoiding using metal blades to scrape, as they can scratch the glass. I have read good things about this Kent brand scraper; maybe I'll try that out.

What I think I need is an urchin that will climb on the glass and eat coraline, while not damaging my reef. Does anyone know a good species for that? :notsure:

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by MaxSmart
LOL, you don't want my problem, trust me. I struggled to get the coraline to grow, too. But I can't describe what a pain it is to scrape it. It does NOT come off easily. I am avoiding using metal blades to scrape, as they can scratch the glass. I have read good things about this Kent brand scraper; maybe I'll try that out.

What I think I need is an urchin that will climb on the glass and eat coraline, while not damaging my reef. Does anyone know a good species for that? :notsure:

Nope. I had a pincushion in my reef that ate the algae off the glass but also off of the LR. I feel your pain on the coralline, it is a major pain to scrape and it comes back way too fast!!!

 

[slofish]

Originally Posted by MaxSmart
LOL, you don't want my problem, trust me. I struggled to get the coraline to grow, too. But I can't describe what a pain it is to scrape it. It does NOT come off easily. I am avoiding using metal blades to scrape, as they can scratch the glass. I have read good things about this Kent brand scraper; maybe I'll try that out.

What I think I need is an urchin that will climb on the glass and eat coraline, while not damaging my reef. Does anyone know a good species for that? :notsure:
Ive been using a kent with metal blade on my glass for the last year or so... no scratches at all.

it works much better on coralline than the plastic scraper i used to use.
U do want to watch the silicone though, scraped a small chunk off being careless.

 

[bojik]

IF you use a good blade and keep away from sand you should be ok on avoiding scratches. The short spined urchin i have loves hair alage and other soft types it hasn't touched what little coraline i have yet.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by SLOFish
Ive been using a kent with metal blade on my glass for the last year or so... no scratches at all.

it works much better on coralline than the plastic scraper i used to use.
U do want to watch the silicone though, scraped a small chunk off being careless.

I did that too and about had a heart attack for a second. I thought the tank was going to come apart!

 

[dbgator1]

The kent scraper is real nice and will remove the coraline pretty easily. I have a 30" tall tank and really needed the scraper i got the 24" one. Anyway i have loved it and it hasn't scratched my glass at all.

 

[rustyj]

Originally Posted by MaxSmart
All urchins, or just black spiny ones? I had one of those, he died... I heard later that they get large fast and topple your live rocks.

I have a purple short spine one and he cosumed half a LR worth of coraline so I had to move him to my other tank. I wouldnt use one because you cant tell him just to eat it off the front glass and leave the rest alone. You may want to find a way to reduce the nutrients in your water via macro algae so it cannot grow so fast. Or just scrape.

 

[cripps72]

I use that scraper w/ out problems. The back glass we pretty much leave alone and as far as the front we just run the mag float and it seems to stay off.

 

[zanoshanox]

What is your lighting setup? Is this mainly the only kind of algea you're growing or are you growing hair algea too, ect?

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by zanoshanox
What is your lighting setup? Is this mainly the only kind of algea you're growing or are you growing hair algea too, ect?
I have a 4x65w (2 white, 2 blue) fixture. A tiny bit of hair algae grows, one tuft about the size of a quarter. But I do get a lot of bubble algaes - three kinds - the kind that looks like green spaghetti, the kind that looks like thick grass, and the kind that looks like bubbles (I love pulling those out - they bounce like super-balls!). Because they are so rubbery and tough, the blenny won't touch them. I got 2 emerald crabs, but they don't seem to like it either. I have one large (4 inch) macro algae, a brown plant with 1 inch leaves. The 2 hermit crabs like to climb up and snip off branches, but then they don't eat them.

 

[titan]

I use Kent metal as well, with no scratches.

 

[maxsmart]

Has anyone tried the plastic Kent scrapers? Do they remove coraline easily?