High Tide Aquatics

GHA & urchins

svreef

svreef

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Are different types of urchins better at dealing with GHA? I have a Tuxedo urchin in my tank but it doesn’t seem to eat the GHA.
 
All of my urchins ate every type of algae imaginable when I had them in my last tank. Unfortunately for me it was growing faster than they could eat it.
About 2 weeks ago I threw in the towel on trying to scrub the hair algae out of my tank on a weekly basis as it was basically overrunning the tank, and I was just getting started on a bryopsis issue.
Fluconazole wipes out the bryopsis quickly per usual, but doesn’t touch this type of hair algae. Over the past week and a half over 98% cleared the hair algae with careful application of higher than normal strength H2O2. The only coral issue started a week in when I noticed some zoas being a bit unhappy. I discovered my phosphate was at near zero and my nitrate was at 1 PPM (I stopped feeding when I started the mass algae kill off), and suspect that is the cause. Happily however the hair algae is nearly gone. You might consider that route, especially if you only have a few trouble spots.
 
jccaclimber said:
All of my urchins ate every type of algae imaginable when I had them in my last tank. Unfortunately for me it was growing faster than they could eat it.
About 2 weeks ago I threw in the towel on trying to scrub the hair algae out of my tank on a weekly basis as it was basically overrunning the tank, and I was just getting started on a bryopsis issue.
Fluconazole wipes out the bryopsis quickly per usual, but doesn’t touch this type of hair algae. Over the past week and a half over 98% cleared the hair algae with careful application of higher than normal strength H2O2. The only coral issue started a week in when I noticed some zoas being a bit unhappy. I discovered my phosphate was at near zero and my nitrate was at 1 PPM (I stopped feeding when I started the mass algae kill off), and suspect that is the cause. Happily however the hair algae is nearly gone. You might consider that route, especially if you only have a few trouble spots.
Click to expand...

Any recommendations on Fluconazole? Are they all the same?
 
Srt4eric said:
Any recommendations on Fluconazole? Are they all the same?
Click to expand...
As far as I can tell they are all the same. A couple years ago I went with the no-name from east Asia because I could get it. This time I just went with BRS because it's easier to get a hold of. I have a bunch leftover as I was considering a second treatment that isn't going to be needed and have extra for future use in a frag/qt system. I'll gladly sell you some at what I paid for it if you only need a partial container, plus it's out of stock at BRS right now. I think it works out to $1.70/200 mg capsule, which does 10 gallons of tank water.

It's doing absolutely nothing for my hair algae though, so only use it if you have a bryopsis issue as well.

+1 on turbos as a longer term hair algae fix, I keep meaning to pick up more, but haven't been near a LFS in a while.

I feel a bit bad about the trochus/astreas I have as 3 of the for I got didn't last very long. One was my own fault with a drain, but the other two I don't have an explanation for. My turbos, bulldozers that they are seem quite content, and have been since ?spring? when I put them in.
 
jccaclimber said:
As far as I can tell they are all the same. A couple years ago I went with the no-name from east Asia because I could get it. This time I just went with BRS because it's easier to get a hold of. I have a bunch leftover as I was considering a second treatment that isn't going to be needed and have extra for future use in a frag/qt system. I'll gladly sell you some at what I paid for it if you only need a partial container, plus it's out of stock at BRS right now. I think it works out to $1.70/200 mg capsule, which does 10 gallons of tank water.

It's doing absolutely nothing for my hair algae though, so only use it if you have a bryopsis issue as well.

+1 on turbos as a longer term hair algae fix, I keep meaning to pick up more, but haven't been near a LFS in a while.

I feel a bit bad about the trochus/astreas I have as 3 of the for I got didn't last very long. One was my own fault with a drain, but the other two I don't have an explanation for. My turbos, bulldozers that they are seem quite content, and have been since ?spring? when I put them in.
Click to expand...

Where are you located? I'm interested in buying some from you if it's still available.
 
borker said:
Black Spine Urchins are the only ones that do real work. Everything else is more decorative in my experience.
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I agree they are great at eating algae. And cool to have in the tank. They also love to eat coralline algae and eventually start eating SPS as adults, in my experience (2 different BS urchins).
 
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