Tim McLellan
Active Member
A rare post where someone is actually wanting to grow algae. Most others are looking for help to get rid of it 
ID My Urchin?
- Thread starter SaltyShel
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SaltyShel
Active Member
I know right! I’m trying to get my tank to have more stability but I’m not sure this is the right way to do itA rare post where someone is actually wanting to grow algae. Most others are looking for help to get rid of it
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jt8791
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Don’t put too much nori in case it starts disintegrating and you can’t get it out in time, my urchins never touched it and it stinks like no other after a bit. They have a field day with red ogo though, doubles as food and a hat. Hard to say which they eat more of, gha or ogo.
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SaltyShel
Active Member
I will do some research and see what would be best for my urchin! Thank you
I have used nori for making sushi or sushi bowls, but i don’t have any, so I’ll have to look into nori vs. red ogo
Tim McLellan
Active Member
I'm 6 months in, with a fair amount of film algae. I'm not sweating it too much, I kind of leave it for the snails and crabs to munch on, and I have a tuxedo urchin. I don't want to do anything to drastic and throw everything off too severely, although it's not the prettiest look. Not like the pristine tanks at the LFS. I'm thinking of doing a refugium to compete with the display tank algae.
austibella
Active Member
You can buy nori on eBay or Amazon I have 12 urchins in my 180 tank they do a great job cleaning the rocks. They carry old shells or anything loose in the tank for protection every once in a while I have to pull off a blue leg crab that's alive that his shell is stuck on the urchin by mistake
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SaltyShel
Active Member
That’s a good idea to add the refugium. I definitely need to get my tank more balanced and established. It’s not in the best condition and sadly that’s the condition I got it in… does your urchin ever go from moving all over the tank to staying in one location for hours or a day? Mine used to move so much but now he hasn’t for the past day. I read urchins can’t handle high nitrates well and I have that. I should be doing a water change but I was told to wait for another week >.<
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SaltyShel
Active Member
I think I’m going to try to find some nori at a shop nearby cause I definitely don’t think I should wait. But maybe for the feedings after that I could use Amazon. Mine Carries a rock every now and then, but he has been less active. I think it’s the high nitrates. I’m really so worried about him. What are your thoughts on algae supplementation that isn’t nori? Like maybe something in a bottle or container.
austibella
Active Member
You should do a water change if your nitrates are high to get it down..you can buy algae flakes marine fish food that can hold you over. Im not 100% sure if that works, but I think it should so ask at your Aquarium store. mine eats on the rocks and glass all day. And eat nori on the clip hope this helps.eventually you will have algae growing naturally for them
Tim McLellan
Active Member
Yes, sometimes mine seems to park in one spot for a good while, I've never really thought too much about it, eventually it moves around. When I got it my nitrates were up in the 20-30 ppm range and the urchin seemed to do fine. I added a skimmer a while back, so with that and the increase in algae they slowly came down to where they're now less than 10, so I feel a lot better about that. I'm a week in to finally having an actual reef tank. I got my first coral a week ago and it seems to be doing well.
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SaltyShel
Active Member
Ive had my tank about a week, but my dad had it for 6 months before I got it, and no algae has started growing yet. Which is why I think my urchin Is hungry. I also have more clean up crew than I have anything else. My dad was only feeding my fish once every 7 days (or more) and said he can go 28 days without food, which may be true but that doesn’t mean to starve the poor little guy. I think the lack of food is negatively effecting my tank. I’ll get some algae supplement for now. Thank you!
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SaltyShel
Active Member
I will definitely do that. Hopefully I can make it by tomorrow before they close. I think I may do a water change tonight, but my salinity is 1.019 (checked multiple times at a few different LFS) and my hydrometer is off by a little. Do I have to fill with new water and still add RO DI once I do my water change?
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SaltyShel
Active Member
That’s great, I’m happy for you that everything is coming together well!! I got mine tested and they were at 25-50. Why is it so high, what causes that? Excess waste?
Isopod80
Valuable Member
You need to add the salt mix to the rodi to replace the water you remove. You add plain rodi to the tank to top off for evaporation because the salt in the tank water doesn't evaporate. Your salinity is low. I keep mine at 1.025-1.026. I'd raise it but do it slowly.
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SaltyShel
Active Member
I added a little salt water today, but not a lot because I needed to check my hydrometer for accuracy first, which I did when I went to the LFS. I’ll add more though. I don’t mix my own salt water, I buy it but one of the places I bought it from has a lot of little specks floating in the water. I thought it might be salt, but it’s been sitting a while. After I put it in my tank, I noticed how much extra stuff I had floating. Idk what it is. I showed someone at a different LFS and he said he doesn’t know either, but he also told me to put bleach in my tank lol so I’m not taking his word. But i can add salt water then top off with RO DI, that’s right? How do I know how much RO DI to top off with?
Tim McLellan
Active Member
Thank you. Well I'm still pretty new, so I'm sure there's someone on here who can answer better than me, but yes mostly waste and uneaten food decaying. I feel like I feed fairly light so as not to have uneaten food. I do have a decent CUC with hermits, emerald crabs, three kinds of shrimp and a handful of snails to help eat any leftover food and the algae. Of course them eating stuff doesn't really eliminate it from the tank, just converts it to tissue which binds it up and poop which does not. That's where the skimmer and water changes come in.
Isopod80
Valuable Member
When you do a water change you add new saltwater of the same salinity to replace the water you removed and bring the tank back to the original depth. I'm guessing you don't have an ATO (auto top off) set up so you can just mark a line with tape or a marker near the back of the tank for the "fill line". As the water evaporates below this line you top off with fresh rodi (no salt). You can add a bit of fresh rodi daily to keep the water level constant. The closer you monitor that line and more often you top off the more stable your salinity will remain. Daily is best. Stability is key.
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