Pressured to buy a urchin

[KingJuleigh]

So I am being over run by long hair algae and it was recommended that I buy a lawnmower blenny but after talking to the guy at the fish store he refused to sell me the blenny because he said he doesn’t eat algae and instead he insisted that I buy 2 pin cushion urchins, I have a 20 gallon tank and I know 2 would be too much so I bought one after him heavily insisting. So I get home and get him in my tank after acclimating, I check back in a few hours and he is nowhere to be found, could he be hiding under a rock? Do they come out at night? How long should I go without seeing him before I worry?
Also what should I be feeding him?

 

[Nathan Milender]

So I am being over run by long hair algae and it was recommended that I buy a lawnmower blenny but after talking to the guy at the fish store he refused to sell me the blenny because he said he doesn’t eat algae and instead he insisted that I buy 2 pin cushion urchins, I have a 20 gallon tank and I know 2 would be too much so I bought one after him heavily insisting. So I get home and get him in my tank after acclimating, I check back in a few hours and he is nowhere to be found, could he be hiding under a rock? Do they come out at night? How long should I go without seeing him before I worry?
Also what should I be feeding him?

I have never had one, but I do believe they are nocturnal. SIt in holes during the day with the spikes pointed out the hole. Also, make sure your stuff is secure as I also believe they can knock big things over. I was thinking of getting one but was looking into the tuxedo urchin.

 

[rahusky]

Mine eats very little algae if any. He is kind of cool though, just sits there looking at me.

 

[Hermie]

I got a pincushion for a 23gallon display and it's been doing great. However there is a specific type of algae it will not eat and I think it's because the algae may be toxic.

you can see here where the urchin scraped the rock down to bare all around this patch of algae:

 

[KingJuleigh]

Mine eats very little algae if any. He is kind of cool though, just sits there looking at me.

He told me that my over run tank will be clean in a week with this guy, ugh I don’t know what to do to kill this algae.

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

They are nocturnal and may feed at night- I think its a bit optimistic by the LFS that the tank "would be clear in a week". A better course would be to determine the cause of the algae. Eliminate the cause and the algae will starve out by itself. If you can post some parameters here esp. Nitrate/Phos/Alk we might be able to help determine the cause. How old is the tank? What kind of filtration?

 

[brandon429]

all nano reefs can be cured within about a week of gha. its the large tanks that have to wait weeks and weeks since they don't have the same cleaning access.

we should install the CUC members only as growback preventers, in a clean scape. They eat what grows back vs hoping they help here.

The reason why direct kill of the algae is best is because its the first practice run of forcing the nano to live vs trying something out to see if it works, its a command-type setting and this practice makes your reef live indefinitely...knowing you have the ability to command its compliance that way. if you want it fixed in about a week, we have a huge thread of that being done. it involves taking your whole tank apart, cleaning it a certain way that kills algae, then reassembling it totally algae free as a skip cycle re setup. about an after after its taken down and cleaned, its all set right back up but minus the invader. then it stays clean etc.

see how that beats a 2 mo extended wait as the algae grows anyway

there is nothing wrong in seeing if the animals work as well, its just we are taking that ultimate control practice/so critical to nanos that live a very long time/and scooting it out till later. nows a great time ha nice

 

[KingJuleigh]

They are nocturnal and may feed at night- I think its a bit optimistic by the LFS that the tank "would be clear in a week". A better course would be to determine the cause of the algae. Eliminate the cause and the algae will starve out by itself. If you can post some parameters here esp. Nitrate/Phos/Alk we might be able to help determine the cause. How old is the tank? What kind of filtration?

As far as parameters I took him a sample of my water and he told me everything was spot on but would not give me numbers, this massive algae bloom started after I added 2 pints of cold brew copepods to my tank to seed the tank and feed my scooter blenny. I have had fish in the tank for roughly a month

 

[Rjukan]

Post a few pics of the tank with white lights or flash on.

 

[bar|none]

I have a pincushion and its great. Love the guy. He does not bother the corals. He is out at night and at day. He is really good at cleaning algae, but if it is really long stuff then he tends to go around it and get the easier short stuff. You should get it under control via nutrients and manual removal first and then think about the urchin as continual maintenance program IMO.

 

[KingJuleigh]

This is with just the white lights, I also run actinic lights for the corals, I was out of town for a week and a friend was feeding all my fish tanks and pets, and when I came home this is what it looked like, there was a little algae growth on the back glass when I left but it just exploded.

Currently the only fish in the tank are:
Firefish
Scooter blenny
Coral banded shrimp
2 turbo snails
2 red leg hermits
5 blue leg hermits
And various corals

They get fed once a day, just a few pellets for the two fish and occasionally brine shrimp

The coral get fed reef roids

Before the algae bloom I added 2 pints on copepods from cold brew copepods (about 6,000 pods)

 

[Mical]

A tuxedo or longspine urchins are incredible algae eaters. I have a pair of longspines in my 120 and they are like "hoovers" on algae.

 

[ScottB]

This is with just the white lights, I also run actinic lights for the corals, I was out of town for a week and a friend was feeding all my fish tanks and pets, and when I came home this is what it looked like, there was a little algae growth on the back glass when I left but it just exploded.

Currently the only fish in the tank are:
Firefish
Scooter blenny
Coral banded shrimp
2 turbo snails
2 red leg hermits
5 blue leg hermits
And various corals

They get fed once a day, just a few pellets for the two fish and occasionally brine shrimp

The coral get fed reef roids

Before the algae bloom I added 2 pints on copepods from cold brew copepods (about 6,000 pods)

Well... that's what friends are for!

I do super fun part-time work at my LFS. The NUMBER TWO reason for tank crashes (after power cuts) is non-reefers feeding on behalf of reefers. In this month, we will hear of at least 10 collapses, because, well, here everyone leaves for a few weeks in August and well meaning sitters cannot resist over-feeding.

Anyway, from what you've posted nobody died. As previously posted, the urchin will do some work for you, but the long grass is yours. The glass is simple: razor blade and remove.

The rock is simple but more work. Save a bucket of WC water. Procure the stiffest brush you can find (that is not copper twines). Pull a rock and scrub like mad. No. More vigorously. Rinse in WC water. Net out the algae from the bucket and repeat.

What returns, your urchin will eat. They are good at lawn mowing. Not deforestation unless starved.

Same can be said for algae blennies. All three of mine earn their pay, but asking them to eat mature growth GHA is like putting a plate of 2 inch thick, raw, asparagus in front of you.

Some might recommend you squirt a little H2O2 on the cleaned spots but I say no. On a large system fine. But not without >65 gallons or so.

 

[Reef-junky]

As far as parameters I took him a sample of my water and he told me everything was spot on but would not give me numbers, this massive algae bloom started after I added 2 pints of cold brew copepods to my tank to seed the tank and feed my scooter blenny. I have had fish in the tank for roughly a month

That guy sounds dodgy at best. I would not go back to him. If you have an algae out break your parameters are not spot on. Also he should not be pressuring you to buy anything. Sounds like he was after a quick sale.

 

[mattzang]

i'd buy some test kits and test it yourself. ime some fish store people think any level is acceptable. the first guy i went to told me high levels of ammonia was fine (?!?!??!?!)

i never ran into hair algae on my tank and i think it was because i added a black longspine urchin early on (along with plentiful amounts of snails and hermits). i'm not sure if urchins are nocturnal, mine was like my conch, once they're at work they're going to town, then they take a day or two off to rest. that said, my urchin proved to be really problematic for sps frags especially as he'd knock them over like no tomorrow. i recently took him back to the lfs and i'm letting things go for now without an urchin, but want to add a pincushion or tuxedo in the future.

 

[Syntax1235]

Be careful!!!! This is what Urchins did to a 6 month old Gyre xf280, they are very destructive. Warranty does not cover damage from an Urchin, I sent them pictures and they knew it was Urchin damage, not covered by warranty.... I am now the proud owner of a $450 paper weight.

 

[Hermie]

That guy sounds dodgy at best. I would not go back to him. If you have an algae out break your parameters are spot on. Also he should not be pressuring you to buy anything. Sounds like he was after a quick sale.

I disagree respectfully

 

[Reef-junky]

I disagree respectfully

The guy won’t give him the test numbers and is trying to put a band aid on his problem instead trying to find out the root of the problem. On top which there are several CUC options. I suspect he was trying to sell urchins or get rid of them. Why pressure someone to buy one other wise?

 

[KingJuleigh]

The guy won’t give him the test numbers and is trying to put a band aid on his problem instead trying to find out the root of the problem. On top which there are several CUC options. I suspect he was trying to sell urchins or get rid of them. Why pressure someone to buy one other wise?

I agree maybe to get rid of them but the blenny was 2x as expensive so you would think he would want to sell those more

 

[Hermie]

The guy won’t give him the test numbers and is trying to put a band aid on his problem instead trying to find out the root of the problem. On top which there are several CUC options. I suspect he was trying to sell urchins or get rid of them. Why pressure someone to buy one other wise?

Why pressure to buy one? Because maybe urchins are widely respected as some of the best algae eaters in the hobby?