Urchin for problem algae?

[TwentyfiveCents]

I'm having an issue with GHA or what I think is GHA, would an urchin eat that and if so what is the smallest urchin I can get for the job? I have a 90g

 

[AfaceInTheCrowd]

Tuxedo but you really need to look at why you have the algae.. are you feeding too much? Is your RO water not 0 TDS? Do you have too many fish Etc

 

[jeffchapok]

I've not had any luck keeping tuxedo urchins alive for any length of time - a couple months at most. However, I've got a longspine that has *completely* eliminated the GHA from my tank.

The problem is, he doesn't limit his diet to algae. He also munches on my plating montipora and blue sympodium. So far it grows fast enough to recover once he moves on to another area, so I've let him stay. But once he starts killing things off completely, he may find himself in the sump.

 

[TwentyfiveCents]

All my levels are perfect, I feed once a day 2 cubes of frozen at the same time. every time i check my phos/nitrate they read 0 so I can only guess my fish are getting too big for the tank and just producing too much waste? I have a yellow tang - blue hippo tang - yellow eyed tang - 2 pajama Cardinals - 2 clowns - one decent size BTA maybe 5 hermits - 2 conch - 1 emerald - 1 slug.....all in a 90 tall so maybe I need to upgrade my tank size? Also I have a 40gal fuge running triton method

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

My tuxedo urchin is an algae eating machine. And what he doesn't eat he wears as a hat. He's the only one in my CUC who will eat algae after it gets long. Haven't caught him eating any corals, but he did eat the epoxy plug supporting my gorgonian, and he picked up two polyps of my zoa and wore those upside down for a day. Still, solid CUC member and fun to watch on top of that.

 

[AfaceInTheCrowd]

You must have excess nutrients otherwise the algae wouldn’t be present, test kits don’t show a true reading when algae is present

 

[t5Nitro]

Tuxedos are great but in my 75, 3 are not enough. I'm probably going to order another 7 when the weather is warmer for shipping.

 

[TwentyfiveCents]

Can't imagine needed that many, I have GHA but its in small spots here and there. will get one and whatever it does not eat I can just pull manually...dont have an uncontrollable outbreak of GHA just small spots here and there

If I was not using the triton method i would just get vibrant and call it a day

 

[Gordonm]

My tuxedo was not an algae eating machine. I picked up a halloween and much more effective.