What eats coralline?

[link81]

My little 8g biocube on my desk has a coralline infestation.
it;s totally covered the back wall (i'm ok with this) but now it's starting to cover the front glass. I'm having to scrape it all the time. is there a critter I can put in it to eat it?
Tuxedo urchin maybe?

 

[Cell]

Definitely tuxedo urchin. But it wont discriminate front glass vs everywhere else.

 

[Greybeard]

Urchin will eat it... but much more likely to eat from where you want it, on the rocks, than on the glass.

I'd suggest a real good scraper

 

[link81]

Thats ok. I don't really mind where it takes it from. If he get this one too clean, i can always take him home for a while and let him munch in the 40B.

they eat regular algae as well right?

 

[BestMomEver]

They’ll eat regular algae but no real long stringy stuff. At least that’s my experience.

 

[link81]

any issue that you can think of with them in an 8 gallon?
other then having enough food?

 

[McFly]

Urchins like to knock over stuff, that could be a problem in such a small tank.

 

[link81]

howabout pincushion urchins?
i'm seeing a big size variance with them though. some places say 3" others say up to 8!

Tuxedo's stay in the 2-3" range AFAIK.

 

[Mike N]

Is it not possible to get a nano flipper-scraper in there?
The blade of the scraper would make short work of that coralline.
Alternatively, you can introduce some limpets. They're small and they love to eat coralline.

 

[link81]

Limpets eat coralline?
I might be able to fit a flipper, but they're not very interesting to watch from my desk....;Hilarious

 

[madweazl]

A tuxedo urchin will wipe out coralline in an 8g tank in two or three days. Amazing how fast they go through it but I think it's the wrong choice for the 8g and 40g.

 

[Mike N]

Limpets eat coralline?
I might be able to fit a flipper, but they're not very interesting to watch from my desk....;Hilarious

Yes they do. I have hundreds of them and they live right at the bottom where the sand meets the glass, eating coralline as it grows.

lol you dont have to keep the flipper in the tank. Use it to quickly remove the coralline and then remove it from the tank.