Something is eating my coralline algae!

[fresh]

I don't know what it is, but my coralline algae is being eaten by something in the tank. I do not have any urchins.

I started noticing that it was small random trails just like a snail's trail of disappearing coralline algae on the back wall. Now I notice that some rocks are also missing small patches. The trail is very thin (1 mm or less).

I do have MANY small white snails (less than 1 mm round) which I don't know what they are called. Could they be the culprit? I also have one small chiton (or what looks like a chiton) that is only 0.5 cm long. The chiton I have had for a long time and hasn't grown at all.

What is eating my coralline and how can I stop it? If you can help with your experience, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

[Proteus]

Got a urchin?

Also red that emerald crabs will eat it to

[Mandosh]

Chitons do actively eat coraline. The only way I see of stopping your coraline from being eaten, is by removing whatever is eating it. I'd start with the chiton.

[noirsphynx]

Any asterina star fish? I had some in one of my tanks that were eating the coraline.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Mandosh

Chitons do actively eat coraline. The only way I see of stopping your coraline from being eaten, is by removing whatever is eating it. I'd start with the chiton.

its the chitons for sure i have about 50 of them they breed easily , im not sure eating your coraline is a bad thing is it??

i know im glad they eat mine , less to scrape and clean lol :P

anytime i find one in my 90 i add it to my bonsai tank , i find them beneficial and since i cant see rock anyways its awesome:P

[fresh]

Originally Posted by Titus99

Got a urchin?

Also red that emerald crabs will eat it to

No urchins as the post states, and I don't have any crabs (not even hermits).

Originally Posted by noirsphynx

Any asterina star fish? I had some in one of my tanks that were eating the coraline.

Come to think of it, I have many of those! Could they be the culprit? How to get rid of them, and should I?

Originally Posted by reefwars

its the chitons for sure i have about 50 of them they breed easily , im not sure eating your coraline is a bad thing is it??

It is when you do see rocks I am not as lucky as you where my rocks are hidden by my corals (at least not yet)

So then based on this, it could be the single chiton I have, or the asterina starfish. It might be the starfish as I have started to notice their population going up recently.

I don't want to remove something beneficial that doesn't need to be removed. And now after what reefwars said, I am even leaning towards leaving whatever is eating the coralline alone.

I am not too worried about it, but I like the coralline look and just thought to mention it to get some thoughts from the experts.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fresh

No urchins as the post states, and I don't have any crabs (not even hermits).



Come to think of it, I have many of those! Could they be the culprit? How to get rid of them, and should I?



It is when you do see rocks I am not as lucky as you where my rocks are hidden by my corals (at least not yet)

So then based on this, it could be the single chiton I have, or the asterina starfish. It might be the starfish as I have started to notice their population going up recently.

I don't want to remove something beneficial that doesn't need to be removed. And now after what reefwars said, I am even leaning towards leaving whatever is eating the coralline alone.

I am not too worried about it, but I like the coralline look and just thought to mention it to get some thoughts from the experts.

the coraline will out grow the chitons easily its just a matter of time

[MKLKT]

Odds are that whatever is eating it is also "returning" it to the tank and spreading coralline even more.

[fresh]

Originally Posted by reefwars

the coraline will out grow the chitons easily its just a matter of time

Originally Posted by MKLKT

Odds are that whatever is eating it is also "returning" it to the tank and spreading coralline even more.

I must say that my coralline has been growing in the last year or so, so you both are probably correct.

Ok, nothing to remove here, and I will leave what ever is eating (I mean spreading) coralline to continue doing whatever they are doing lol

[noirsphynx]

Originally Posted by fresh

Come to think of it, I have many of those! Could they be the culprit? How to get rid of them, and should I?

I hate the little buggers! Once they're in your system good luck getting them all out Some turn in to coral munchers. They're not all destructive but now I don't take any chances. Harlequin shrimp will sometimes eat them.