34G SPS Solana

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by reeferious

go for a tuxedo urchin. one i have literally chomped through every bit of coralline growth that i had, much to my dismay.

Well I guess that would work but I don't really want it to eat coraline off the rocks. The main problem with an urchin though is that it will end up in the anemone I think.

[Delphinus]

Tuxedo urchin - may not be spotless clean but at least they munch coraline so might be better than nothing and you don't have to do any of the work...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Tuxedo urchin - may not be spotless clean but at least they munch coraline so might be better than nothing and you don't have to do any of the work...

What about the anemone though? Would the urchin stay away?

Once the anemone expands, it takes up much of that sandy area you see on the right.

[Delphinus]

I have a blue tuxedo in with my 2 - no issues with the anemone. Now, dressing itself with zoanthid frags or GSP - that's a different issue. Actually, right now, the only GSP I have left is what grows on the blue tuxedo. It's been wearing the GSP for 2 months solid and I swear it's just growing on him (they're all out and everything). I don't have the heart to pull the stuff off him since it seems to be a rather symbiotic relationship..

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I have a blue tuxedo in with my 2 - no issues with the anemone. Now, dressing itself with zoanthid frags or GSP - that's a different issue. Actually, right now, the only GSP I have left is what grows on the blue tuxedo. It's been wearing the GSP for 2 months solid and I swear it's just growing on him (they're all out and everything). I don't have the heart to pull the stuff off him since it seems to be a rather symbiotic relationship..

I think I will stay away from the urchin because whenever I see them, they are always covered in corals. I would prefer just to figure out a way to do it by hand than have an urchin pulling up all my zoanthids.

I really wish I had put a black acrylic sheet over it when the tank was empty like some other Solana owners have done. I could try now but it would be kind of hard and I couldn't glue it down.

[Delphinus]

Hahah, yeah, I hear ya. Although, FWIW, it bears mention that there is a simple solution, and that's glue stuff down that you don't want relocated on you. I find with zoanthids and zoanthid frag in particular that are always glued onto the most ridiculous of small rubble (my personal favourite is snail shells ... if you ask me, it's not just drinking and driving: friends don't let friends glue frags onto dead snails!!!!), if it's not an urchin that picks them up, something else will in the dead of night and one day you'll be wondering "Hey didn't I have some zoanthid frags there? Aw man."

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hahah, yeah, I hear ya. Although, FWIW, it bears mention that there is a simple solution, and that's glue stuff down that you don't want relocated on you. I find with zoanthids and zoanthid frag in particular that are always glued onto the most ridiculous of small rubble (my personal favourite is snail shells ... if you ask me, it's not just drinking and driving: friends don't let friends glue frags onto dead snails!!!!), if it's not an urchin that picks them up, something else will in the dead of night and one day you'll be wondering "Hey didn't I have some zoanthid frags there? Aw man."

Yeah that's a good point. Most of my zoas are actually growing on large rocks now. I thought maybe the urchin could actually rip chunks of zoas off of the rocks. Is this not the case?

Do they bother SPS? I have (as you can see) quite a bit of SPS relatively close together on top of that island and I wonder how gently the urchin can move around them? I just don't want to put something in the tank that I regret...I seem to do that with every tank but so far I haven't with this one. I have been very careful about what goes into this tank. Especially since its so small.