Lawnmower Blenny + Sea Urchin... will they starve?

[SereneAquatic]

Both of these creatures live on Algae for the most part... if I have both in my tank, would they out compete each other for food? Does one do better than the other in a more established tank? Ours is new so there may not be a whole lot for them initially... and if that's the case, which one should come first?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Just supplement their diet. Algae wafers placed near the urchin and quality pellet or flake (or more algae wafer) for the blenny.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

I've never had an issue with algae grazer starving each other out, but I also keep fairly high nutrient tanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

It is absolutely possible but as stated supplementing their diet is a good solution if needed..

 

[Uncle99]

I am sorry, not a fan of urchins, while they are fabulous algae eaters, the also rasp the hard coralline algae off your rocks and likely will mow over any slow or none mover.
Had one sit on top of a horseshoe crab....rasp his way right through the shell and eat him...nice....
Lawnmower Blen is great....and a good algae eater....fun and friendly.....
If your goal is low or no algae, work with your water and export capacity...

 

[mcgyvr]

, the also rasp the hard coralline algae off your rocks and

One mans negative is anothers positive.. :thumbsup:

I have an urchin solely for the purpose of taking care of coralline algae..
And I also find it funny/entertaining when they pick up zoas or snails or whatever and carry it around with them..

 

[Uncle99]

I do love your humor��

 

[SereneAquatic]

One mans negative is anothers positive.. [emoji106]

I have an urchin solely for the purpose of taking care of coralline algae..
And I also find it funny/entertaining when they pick up zoas or snails or whatever and carry it around with them..

I kind of in the same mind set. I know many like the coralline, but I would rather it not cover my whole tank.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Pandagobyguy]

My sea urchin pushed a rock over onto my six line wrasse. Killed it. It throws around all the frags i have on the sand bed and in my frag rack. He constantly tries to climb onto the powerhead and eat algae off of it and he climbs into my clown's rock patch/area and i can tell it upsets them.

The plus side is i have no algae on the glass and the corners (which urchins cant get too) get cleaned by a few snails and a conch. My only glass maintenance is occasionally getting the few spots the urchin left.

Take from that what you will, if i had it to do over again i wouldn't buy him. This is why:

1. I'm trying to breed my clowns and the urchin is annoying

2. I hate having to glue everything down (which sometimes doesn't even work) and it killed my fish

3. I've realize i actually tend to like seeing the algae growth in my dt.
-It gives me a pretty good visual indication of nitrate levels
-post urchin addition I've had to do more WC because no algae grows and absorbs nutrients
-it also has significantly reduced the number of copepods/amphis i have seen (i assume the result of less algae). I have a mandarin so this one is actually a pretty big deal for me.

Nothing scientific or substantiated, just my .02