Urchin bleaching LR??

[adamsaranluke]

I got a short spine urchin a couple months ago and I am wondering if he could be the reason that some of my lr looks bleached. It seems that everywhere he goes he leaves the rock white for a couple days, then the coraline starts to regain color and rocks fade back to normal. Normal?

 

[redox]

totally nornal. Urchins actually eat coraline. The white coraline is all that is left after he eats the colored stuff.

 

[adamsaranluke]

So then I should get rid of the urchin as he does nothing of any value? And actually he causes damage to my little enviroment.

 

[rivoth]

I wouldn't get rid of the Urchin as he adds diversity to your environment. It's not like he is eating coraline faster than it can grow. In fact I'd say your coraline as a whole will be healthier for going through the cycle of life.

 

[adamsaranluke]

Obviously you dont understand, he does eat everything faster than it grows. in fact I am having real trouble getting any coraline to establish and I would like to attribute this to something as simple as the urchin. And he is always knocking everything over. The little bastard.

 

[FlaGuy]

If it were me, I'd probably remove the urchin unless you want white patches all over your live rock.

 

[chrisstie]

The best way to get coralline growing is to work your parameters. Make sure you're keep your Alk and Ca where they should be and keep your Magnesium high - it'll explode once you bring your magnesium up, wish I had one to eat all the coralline on my glass