UV vs. Algae

Interesting about the algae and that's wild that you have an LFS that will loan you fish and critters! Urchins are great algae eaters, unfornately they tend to knock over stuff.

 

I was suprised about his being willing to loan livestock out too. I've spent a small fortune with this guy and he saw how frustrated I was. Maybe he was afraid I'd leave the hobby.....

 

[quote author=Pipe_Organ link=board=General;num=1081106473;start=30#31 date=04/18/04 at 12:29:35] I've spent a small fortune with this guy and he saw how frustrated I was...[/quote]

Ahh. Now I understand.

 

Yep the more you spend the better the friend in some stores but one of my favorite lfs (that i don't work at ) is like that and I still shop there

 

Dont worry about your corraline Pipe, urchins eating will actually promote it. When an urchin or any other type of fish/ivert and so on eat algae the algae, out of instinct will spore, when the critter poops (about 90% of what it eats) it will release the spores into the system. The only thing is that the UV will kill the spores if they pass through it.


Mike

 

Even though the urchins eat coaraline, they do release the spores in their excrement, so not all is lost.

 

Thanks for the coraline tip. As soon as I feel the bubble algae is under control I'll probably return most of the Urchins. I'll keep a couple just to maintain a status quo.

 

No problem!

 

The uv has been running now for 3 weeks and I noticed a slow down {less sludge} in the protein skimmer. Is that a cause of the uv doing its job or I have an issue with the skimmer?

 

Don't mean to sound like a smart alec, but who knows after only three weeks. Could be a combination of things that affect your DOCs, and if they been reduced, then your skimmer will have less skimmate. Keep an eye on it and watch your feeding, bioload, etc.