I always scrape the coralline algae off the back and sides of my 125 gal. and it just disappears in the tank--is this doing any harm to the water? or, can it be any cause for concern in the future?

i think it should be fine. i do the same thing with the sides of my tank.

Nope, no worries. It wil just help it spread, and it will eventualy just break back down into calcitum.

Hello Dragon wolf! I agree with the others, it will be fine. I read an article last year on people intentionally scaping off coraline from their rocks and glass with a razor, allowing those small particles and pieces to help spread coraline throughout the DT. It was some interesting reading. It was like "seeding" the coraline. Bobby and Phurst probably also read that piece I'm sure. :up:

I scrape so much coralline, I wonder why I ever couldn't wait for it to grow!

LOL, yeah, I just bought a tuxedo urchin to help get rid of some of it :)

I just LOVE the color purple:)

Me too, as long as it stays on the rocks where it belongs.

whats coralline?

LOL, yeah, I just bought a tuxedo urchin to help get rid of some of it :)

Hmmmmm....alright I give, tell me about tuxedo urchins, never seen one at the LFS.

Here's my little guy.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM4238.jpg

They just cruise around the tank and eat various algaes, both coraline and green. They pick things up in the tank, like shells and bits of algae and stick them on their backs to disguise themselvs from predators. They're facinating to watch, but you have to make sure you have secured your frags well or they will knock them over and/or carry them around.

That is so cool Phurst. I've never seen any urchin species without the spines of some various size or sort. I suppose that he uses the camoflage technique as a defense instead of the no approach spines. What size is he right now and how large will he grow? Does he have pretty much the same requirements of other urchin species? He is quite fascinating to say the least. :up:

The care is pretty much the same as it is for the rest of the urchins. Yhey're sensitive to pH, Alk and SG swings, but are otherwise pretty hardy. Mine is slightly larger than a golf ball, and they get to about 3". I primarily got mine because they're cool, but it has really done a number on the small patches of hair alge still left in my tank, and is also good at eating coraline off the glass. He's well covered in shells and other random stuff he has picked up now. You can keep more than one as long as you have sufficient algae, so I think I'm going to pick up another one at some point.

His little tube feet are really cool, he was stuck to my hand when I placed him in the tank :)