sequential
New member
Good morning.
I just posted a lengthy introduction in the New to the Hobby forum. A friendly poster suggested I ask for suggestions in this forum. Instead of reposting everything, here is a link to the thread.
To be more specific, I spoke with a local hobbyist who explained to me that his black spiny urchin went through something similar. He put the urchin in a very large, full, and healthy coral tank. Over a period of six month, the urchin dropped its lengthier spines and is now a managable size with more appropriate behavior. While I'd love for my urchin to get smaller, I don't have the slightest clue as to whether this is healthy or cruel. If the general consensus is that this is cruel, I do have the option of having it hosted for a few months until I build a larger tank.
If hosting him is my only choice, would anyone care to share with me a general tank size guideline for what is appropriate for such a large urchin?
Lastly, in my search for information about this urchin, I've repeatedly found that my urchin is either much larger than is normally found in the wild or is not a Centrostephanus rodgersii. While the photo's look reasonably close, mine has significantly longer, less dense spines away from the center of the urchin. The underside is dark purple/black, with a conical shaped mouth. The top has five or six small, white diamonds or dots around the large, orange opening from which the food exits. (Most people who see it think it's an eye that pukes.) Though it's mostly black, there is some purple tones on the top as well. Does anyone recognize this to be something other than a Centrostephanus rodgersii? If a photo is necessary, I can provide one.
I just posted a lengthy introduction in the New to the Hobby forum. A friendly poster suggested I ask for suggestions in this forum. Instead of reposting everything, here is a link to the thread.
To be more specific, I spoke with a local hobbyist who explained to me that his black spiny urchin went through something similar. He put the urchin in a very large, full, and healthy coral tank. Over a period of six month, the urchin dropped its lengthier spines and is now a managable size with more appropriate behavior. While I'd love for my urchin to get smaller, I don't have the slightest clue as to whether this is healthy or cruel. If the general consensus is that this is cruel, I do have the option of having it hosted for a few months until I build a larger tank.
If hosting him is my only choice, would anyone care to share with me a general tank size guideline for what is appropriate for such a large urchin?
Lastly, in my search for information about this urchin, I've repeatedly found that my urchin is either much larger than is normally found in the wild or is not a Centrostephanus rodgersii. While the photo's look reasonably close, mine has significantly longer, less dense spines away from the center of the urchin. The underside is dark purple/black, with a conical shaped mouth. The top has five or six small, white diamonds or dots around the large, orange opening from which the food exits. (Most people who see it think it's an eye that pukes.) Though it's mostly black, there is some purple tones on the top as well. Does anyone recognize this to be something other than a Centrostephanus rodgersii? If a photo is necessary, I can provide one.
