raising baby diadema urchins to adults

[Jadran]

I read many times about small diademas as hitchhikers on live rock, and now i got also one of those cute little things on my imported stuff. I was wandering if those guys can grow to adulthood on their own in our closed systems?

 

[sl-atl]

They should, as long as the water parameters remain good and they have algae to eat. Some diadema urchins get quite large, so that might eventually put some strain on them (or you.) Very cool you have one. They are actually protected from collection in Florida, so if you have Caribbean rock you now have something that is relatively unusual!

 

[Jadran]

sweet, thx. Yes I think water should be just fine.. This is new setup, only one month old but still on the water level everithing is under control inthere, there is plenty of green stuff to munch on as well

 

[Jadran]

Oh yes, they can these cuties grow really fast, 3 months ago when I asked about it it was barely recognizable as diadema

just to compare it.. Two pics, who knows one day someone might find em useful

this shot was taken yesterday

sweet

 

[sl-atl]

Very cool. All you need now are some clingfish! (Diademichthys lineatus))

 

[LauraCline]

yes they will, a friend of mine catches them in his crab traps all the time. Last year he caught one about the size of a quarter, it's in my tank and as big as a baseball now.