Thinking of adding an urchin

[fisheater]

I guess this is the proper place to post this. I would like to add a urchin to my tank. I am open to type/species of urchin. I have hard and soft corals, 2 clowns, 2 chromis, 3 damsels, a muscle and a decorator crab. I have herd that urchins will bulldoze your liverock and coral. Most of my rock is pretty well fastened down with tubing running through it with the exception of a few pieces on the sand bed. I also plan on adding a tang (not sure what kind yet), clam of some kind and a dwarf angel.
Any particular urchin I should look for or avoid?

 

[Cwel1979]

I put some pencil urchins in my 93 cube. They clean the rocks better than anything I have ever put in my thank. And they haven't knocked my rocks over . I don't have corals yet but I heard they can knock them over. I recommend them though great cleaners

 

[Calappidae]

You'd have to research each urchin species out there. Some are harmless, some pick up rubble and even snails (pincushion, tuxedo, etc.), some eat coraline or are not totally reef safe (pencil urchin for example), and some even sting! (long spine, banded spine, radiating, etc.) better research and choose the urchin you like or suits your needs. As far as pushing rocks over, it happened to me quite a few times with a small pencil urchin.

 

[Nina51]

i have a tuxedo in my 29g and he is a model citizen, never in trouble, never needs a time out. i have a pincushion in my 14g and he's a holy terror. he will pick up snails, empty shells, the occasional polyp, i have even had to dislodge a feather duster from him a couple of times. he will knock small rocks over and he's generally a nuisance but he's so much fun to watch, i haven't been able to bring myself to part with him.

 

[fisheater]

Well we just left the big sale at Hidden Reef in Philly. We decided against an urchin for now. Ended up with a lot of snails, shrimp and crabs and 1 little Mandarin Goby. I still think I want a urchin but Ill hold off for now and let the tank have more time to adjust and the corals to root themselves in to the rocks.
Thanks for the advice guys, im still inconclusive.

 

[Nina51]

isn't your tank fairly new? not sure a mandarin would be a good choice unless your tank is at least a year old.

 

[fisheater]

isn't your tank fairly new? not sure a mandarin would be a good choice unless your tank is at least a year old.

Tank is very new but most of the stuff came over from previous tank. I didnt read your comment before I bought a mandarin. Unfortunately he didnt make it anyway. Im not sure why he died but he went within 24 hours of adding him. May have been to cold in car or something or just general stress. I also lost a flame scallop who had been in tank for about a week.

 

[Calappidae]

Tank is very new but most of the stuff came over from previous tank. I didnt read your comment before I bought a mandarin. Unfortunately he didnt make it anyway. Im not sure why he died but he went within 24 hours of adding him. May have been to cold in car or something or just general stress. I also lost a flame scallop who had been in tank for about a week.

Mardarins, like all dragonets, only eat copepods which lives in the live rock and it takes about a year for a good population for them to live. Basicly it starved.

Flame scallops need target fed and are very very sensitive and rated "Expert only"

 

[Nina51]

+1 to everything joe said.

hard to say how long the fish had been in the store but if it had been there for very long, it was likely starving when you bought it. bummer, sorry for the loss.

for future reference, you should check out liveaquaria.com for the requirements of different fish/inverts/corals. i always have my phone handy so that if i see something i like, i check to see if it's compatible with what i already have.

i cringe when i see things like mandarins and flame scallops in pet stores. too many people look and them and all they see is how beautiful they are and don't take the time to research before buying (not saying this is the case with you but it happens often). they end up with dead stuff in a few days and then just go out and get more stuff that's gonna die.

 

[btweymouth1s]

I have a tuxedo and a pink pincushion in my 75 gal. Both are fun to watch. The pincushion is more active and enjoys to carrying around snails and empty shells. He will knock over frags that aren't glued down. Same goes for the tuxedo, but he is a bit smaller and doesn't carry around as much stuff.

 

[SantaMonica]

So would a tuxedo be the recommended first one?

 

[Nina51]

that's what i would recommend. tuxedos just seem to be a little less destructive. my pincushion has been put in time out numerous times for picking up things i don't want him to have. recently, i have had to take a feather duster worm away from him twice. i also put a chunk of squid in the tank for my brittle star, looked about 30 minutes later and the pincushion was packing it around on his back. he can be frustrating but quite entertaining at the same time.

 

[JRR1285]

I had a purple pincushion and it was a great algae cleaner. Just seemed to mow everything down. He was a bulldozer though, and was in between the size of a baseball and a softball. Way too big for a 29G tank. I want to get a long spine urchin and I'm hopeful it won't be as destructive.

 

[Dodgy Russian]

Tuxedo urchins are great I had one until something ate it it was 1.1/2 inches long probably my trigger ate it tuxedos seem to stay tiny though so are great for a small tank. Remember to allow enough algae to grow for it.