Tuxedo Urchin

G

golby

New member
I'm thinking about getting a tuxedo urchin. What are the things I should be aware of that perhaps I'm not thinking of because I've never had one?

I understand that they eat algae, including coralline. I have a healthy amount of it my rocks and back wall.

I have hermits, snails a YT, YT-damsels, ocellaris, blue dot goby and a six-line wrasse.

My tank is a 90g that has been up and running with fish and LR for about 7 months.
 
Eh, get several of them if you can afford it. They are sweet creatures. Expect them to move around small frags wherever they want, but for the most part it's one of the most harmless and reef-safe animals I've ever had.

It will eat corraline but not enough in a 90g to make even a dent in the overall look of the tank.
 
I have 2 in my 175; they've been in there since Feb and are active though I've never seen them travel to the right side of the tank! They will "clean" your rock down to the rock.
 
Yeah, the only real negative is that they pick stuff up and drop it places. Frags, hermits, snails etc. If its not glued down, it'll get moved. They will clean the rock though.
 
everything said before is correct. great little reef critters and are harmless but they move stuff around everywhere. just make sure all your frags or anything else you dont want moved is secured somehow. they really do add some extra life to the tank though.
 
Yup. They are fantastic. I have one in my nano and it will eat all forms of algae aside from Cyano and Coralline. It will even eat hair algae!

And as said before, GLUE EVERYTHING YOU DON'T WANT MOVED. My urchin will pick anything and everything up. In fact, I found an 1/8" diameter blue mushroom on it once. At any rate, get one if you can.
 
Here is mine carrying a slice of plastic I didn't even know was in the tank.

DSCN2714.jpg


A "royal" urchin carrying a very p-o'ed hermit crab.
DSCN2713.jpg
 
DSC_0026.jpg


The chaeto started as a small strand. Now it's even more lush. The down side is the chaeto snags on sps. I've also had snails and hermits trapped upside down as well as zoanthids. Tuxedos are great, coraline grows back, can't eat inside the crevice my hair algae is growing out of though.
 
Yep, definitely recommend a tuxedo urchin for clean-up, especially nuisance algae. I have not had a problem with my tuxedo urchin moving frags around, but it does put some strange items on its 'back', eg, the shells of emerald crabs, coral scraps, etc, etc.
 
I'm getting the sense that a tuxedo urchin is great, but will be a problem in my tank. While my coral frags are glued down, much of my LR "reef" is just piled on top of itself. It is loose rock and it sounds like the urchin, in moving around, will easily knock over the rocks. That has been a fairly consistent risk with my setup--though they are mostly in position, it doesn't take much to have a tumbler.
 
No, they aren't heavy enough to disturb your rock; they just pick up stray bits and pieces they find loose in the tank. Light weight things such as an empty snail shell or a little pebble from the substrate are common. Mine currently is sporting a feather duster and a ten polyp piece of pink paly. The feather duster has been riding around the tank for a couple of months and is doing well and the pink paly started out as one polyp and has grown to a very respectable frag. I promise you it will not knock over anything as substantial as your rock.
 
i got one....just today! =) he seems to be doing well i guess. his tentacles are out, hes moving around! ...so we'll see
 
The Tuxedo Urchin is great because for an urchin is does not have long spines to agitate corals and can't push the LR around like the pencil urchin can. I have had a Tuxedo Urchin for about three years now and absolutely love it. I refer to mine as "pigpen" because it does travel around with all manner of debris (living or not) stuck to it. They are fascinating to watch and while they do eat coraline, hasn't made a dent in my 125 which the whole back glass is covered with coraline and the rocks still have quite a bit. They are a great addition.

The only urchins I would say no to are the longspine and the pencil urchins. They can be destructive.
 
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