urchin

[rick12]

the tank of the month looks great! on his list of invertabrates is an urchin. does anyone know if the urchin is kept in the main tank? are urchins reef safe? appreciate any advice
thanks

 

[LTCrunch]

most urchins are reef safe. they might scape coralline but ive never had any problems with them eating corals or anything. they might pick up any small frags that arent attached to well though.

 

[rick12]

do they knock things over etc as well? thinking of getting a blue tux. i guess i need to glue my frags to the rock

 

[LTCrunch]

they will knock stuff over if it isnt attached. i like the blue tuxedos. mine were very active but yeah, they will pick up any smaller frag that isnt glued too well, and use it as camo, and then drop it where ever they want.

 

[rick12]

sorry what is ment by camo?

 

[finsurgeon]

I have 7 urchins in my 215 reef, most for over 2 years. They scrape off the coralline algae, but then excrete its spores, so that it grows back fast as well. I have 2 blue tuxes, 2 black long-spines (with a zebra crab that keeps them from getting too big), a purple "rock boring" urchin, an "impact urchin", and a pink/red pin cushion. They can knock things over, but I've gotten better at planning against that - I also have big snails and sea stars that can do that. I haven't seen them cause any real trouble. Camo means camouflage, and that means that small rocks, debris, and even snails can get picked up and carried around on the urchin.

 

[OceanSpray]

I've had 2 pencil urchins in my 75 for a couple of years. They are listed as non reef safe, but aside from knocking things over every now and then, they are kind of cool. They eat alot of algea. I have seen them mow through a little xenia a time or two, but my tank is still full of the stuff, as it grows right back. Best of luck!

 

[rick12]

thanks for the feedback-

 

[andy321]

I have a short sping with a condalactus and long tentacle anemone and some mushrooms and he has never bothered any of them

 

[Alace]

i have 1 in my 240 and he's fine, he has some clove xina and a digital temp that he packs around with him, anytime i get them off of him and put them somewhere he gets them back on him the next day so we just wait till he gets in veiw to check the temp,(i have others on the back to check the temp) but he seems to think those 2 things are his and he has to have them... but no other problems with him....

 

[rick12]

i have ordered a blue tux from the lfs today

 

[Saboral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12282155#post12282155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Alace
i have 1 in my 240 and he's fine, he has some clove xina and a digital temp that he packs around with him, anytime i get them off of him and put them somewhere he gets them back on him the next day so we just wait till he gets in veiw to check the temp,(i have others on the back to check the temp) but he seems to think those 2 things are his and he has to have them... but no other problems with him....

You mean to tell me your urchin is actually putting around with a digital thermometer attached to him. LOL If this is the case I must see a picture.

 

[rick12]

do you think an urchin and a carpet anenome will get along?

 

[.::Jun77::.]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12282155#post12282155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Alace
i have 1 in my 240 and he's fine, he has some clove xina and a digital temp that he packs around with him, anytime i get them off of him and put them somewhere he gets them back on him the next day so we just wait till he gets in veiw to check the temp,(i have others on the back to check the temp) but he seems to think those 2 things are his and he has to have them... but no other problems with him....

lol this is funny. good news is you now have a way to check temp all over your tank. now you need to post a pic

 

[sl-atl]

My Atlantic pencil urchin gets along fine with my carpet anemone and condy in my nano. Except that as of last night he has now knocked rocks over on both of them... and smushed a ricordia to boot even though I have epoxied a lot of the rocks together. Until it got bigger, I was very happy with the great job he did on the algae...

Anybody have suggestions for urchins that can't or don't create such havoc with the rockwork?

 

[Lmecher]

Trade them in at a LFS. I am sad, had to get rid of one I had for over a year, got too big 3in. diameter. I got a tiny one and it's growing fast. Here is one of my favorite photos, my large urchin right before I got rid of it. : )

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll139/Lmecher/seaurchin-1.jpg