Very Large Black Spine Sea Urchin...

[Purple Penguins]

So I got this guy as a tiny baby, it was about the size of dime.. well now its gigantic with massive spines, has never caused any havoc in my tank and is a model citizen.. however his spines have gotten so long and have not broken off from the rockwork that the other day while doing maintinence i was lucky enough to get stabbed 2 times (no reaction at all) Im curious however if you can help them with their spines.. go in with some kind of cutter or scissors and trim the spines down.. if anyone has any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks...
Angela

 

[tkeracer619]

I have heard of people trimming them but haven't done this myself.

Mine got banished to the sump last week as it eats sps corals now.

 

[Purple Penguins]

Ive heard of that.. this tank doesnt have much for sps corals in the tank.. just a monti cap that it never touches, just hate pulling spines out of my hand lol

 

[noahm]

They make little rubber tips for sharp utensils. Get to work!

 

[mouserusker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14656570#post14656570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by noahm
They make little rubber tips for sharp utensils. Get to work!

Good one!

 

[greenbean36191]

Do not trim the spines. The spines are covered with live tissue and each cut spine is an open wound and potential site for infection.

You'll either need to learn to live with a large urchin or get rid of it.

 

[boltp777]

where some type of gloves like aqua gloves when doing tank matienance.

 

[finsurgeon]

Yes. They make a very nice trimmer. It's called a zebra crab, and it does exactly what you want. See the other current thread on this forum. The crab mows the urchin - but beware overmowing - it may take another urchin at some point to keep the crab well-fed and disperse the stress, though from the sound of it, yours is a long way from that now. I've had the crabs trim down overly large urchins nicely - you'll be surprised how small the body remains when the spines get shortened.

 

[E.intheC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14659096#post14659096 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Do not trim the spines. The spines are covered with live tissue and each cut spine is an open wound and potential site for infection.

You'll either need to learn to live with a large urchin or get rid of it.

+1.