Will my tank be a suitable home for a Tux. Urchin?

[JakeH]

I have a 29g tank, it is currently housing some hermits and one bristle star that came with the 2 live rocks I got when I started my setup. I have 2 Black Ice Snowflake Clownfish arriving today from F&S and a cleanup crew arriving Wednesday from IPSF. Ideally I would like to keep my tank the way it is set up right now and have the only fish in it be the Clowns. Without a ref/sump and a very low bio load would a Red Tuxedo Urchin have enough food to live in a set up like mine? The only other critter I was considering adding to the clowns/cleaners was 1 or 2 Scarlet Skunk Shrimp.

 

[Calappidae]

Considering how new the tank is and how little rock you have, the answer is no, it's not suitable yet.

I suggest adding a few more rock, and waiting a couple months for algea growth and then give it a try. You can also feed them nori, but the crabs would likely get it before him anyway.

Urchins need a lot of rock and food to graze.

 

[Betta132]

You need a lot more rockwork. Not just for an urchin, for biological filtration and stability. If you can get a bunch of already-cycled rockwork, go ahead and put it in, it'll help make things much safer for the clowns.
Is the tank fully cycled?

 

[hotelbravo]

You need a lot more rockwork. Not just for an urchin, for biological filtration and stability. If you can get a bunch of already-cycled rockwork, go ahead and put it in, it'll help make things much safer for the clowns.
Is the tank fully cycled?

i agree. i know some people like the look of bare minimum rock but you are seriously scraping by and its likely going to be an issue.

one thing is urchins feed all day long on algae. the algae they eat mainly grows on rocks or glass, you need alot more rock to get enough algae to keep them. the rock acts as a tanks greatest filter. it houses and grows biological bacteria that converts harmful biological chemicals into less harmful and less toxic forms..

 

[donut0079]

I agree the urchin will eat off the sand and glass but it's a surface area and time thing. Your tank will probably won't have a wide variety of algae for about six months and even then your tank set up has far less surface to scrape than even a 29 with more rock work. I would also be wary about not having a robust filter with an urchin as they are one of the first to be affected by nitrates increasing.

 

[Nina51]

an urchin wouldn't do well in your tank at this point. i'm not sure one would survive long term even if you wait 6 months. there just isn't enough surface area (i.e., rocks) to grow enough algae to sustain an urchin.

what all did you order for your cuc?

 

[hotelbravo]

well he already said in another post that he will not be adding any more rock to the tank. but he still plans on adding more stuff to it so i feel like its a setup for failure because he is to stubborn to get over the looks of the tank and doesnt care about how things will survive in there. owell.