Urchin water quality

[Sharpie129]

So I've been looking into getting an urchin for my 24 gal since they look so cool. I've read about them eating all your coraline and maybe pushing stuff over but I'm ok with that... What I want to know is, I seem to be reading that they're really sensitive to your water, especially Alk and pH. That shouldn't be to hard to take care of right? I just don't want to risk killing one when they can release toxins into the tank... I'm looking into a blue tuxedo but I'm willing to hear suggestions as to which one is the most forgiving. What are people's thoughts on this?

[DementedLullaby]

I think tuxedos are the best bet. Especially for a 24g.

 

just keep everything stable and you shouldn't have any problems with it. Acclimate slowly IMO. They will release their spines when water quality makes them unhappy.

[Dawnskaybug]

I have a tuxedo in my 55 and it survived a crash. They will clean algea great so good i can see where it was almost like a vacuum cleaner. They do get rocks hermits etc stuck to there "spines" though

[fishwife]

Actually, they stick things on themselves with their little tubefeet thingies, not their spines. It's an intentional camoflage technique.

 

Mine is fixated on my favorite bright pink zoanthid colony. He seeks it out, picks it up, carries it around, and drops it all over the tank. It's pretty funny, but I'm sure the zoas don't agree.

 

Also, think about what lps you have in the tank. Contact between an urchin spine and a pillowy brain coral may be a problem. Probably more important to make sure that these puffy corals are on the sandbed and not perched on rock, or they WILL get knocked over.

[Sharpie129]

If I have small zoo colonies that have been blued to the rock so they can't be picked up, will the urchin be able to pry them up and if not, will it leave them alone or walk on over them and maybe eat them?

[clifford513]

I have a tuxedo in my 55 and it survived a crash. They will clean algea great so good i can see where it was almost like a vacuum cleaner. They do get rocks hermits etc stuck to there "spines" though

Does it eat a lot of coralline algae?

[fishwife]

If I have small zoo colonies that have been blued to the rock so they can't be picked up, will the urchin be able to pry them up and if not, will it leave them alone or walk on over them and maybe eat them?

If they're secured to the rock, he wont pry them up. He also won't eat them (if you get the right kind of urchin and there's enough algae for it to eat) He'll just walk over them.