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sea urchin reef safe?


Ando

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I hear that a sea urchin is good if you have hair algae? But will it eat my corals?

 

 

I was planning on putting one in there until the algae goes away then trade him.

 

I think it's black with orange on it...??

 

Anyone know the name? and will it eat my coral?

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urchins are a pain in the butt. they knock stuff over, carry stuff around, and eat coralline algae. for hair algae in a nano i would recommend scarlett reef hermits and a tiny turbo snail or two.

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I have an urchin in my 20g, and it does not 'eat' any of my corals.

 

However, he's a little bulldozer and will knock down absolutely any and every coral that isn't anchored/glued down. That's the main reason I wouldn't recommend an urchin in a reef tank.

 

That and mine hides anytime the lights are on, so I rarely see it. It just comes out at night to eat and push things around.

 

I wouldn't discourage the idea of getting one, but I don't recommend it either.

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well I only have 3 corals right now. zoo's, ricordia, and trumpet coral... they are all glued down. I was thinking of having him for a month or two until my algae has gone away. Just want to use him for alage control for now.

 

still a bad idea?

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as long as you dont mind him eating all the corraline algea while he's grazing, mine completely stripped the outer layer of all my rock pretty quickly

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Bah. Please read here all of you:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1663374

 

For those of you who are reading challenged... They are reef safe. They don't exclusively eat coraline algae. They are no more destructive than a Turbo snail at worst and other snails/hermits at best. You will have to feed it once it eliminates the algae in your tank. They do eat hair algae. They do eat other types of algae. They do the job of several hermits and snails.

 

For your size tank go with a tuxedo and have nori on hand to feed it once it eats the algae in your tank. You may have to trim the hair algae to get it to eat it and you *MUST* drip acclimate them

Edited by Urchinhead
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im not repeating something i heard man....i had one and he literally ate every square inch of corraline he could get to, along with anything else growing on the rocks, then one night, because he ran out of corraline or other algae to eat, he ate about 4 square inches of zoos, caught him in the act, i think he may have been only after the corraline between the ployps, but he went ahead and munched on the zoos in the process

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I agree with urchin head I have a tuxedo in a 10 gallon nano and is doing great work. doesn't eat the little coraline i have, actually i didn't have any when I added him, now i am getting some all over the place

 

almost all the algae is gone but he'll be going in to a 40 breeder tank as soon as I get it going.

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i actually enjoyed having coralline on my rocks, and didn't like having my rock work periodically tumble down, or having a rolling pin cushion covered in the zoas and palys it dislodged , so after 3 or 4 months i finally gave up on my little tuxedo urchin friend, even though he was really interesting to watch.

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i actually enjoyed having coralline on my rocks, and didn't like having my rock work periodically tumble down, or having a rolling pin cushion covered in the zoas and palys it dislodged , so after 3 or 4 months i finally gave up on my little tuxedo urchin friend, even though he was really interesting to watch.

 

 

lol

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I just want him to eat all of my algae. Then im going to trade him in at the fish store I bought him from. Im not to worried about him knocking my corals over. They are glued.

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I have a little hair algae but mostly this algae that looks like little bushes.

 

I will post a pic in a little bit

 

I hear that diadema setosum urchin's don't bulldoze things over. ? ? ?

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im not repeating something i heard man....i had one and he literally ate every square inch of corraline he could get to, along with anything else growing on the rocks, then one night, because he ran out of corraline or other algae to eat, he ate about 4 square inches of zoos, caught him in the act, i think he may have been only after the corraline between the ployps, but he went ahead and munched on the zoos in the process

 

That would be because it was starving and had nothing else to eat. Kind of like you eating survival biscuits. It will keep you alive but it tastes awful and its hard to eat. Furthermore it wouldn't eat zoa's. Unless it was a pencil urchin. The zoa's were most likely innocent bystanders.

 

Bottom line is it will decimate your algae in your tank then go after anything else remotely resembling what it can feed on. Thus you need to feed it nori once a week or so.

 

Ando-

 

It should eat both kinds of algae. If that first one (unknown) is a micro algae. It looks like cheato... The bulldozer effect comes from them being very strong relative to their size so if your rock work isn't stable (and it should be) they will knock it over. They will also pick up bits and pieces of things and carry it around. They use this as camouflage and it is a sign of a healthy urchin.

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That would be because it was starving and had nothing else to eat. Kind of like you eating survival biscuits. It will keep you alive but it tastes awful and its hard to eat. Furthermore it wouldn't eat zoa's. Unless it was a pencil urchin. The zoa's were most likely innocent bystanders.

 

Bottom line is it will decimate your algae in your tank then go after anything else remotely resembling what it can feed on. Thus you need to feed it nori once a week or so.

 

i clearly stated i believe he was only after the corraline between the polyps, but he did in fact eat the zoos, i routinely walk out and check the tank if i wake in the night and as soon as i turned on the flashlight i saw about an inch wide swath through the zoos and proceeded to watch him for a few more minutes, munching away as he crept along

 

he was a long spined black urchin

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=591

 

and i can vouch for the venomous stinging ability, got a few black pierces in my fingers trying to catch him to get him out...i had him for a year or so i think, loved him other than the obvious reasons, very neat to watch, he had 10 inch long spines by the time i got rid of him...actually i still have some old pics of him in my tank

 

th_DSCF1844.jpg

th_DSCF1857.jpg

th_DSCF1839.jpg

 

for size comparisons, that is a 75 gallon hex he was in....

 

i say just like with emerald crabs, these are not NANO safe, only safe in larger systems where their natural source of food is able to be naturally replenished, just like a mandarin dragonet, some of these creatures are REEF safe, not NANO safe, the longer i am in this hobby, and the larger my systems grow, the more i realize these things from experience, not just repeating something i read

 

so in my opinion, is an urchin REEF safe? yes, generally speaking, as long as you understand they will eat corraline and knock things around that are not glued down well, but are they NANO safe? i say no

Edited by jamesnmandy
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In general they do not eat zoa's. Zoa's are not good eating. Just like most urchins (except for the pencil) do not eat dead fish and other wildlife. They are herbivores except for the Pencil urchin. They will eat soft corals if nothing else is available to eat however as you found out.

 

IIRC Long spines are not recommended for Nano (under 50 gallon) tanks per the FAQ I wrote. They get far too big and will damage other tank mates via the spines.

 

About the only urchin I would recommend for a tank that is under 60 gallons would be a tuxedo. Regardless of the urchin you get you will eventually have to do supplemental feedings because it will end up eating all of your algae (including your coraline) then starving to death.

 

And I feel your pain regarding the spines. Took one in the thigh on a dive. Was not happy about that.

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  • 1 year later...

Depends on your definition of "reef safe" imo.

 

Will it eat your inverts and corals? No. Will it potentially knock corals into the sandbed at night? You betcha.

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corallineadam

ive always have urchins in my tanks -- they can be a hassle whe they get larger, so id suggest getting the smallest one you can find.

it depends on the species, but there are definitely completely reef safe ones out there that only eat algae.

 

adam

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