mattdog Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 Hey Fellow Reefers, Got a question. I was given a 20G long aquarium with 30 lbs of LR, 30-45 lbs LS, and all the life that the tank had in it. Among the inhabitants is a Black Long Spined Urchin (Diadema savignyi). My first question is is he reef safe? Second question is what can I keep him with. Any experience with these guys? Thanks, Matt Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 They're fairly reef safe, although they tend to knock stuff over. They usually won't hurt anyone in the tank, but they'll eat the coralline off the rock. I've had several of them over the past two years, and they're pretty interesting to watch. They're sorta nocturnal in my experience. Oh, and one more thing...be careful of the spines. They are barbed, and they can draw blood. Handle with caution. Cheers! Ryan Link to comment
Korbin Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 There were some pictures posted on this messageboard a while back. They were pics of a long spined urchin spearing some ricordia shrooms (accidentally?) I would be careful with them around softies. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 All I've ever kept in my tank were softies. Those spines are pretty in tune with their surroundings. They're pretty agile. Maybe mine was an oddball, but he never speared anything. I have a feeling that the pics of the ricordea spearing was an accident on the part of that urchin. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 I'm with FlyGTI on this one... The only 2 problems that I would call "foreseeable" problems would be the uchins ability to knock things over as well as the fact that they eat coralline algae... The biggest problem would be their habit of knocking things over (they are the bulldosers of the sea). On the positive side, these guys are increadible algae eaters, and will tackle thick toughs of hair algae that wouldn't even be touched by snails! If you have little algae in your tank you might have to suplement his diet... Let us know what you decide to do with the little guy! Link to comment
mattdog Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 Well, I guess with these results I will keep him. He is really cool to watch. I just didn't have any good info on them. My next problem is aiptasia. Ah, the joys of a free tank. I put a peppermint shrimp in there yesterday and then promptly left town. Hopefully the shrimp will have the taste for aiptasia. If he does have a knack for eating them, do they care how big the anemone is? I got one in there that is over 1.5" tall. Please advise. Thanks, Matt Link to comment
DaveESPI Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 the spines are the urchins defense.. they are quite nimble, but softies are indeed a hazard..... The diademas are host to a lot of fry in the ocean as reffuge..... Try raising some small Bangaii Cardinals, rhey will live in the urchins spines when frightened.... its realy neet. Ive kept a lot of urchins, they are really good coraline and soft hair algae eaters... they can bulldoze a reef, so make dure your corals are glued down. Link to comment
tyoberg Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 Matt, In my experience, it's best to exhaust all other means before you introduce something in the tank as a control measure. There's lots of ways of getting rid of aiptasia, most of them are pretty easy--injecting with boiling water or kalkwasser paste both work great. Real peppermint shrimp are pretty dubious characters. Additionally, LFS's often mislabel camel shrimp (definitely not reef safe) as peppermint shrimp (questionably reef safe). Be sure that they are fed--the fact that they are know for eating one type of coral (aiptasia) should be a hint that if they're hungry enough, they may try some other coral. Anyways, my peppermint shrimp ignored my aipasia and chose to eat my open brain coral instead. Ty Link to comment
Guest LudavicoTechnique Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Yeah they are reef safe, and they shouldnt bother your corals too much as long as you keep in mind to purchase corals that can protect themselves (those with sweeper tentacles). Bubble corals look cool with urchins, it's like your tempting fate pins and balloons just spells trouble... but it looks amazing, and they dont bother each other as long as they both have room. Link to comment
Guest LudavicoTechnique Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Oh yeah, and an Urchin sting doesn't hurt that much... in my experience grazing the heater with my arm was significantly more painful. The Urchin's spines wont always sting you if you touch them... only if they are defensive. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Link to comment
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