Care of Urchin Hitch-hiker

[dsa_mom]

What a shock! Looking at the tank late at night, I found a purple spiny urchin, about the size of a nickle. Must have come with some live rock, MANY months ago--now that we know its there, do we just assume it will continue to eat whatever it has eaten up to now, or does it require some special care. It is only visible at night, and not very often at that.
Thanks!

 

[katara]

Mine just feed on the algae on my lr and glass.I did one time put in Nori for another fish and one of my urchins stayed planted on it for a day and a half till it was completely gone...probably a nice treat for him.

 

[therock0861]

I hear Urchins love to eat Coraline algae so if you want the algae the urchin must go back to the fishie store.

 

[krishj39]

I don't think you need to spot feed it. Unless your tank is a nano, there should be enough food to keep the urchin alive and well. Some will munch on corals, and coralline algae, so keep an eye out for that. Even if it does eat coralline, don't panic, it probably won't make much of a difference, and by disturbing the algae, it actually helps the coralline spread.