Looking at urchins

flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Urchins love algae and lots of it. So You need a very mature tank. They also eat coraline, they leave a blank clear path wherever they travel over the rocks.
You have to have very sturdy rock or they will topple it because they squeeze in between crevices. They also have a tendency to pick up frags on their prickles and carry it away, killing it as it goes.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
My advice is DO NOT get one, especially if you're tank is not mature. I bought a Rainbow Pincushion Urchin to help with an algae issue and to eat some of my coraline because I feared that it was getting to thick and was starting to disrupt the natural filtration of the rocks. He move around a ton of my SPS frags, grabbed some hermits and snails and knocked over one of my top rocks which fell on a very fragile piece of coral. Urchins can flatten almost to the size of paper and squeeze in anywhere so sometimes even the sturdiest aquascaping still isn't safe. IMO, they're really not reef friendly and should be left to Fish Only tanks.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
DON'T GET a pencil urchin...they eat soft corals
I have a purple urchin, and it only eats algae, never zoas, or any other corals, and never coraline....it does not leave a path of destruction...LOL
BUT...Wait until your tank is MUCH more mature so you have what an urchin requires to live off of
 
jrod4u

jrod4u

Member
I have had my pincushion for two years without any problems. I think sometimes you just have to take a risk and if it does not work out, then you know. In this hobby, there are too many variables with tanks, so everything is a 50/50
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3250163
Pencil Urchins are NOT reef safe.
NOPE they are NOT...that is why I said DO NOT get a pencil.....Mine is banished to the sump...LOL...One went back to the NOTSO LFS I kept one for emergencies
I used it when i had a HA outbreak, but watched it closely, and then removed it...:)
 
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