Pencil Urchin Feeding

leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
My wife and I saw a pencil urchin at the LFS the other day. I'd never seen one before and was curious about it. I know it should be OK in my tank as I have no coral and the fish are not ones that would nip at it. My questions are what and how to feed it and also how to tell a healthy specimen from a not so good specimen. I asked the person at the LFS about it and he said they eat algae and something called Phytoplex that comes in a bottle that gets added to the tank a couple of times a week. Is this true? Would like to have one but want to make sure I know what I'm doing first. Any help would be appreciated.
 
turtlegirl933

turtlegirl933

Member
I'm not sure about the phytoplex( Also called green water, it is plant like animals that some animals eat). But, I do know that they will eat most meaty foods as well as algea and seaweed.
 
mageta2329

mageta2329

New Member
I have one of those and its been relatively easy to care for. It seems to eat primarily algae. I feed my tank a variety of frozen foods, flakes, and pellets. I have seen the urchin eat whatever gets to the bottom. Most of the time it seems content to skim algae off the glass. Beware if ,you have large hermits, as they like to nip at its spines. I have smaller hermits and the urchin doesn't seem to notice them, but I would watch a larger hermit.
 
ninjamini

ninjamini

Active Member
I have 2 pencil urchins that were hitchhikers. When I got them they were about the size of a pen tip. Had both of them 3 years. They have moved from tank to tank. Once with out any acclimation. There was a huge salinity difference and temp difference. They stayed in a 12 gal tank that I had set up wit just sand and rock. No fish and i did not even feed the tank. I realized when I got a bigger tank that the baby had unplugged the heater. I dont know when of for how long.
They require little care. I will tell you that when i add nori sheets for the tank that they find there way over to it and eat.
They also mowed over my yellow polyps. chomp, chomp. Took me from a nice colony to 1 polyp. I nursed that polyp and now...I got 2 nice colonies.
No worries. As long as you dont get yellow polyps.
 
leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
I dont have any coral just live rock. I might go get it this weekend. How long should it stay in Qt? I read somewhere that you can put them into the main tank after acclimation without going into Qt. Is this true?
 
theappe3

theappe3

Member
Originally Posted by ninjamini
I have 2 pencil urchins that were hitchhikers. When I got them they were about the size of a pen tip. Had both of them 3 years. They have moved from tank to tank. Once with out any acclimation. There was a huge salinity difference and temp difference. They stayed in a 12 gal tank that I had set up wit just sand and rock. No fish and i did not even feed the tank. I realized when I got a bigger tank that the baby had unplugged the heater. I dont know when of for how long.
They require little care. I will tell you that when i add nori sheets for the tank that they find there way over to it and eat.
They also mowed over my yellow polyps. chomp, chomp. Took me from a nice colony to 1 polyp. I nursed that polyp and now...I got 2 nice colonies.
No worries. As long as you dont get yellow polyps.

I have about 24 half dollar sized black urchins that came as hitchhickers on my 72g and I have yellow polyps and havent had a problem. I do think about taking some out since they are way too many.
 
sh2000

sh2000

Member
I have 4 Pincushion Urchins about 1-2 inches in my 80 gal. reef tank. I've noticed one of them seems to pick up little tiny pieces of live rock,rubble,and some empty turbo snail shells. They mostly eat algae off rock all day and clean up algae growth on the glass. This odd one keeps going around with whatever it can pick up on him, is that bad ,should I be alarmed and is this normal ?
 
theappe3

theappe3

Member
I dont think that its a problem. As long as it isnt eating valuable stuff and the urchin hasnt died then I say let it be.
 
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