penicl urchin

[rookie26]

i recently started a 40 gallon reef tank and i thought a pencil urchin would b a good addition well i put some polyps in there and every thing was fine then one day i get home from work and i notcied the urchin was on it so i decided to move it it and raise the polyps up alittle closer to the light well about a week later i c the urchin knocked it off and dragged it on my rock to were i would have to move my setup up to get to it now if this is a problem the urchin i need to know because i need to get rid of it if its gonna b a nuisance thanx
Rookie 26

 

[murph145]

yeah they can be a problem sometimes.... i had a chocolate star go after my polyps ate about half of them so i had to trade him in....
id say trade him in if he keeps doing it.... i have an urchin in my tank hasnt knocked over anything but he stays in the rock work most of the time i never seen him by the polyps
is your urchin eating your polyps??

 

[misty7850]

my pencil urchin sometimes knocks things over when wandering about the tank, but he never trys to eat any of my corals.

 

[57chev]

I have 2 pencil urchins and 8 long spiny black urchins in a 150 reef. Ive always liked em. The pencils are usally more active at night, where as the others mow around the clock Ive never had a problem with them eating anything they shouldnt. They'll all tip things over from time to time which can be a pain, but on a side note their great for eating hair algae. If you've ever had a case of hair algae you'll notice it has a tendency to come back on the same rocks. when I see a hint of it I drop an uchin right on the rock, and a lot of times they'll consume it right up.