Post Those Urchins!!!!

debbie

debbie

Active Member
Originally Posted by corally
I have a purple pincushin urchin. I thought he just had shells, rocks, etc. on him by accident and I always clean them off like AmandaL, should I leave this stuff on him?

Yes leave his decorations on him. They pick these up along the way and place them on themselves. It poses no harm to them and this is natural for them to do.
One morning my purple pincushion had two empty snail shells, a small piece of coral, and three other pieces of debris on it. They love to decorate themselves and it is quite funny to watch them too.
Deb
 
ccws

ccws

Member
Originally Posted by corally
I have a purple pincushin urchin. I thought he just had shells, rocks, etc. on him by accident and I always clean them off like AmandaL, should I leave this stuff on him?

Definately leave them on. My urchin always has stuff on him. He also picks up the molted shell from my shrimp which is kinda gross. Its thought to be tactile camoflage, since one of their predators is certain starfish. I think that picture was taken right after I got him so he didnt have anything stuck to him. Right now he has an empty shell and some bubble algae stuck to him.
 
ccws

ccws

Member
Originally Posted by MyThrenody
I was thinking of getting an Urchin when my tank is ready. I heard most of em knock over rocks,but I'm not sure which one,but some don't,I think it was a tuxedo? Those are cool looking
My blue tuxedo does seem to bump into stuff. He one time tipped over my frogspawn which was wedged in a rock. Since then I have superglued it down and have had no other problems. I havent ever seen him move a rock. They really dont have very much mass and I doubt he could physically move any of my rocks.
 
nikolai

nikolai

Member
Originally Posted by Debbie
Here is my purple pincushion urchin. I just love these critters. I don't have snails and don't need them. This guy does it all and in the process has spread coraline algae in my tank that I never had before....
Would not be without one.
My urchin is almost exactly like yours (I'll try and get a picture up soon!). He does an AMAZING job wrt algae control, and absolutely devoured my caulerpa (I had a TON before I got him, he came with a tiny stalk of another kind of macro algae which is now the dominant type and the caulerpa now only exists in the spots where he can't get it!
). I also have 4 keyhole limpits (I think that's what they're called), and a few hermit crabs and other snails. The keyhole limpits eat EVERYTHING, and they have all exploded in size over the past couple of months. :cheer:
 
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