Sea Urchins

[alianated]

Ok... Im not sure when or where.. but a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I got the impression that sea urchins were bad for reef tanks.
But I just saw a post in the archives about someone mentioning they had many different kinds. So I am wondering, did I just imagine this 'urchins = bad' mentality?
Or are there just a select few that are reef safe?
If there are only a few, or even if all are reef safe....
Any suggestions on an urchin for my reef tank would be appreciated.
Thanks
alianated
www.alianated.com

 

[mlm]

I don't think they are bad as in they will eat your coral I think they are bad as in they will tear at some corals.

 

[jacksonpt]

I have no experience with them, so take this with a grain of salt. My LFS (who usually knows what he's talking about) said that urchins are reef safe, but can be problematic. Sound contradictory? I thought so to. Anyways... urchin eat small crustacians, so they've been known to eat small crabs, snails, etc... but only if they are significantly smaller than the urchin, which doesn't happen very often in a typical reef tank, according to my LFS. The problem is that the a strong little suckers, and have been know to topple rockwork as they crawl around. For this reason, I was told to stay away from the long spined urchins, but that some of the smaller, shorter spined species would probably do fine in the average reef.
Again, take it for what it's worth, but that's what I've been told.
HTH

 

[lordofthereef]

I DON'T THINK I WOULD CHANCE IT. THEY MIGHT EAT YOUR FISH OR CORALS, OR PROBLY BOTH! I ALSO READ SOMWHERE ONCE THAT THIS GUY HAD ONE EAT HIS POWER CORDS TO HIS POWERHEAD! MIGHT BE A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.

 

[alianated]

ROFL!!!
The CORD!?!?! That would be just badddd.
Actually I get the feeling whatever I heard a while back went along the lines of the spines piercing a coral. I only think this because I remember thinking the pencil one was reef save because his 'spines' werent so sharp.
Ah well. If anyone does have one in their reef and its doing ok and all seems good, please reply.
Thanks to those who did.
8 )

 

[deuce_bigalo]

I have a pin cushion urchin ,he is a liitle smaller then a baseball.
No problems!!! He has about 1/2" spines

 

[wamp]

There is a beautifull urchin out there known by the common name Royal Urchin. They are purple with little tentacles on them. I have two and they have never caused any problems except, carrying mushrooms around my tank on there back. The Pencil Urchins can be a big problem they can actually sort of dissolve your coraline algea and bury themselves in your rock. There are numerous types and I imagine that there are some "reef safe" but as on your website, there can be some nasty ones.

 

[mal]

most are safe, I won't say all, but I have never had one that ate coral or anything like that. They eat algae, a lot of algae. They will eat coraline algae as well. They don't really bother stuff other than by knocking it over or moving it. I have had them before with no problems of coral / critter / equipment damage. They are cool too, they will pick up pieces of substrate, lr rubble etc. and carry it around on top of them. I had then do this with some small coral frags. Which is why I don't have them anymore. I got tired of them picking up frags, carrying them around and dropping them off somewhere else. They are great at algae control!

 

[cyberjesus]

i have a spiney urchin the only coral i have is polyps but it dosent hurt them. it does eat coraline algae off of one of my rocks but not the other rocks.

 

[chevron tang]

I would not chance getting one the only one Ive read to be reef safe is the royal urchin. If you want an urchin I would try this one. Its also very pretty.