Urchins in Reef?

[spmnarciso]

Anybody keep any urchins in there reef tanks...which ones? Any pics? Any problems?

 

[ophiura]

YEs, both hitch hikers and add ins that are reef safe.
The common hitch hiker is the rock boring urchin echinometra. These guys are grazers with medium length spines. Then there is the blue tuxedo urchin...pretty and smallish with very short spines. Another is the long spines urchin Diadema, but this woould be one to watch as its spines are fragile and venemous. You don't want to get poked.
All are potential bulldozers - you don't want them in a tank with loose rock or corals. They are reported at times to graze on coralline but others have said that it grows back quite quickly in areas that are grazed.
The only non reef safe one, IMO, is the slate pencil urchin.

 

[promisetbg]

I have a blue tuxedo urchin from Palau..he is the neatest critter!He puts stuff like zoanthids on himself to camoflauge{sp?} himself..he has grown quite a bit since I got him.Although he mostly comes out at night,sometimes I can catch a glimpse of him in the daytime too.

 

[alohami]

Sorry to hi-jack...but just wondering what is the minimum tank size for the blue tuxedo and the slate pencil urchins? I would like to get one, but don't want to if I don't have a big enough home for them! Thanks!

 

[promisetbg]

Mine is in a 75..w/ 180 + Lbs of LR..I consider them to be like a starfish,they need a very mature,large tank,with lots of LR to graze.I would'nt put one in a small tank at all.

 

[ophiura]

I agree on that note Also they are very delicate when it comes to changes in things like specific gravity which can change pretty rapidly in smaller systems. So you may be able to get by, but it is not a sure bet.

 

[alohami]

That's what I figured. Oh well...maybe in my next tank.

 

[22caddy]

I would have to disagree from my own experience. I have a long spine urchin in my 20. He is growing like a weed. He eats the seaweed select sheets I put in there. I have had him 6 or 7 months so far.