Urchins

[Titus]

Hey gang,

Just wanted to get some info and advise on something here,

i was looking at adding an urchin or two to my cube once its up n running. what i wanted to find out is this, are there any reef safe ones and what they feed on? from what i can remember they eat algea, and coraline algea as well. was looking at keeping one of those pic cusion types or and one with long spines, black type. any advise or comments here would be great.

TIA

 

[Alan]

They do eat algae, but have a tendency to be very messy in that as much as they eat they pass out again and they knock corals over at night when they wonder around the tank.

 

[viper357]

Yeah, those pin cushion ones make a huge mess, they have some seriously large pooh's and are very cumbersome.

I find the long spined black ones to be very nimble and haven't had any problems with them.

 

[Mekaeel]

gotta agree with alan.i prefer not to keep them

 

[Titus]

hmmm, interesting, didn't really think of that or even know that. thanx guys. appreciate it

 

[Mekaeel]

ok the main reason why i dont like urchins,is coz when i dived,i got stabed by these damn things,thats why don wana put into my tank

 

[Titus]

eish, thats must hav been rather unpleasant.

 

[Mekaeel]

yeah one went through my flipper and got stuck in my toe.stayed there for almost a month.was too scared to go to the docs

 

[Titus]

no ways dude. yikes. u scared of the docs? panzy

 

[Mekaeel]

id rather take a solid punch,but dont like needles

 

[Titus]

hmm, sounds like me. dont dig dem needles either.

But i do think urchins are cool look wicked, particularly the pin cushion ones. pity the knock stuff over

 

[Mekaeel]

yeah some are really nice.theres the purple one that i really like.found in our waters

 

[Titus]

pity tho, would hav loved one or two in the tank. but dont feel like having an urchin knock over an acro and hav it fall onto a clam and kill the clam. i wont be a very happy reef dad thats for sure

 

[Mekaeel]

yeah thats why didnt put one is this setup

 

[viper357]

The pin cushion ones also tend to take your filtration sponges for a walk

 

[Titus]

now thats funny. was this from your tank viper?

 

[viper357]

Yeah, that was in my old 5ft, that urchin did nothing but poop everywhere and anything that was loose ended up on it's back, he was a right royal pain, although I must say he was excellent at cleaning the glass and rocks of algae.

 

[Titus]

hehe ok. u still got an urchin in your current setup dude?

 

[viper357]

I've just got one urchin at the moment, a diadema (long black spines), he's a model citizen. Apart from the occasional prick and excruciating pain.

 

[Mekaeel]

sheesh,every time i look at one of these urchins,it just gives me the shivers