Urchin Advice

[nmprisons]

I was thinking about adding a tuxedo urchin to my tank in order to combat some marco algae I have growing in the display.

Here are my questions:

1. Do these guys ever eat anything other than algae? I am particularly concerned about my lords and micros that are encrusting on rocks and so would most likely be treaded upon by the urchin with some regularity.

2. Do these guys actually eat macro algae, assuming it is not overgrowing?

3. Am I going to get hurt by its spikes?

Any other experiences or advice?

Thanks a lot!

[reeformadness]

What is a lord?

[nmprisons]

Acanthastrea lord.

Anyone have any advice here?

[barbra]

I have 2 urchins in one of my tanks and they are doing nicely, pleasant little guys really. I have heard that they can be clumsy around delicate creatures but I have not had a problem with them. They really didn't do anything much to macro though, but they get the little stuff like nobody's business. Any soft "furry" kinds of algea will disappear quickly. They have done no harm in my tank that I am aware of and I am pretty obsessive about watching.

[Lev F.]

1. Tuxedos don't, some other species do.

2. I'm not too sure, I think he may.

3. Unlikely. Tuxedos have very short spines, the only way to get tagged by one is smushing it, probably.

[Tu Ku]

In my experience, urchins are a pain in the rear. My buddy keeps a tuxedo urchin and it only ever eats algae. But it does occasionally carry loose polyps around on it's spines, and yeah he's been poked by it's spines when he couldn't see it behind some live rock. None the less I'm pretty sure that tuxedo's are rather harmless.

[barbra]

Of course, if your algea is caulerpa you may have a hard time getting anything to eat it, I would just pull it up and make sure you get those little roots that work their way into the rocks :)

[jmack]

Urchins are really cool...you won't believe how fast they can motor around a tank...the best part is when they get on the glass and you can see them actually grazing :) A great way to get some free urchins is to buy FL rock..I've gotten 3 so far that came in as hitchhikers. I have numerous softies and they never touch them...just the corraline algae (not enough to really notice) and the film algae. I suspect I would notice a difference if they weren't there.

With 3 urchins i always check to see where they are before I put my hands in the tank:mixed:

[barbra]

I have noticed them around my coraline also, but it seems as if they are getting stuff off the top, I see no damage as they pass over. I agree about watching them on the glass, there's a lot going on underneath that animal.

[LobsterOfJustice]

I love my urchins. I wouldnt have a tank without one.

[ACBlinky]

I have a pincushion, he doesn't touch macros or hair algaes. All I've ever seen him eat is coralline (not that I mind, coralline on the glass drives me nuts). Urchins are neat pets in their own right -- I consider any algae-eating mine does to be a side benefit to his adorable little habits :D

[barbra]

I have 2 purple sea urchins and they are very welcome in my tanks :)

[TekCat]

Does blue tux eat valonia?

[Sk8r]

Re vallonia and caulerpa: my tripneustes gracillis [foster/smith] would rip vallonia off to carry around, which was pretty good: I could then get hold of it and export it; and he will eat caulerpa. He's a pincushion variety, and will shove tippy rock: use putty to stabilize.