Urchins ? pros & Cons

[jimnrose]

I have a 125g tank that includes 3 black urchins that hijacked on live rock. They are getting very big and are doing a good job of cleaning the algae. Are their any concerns or liabilities I should be looking out for.

[chimmike]

they'll pick up/tear up corals as they move along.

but the are excellent algae eaters.

[demonnite57]

They eat way too much?

[AaronM]

They'll eat anything off your rocks including coralline.

Ones with long spines occupy alot of space and can bump corals and small rocks out of position.

The black ones with the really long thin spines? Don't get pricked! Hurts more than you expect!

[fishyness]

I've had mine for about 2 years and have had no problems.

[DustinB]

My buddy has a tuxedo. Every time I see his tank it has a new coral taking a ride on it's back.

[zero26]

I had a pencil urchin, he ate alot of coraline and he ate some of my xenia before putting him in the sump.

[jimnrose]

I've noticed a reduction in the coraline, but will try and keept them until the tankisbalanced and pretty low in algae growth. Thanks for knowing about keeping my hands away from their spines. Jim

[TellyFish]

The black ones with the really long thin spines? Don't get pricked! Hurts more than you expect!

I stepped pretty good on one of those guys down in Mexico, and I still have this strange "dot" scar on the bottom of my foot. hurt for days! :hmm5:

[ta_billy]

There are cool as long as they are not the "thick" spined pencil type urchins. The little guys will end up growing on you...no pun intended:) At least that's what has happened to me several times in the past. Actually, I have a resident long spined black urchin that hitch-hiked on my live rock in my mini-reef as we speak. I like um.

BB

[shenbec]

I had two of them over the years and got rid of both of them. My problem was a combination of the bulldozing they did as they moved along and then they also would pick up anything that they could and carry it around the tank. In the beginning it was cute but quickly became annoying. They are fun to watch though.

[ritter6788]

I keep a pink pincushion in my mantis tank. It keeps the rocks really clean. It's amazing how strong they are. It carries around anything not glued down.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I had a black spine that grew pretty big, everytime I stuck my hand in the tank I had to be cautious as to where he was. I ended up getting poked 3 times and they hurt because the spines break off in your skin and there’s no digging them out, they just break up even smaller.

He kept the coralline algae at bay on the rock and I loved watching him crawl across the glass. I don’t think I will ever own one again but I do like them, just not for a home aquarium.

[Mirugai]

do i need to cover my mp10 powerhead, will they get sucked in?