The Official Urchin Fashion Thread (Pics)

[jsdratm]

I thought I would create this thread so everyone can share pictures of their urchins wearing their favorite decorations. I came home today and had a laugh at mine:

Click here for the picture (http://www.freeinfosociety.com/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=31&pos=64)

[ACBlinky]

Put that ric down! Bad urchin, bad!! :D

My pincushion is carrying a cerith around right now... this morning he had an astrae. They're a never ending source of amusement :)

I just read a news article online about urchins' DNA - apparantly these guys are being studied in-depth with great interest - and it mentioned that an urchin may be able to reach 100 years old. Wow! Just imagine the number of hats they could try on in that time...

[JER-Z]

i have one that is wearing an ORA frag plug ever since i dropped it a month ago...I'll take a pic next time he is out in the open.

[Joshjohnson]

i wish i had a pic (maybe later tonignt) but a suction cup from one of my power heads is now acting as a helmet on my royal urchin, along with a few very small blue legged hermits and bits of rock. they are a trip to watch and a pain in the rear but i do love them.

[Sk8r]

My tripneustes has gotten urchin religion. He absolutely refuses to be without his nori clip. It was once full of nori, which he ate, and he has not, in the last 4 weeks, been a day without that clip on his butt---I believe he is waiting in profound faith for the Magical Refill. Which I would do if I could ever get the clip back!

[Joshjohnson]

i hear you, every time i try to clean him up, he goes crazy picking up more things than he can carry. i still don't know how my got a suction cup, but it fits the top him just like a helment would.

[Kabong]

I'll match your Ric and raise you a thermometer
http://members.shaw.ca/kabong/urch.jpg

[JER-Z]

lol pretty funny...

here is mine w/ his frag plug.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f365/wesfew/urchin.jpg

[Mr31415]

This is too funny. I need to get me one of those...

[LobsterOfJustice]

I cant take credit for this one, someone in my local reef club posted this pic:

http://cmas-md.org/photopost/data/505/urchin.jpg

[Dazed And Confused]

OK, what makes 'em a pain in the butt? I have a passive reef with a few softies and non-aggressive fish. What do I need to be aware of that would make me not want one? They look like a great source of entertainment!

[Tony25]

I had the same with happen with my urchin. I got my 1st frags for my tank ever and i wake up and he has the biggest one on his back carrying it around. He went straight to the lfs for credit lol

[Sk8r]

Living with urchins: tripneustes gracilis is a species that eats caulerpa, and most any other algae it can find, down to bare rock, as deep as it can reach, which isn't isn't into crevices. Can't eat algae on glass.

It will overbalance or shove at rock, or tip over specimens loosely sitting in sandbed near the glass, which it may use as a highway. THe cure for this is reef putty between tippy rocks. Most it can't move. The ones it can, put a glop of putty between the two at the point it would tip, and it won't.

It poos broadcast once a week from the highest point of the tank, but mushrooms seem pleased by the event.

It will pick up living snails and use them for decoration. The snail seems to escape when it passes near rocks. It attempted to pick up my conch, but gave up when the conch objected.

Glue down what you don't want moved, and he's a model citizen. He doesn't touch coral: if his feelers detect living tissue of clam or coral, he veers away. He can use the little sucker feet to haul caulerpa up to his mouth, and rip it off. He also rips off bubble algae to put on his butt. This has the effect of removing it.

A tube of IC-Gel and another of Reef Putty, and he's a jewel of a worker, day and night.

[jsdratm]

Great pics everyone! I haven't had any problems with my urchin and it seems to be doing a great job of eating algae. It does eat a bit of coralline, but that generally helps it propagate to other rocks. These things are so amusing to watch that it makes up for any minor problems.

[Dazed And Confused]

Sk8r, thanks for the info! My rock is all big and rests on the bottom so it doesn't sound like I'll have too much trouble with it. Are there any species more favorable than others?

[Sk8r]

Tripneustes gracilis is a short-spined urchin [pix #1, by the look of him] available from foster/smith for not-much. That's my favorite. I've had the longspined black [rock-movers] and the short spine purple pincushions [not as good as tripneustes]. Trip eats absolutely everything I've tested him on. Not sure if he'd tackle the stony algaes like halimeda, but he's been very good. b

[LobsterOfJustice]

I love urchins. I have black rock boring , pink pincushion, pencil, and tuxedo urchins. The pincushion and tuxedo are the ones who like to wear stuff. I have one in every tank. They are great at eating algae. They only have a few minor drawbacks. They can knock stuff over, which isnt a problem if you glue frags down and have steady rock work. They can also eat coralline. However, mine dont eat it that much. I feed them nori every few weeks (theyll grab it as a hat but then realize they can eat it). I dont really care if they eat coralline algae... I never understood peoples obsession with it anyway.

EDIT: It's best to avoid the lonespine varieties, just because of their sheer size. They get huge, very fast. I believe these would be a pain (literally) in even a 180 gallon tank.

[Poisson Voyageur]

There is a species of urchin which looks like the urchins above but it had gorgeous colors, bright pink/purple and small beads in between its spines. A very very beautiful specimen I had never seen before. One day after introducing it to my tank, everything was dying. My gorgeous urchin had made an encounter with my anemone and had released the poison it was keeping in its beads looking things. Disaster! I felt really bad for the beautiful urchin as he also died from that event. Never buy a colorful urchin with BEADS for a reef tank! they are poisonous... :(

[Sk8r]

Wow, thanks for that warning!

[dogstar74]

Also, i think the bright pink and purple urchins are mainly cold water species. I say this because there are a ton of them at the mission bay aquarium. The water around mission bay is cold! I don't think they appreciate 80 degree tropical reef tank conditions. But they probably don't take too kindly to anemones either! Sounds like a battle Royal in your tank.

[LobsterOfJustice]

I have one of the small pink pincushions, i guess it ha something which might look like beads. My friend also has one in her nanocube. Both are doing great, active, and growing well.

[chrisstie]

I couldn't resist:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6436/katamariurchinxf9.jpg

[bureau13]

I have a pincushion urchin in my tank...I think it is the tripneustes gracilis. I got it to eat a caulerpa infestation, but he never did. I've been somewhat amused by the snail antics, but I've been picking them off. This was probably a mistake, because yesterday he was wearing my small blue maxima clam! I've been planning on banishing him to my fuge since I rescued the clam, however maybe I should just let him collect his snails and then he'll leave the other stuff alone.

jds

[CPT. MURPHY]

Ha great pics! :)

CPT.

[kryppy]

Hahaha, this is a great thread!! All my urchins all seem to stop wearing stuff after a few months in the tank....not that it is a bad thing.