Blue Tuxedo Urchin

[Lyss]

Don't really know what type of algae it is. Some red, some green, some hairy, some not.
All the inverts that are meant to be on the sand are doing their job, it's just the rocks.
And there's some algae on the glass which is really difficult to shift. Do urchins get on the glass??

I was just wondering what inverts you have that won't go on the rocks -- if they are sand-dwellers, or if they're the type that usually are on the rocks and they're avoiding the rocks. Maybe there is cyano or something on the rocks they don't like.

 

[hllb]

Don't really know what type of algae it is. Some red, some green, some hairy, some not.
All the inverts that are meant to be on the sand are doing their job, it's just the rocks.
And there's some algae on the glass which is really difficult to shift. Do urchins get on the glass??

They definitely get on the glass. Snails are probably more useful for algae film on the glass though.

 

[Gordi]

I was just wondering what inverts you have that won't go on the rocks -- if they are sand-dwellers, or if they're the type that usually are on the rocks and they're avoiding the rocks. Maybe there is cyano or something on the rocks they don't like.

I have a few snails that live in the sand, a few that prefer the glass and a couple that actually go onto the rocks, disturb a coral frag and move on without actually eating anything.
I'm really looking forward to the Urchin now.
Can I keep more than one in a 60 gallon?

 

[Lyss]

I have a few snails that live in the sand, a few that prefer the glass and a couple that actually go onto the rocks, disturb a coral frag and move on without actually eating anything.
I'm really looking forward to the Urchin now.
Can I keep more than one in a 60 gallon?

I was wondering what the names are tho -- like nassarius, trochus, etc. What I'm getting at is that if you have cyano and lots of thick hair algae on your rocks nothing is going to eat that, even the urchin. Some animals may even avoid areas where cyano is. You would need to remove the cyano manually (and find + rectify the cause of that), and remove as much of the thick hair algae as you can so it's not too long for the algae eaters to take.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Here's one of mine after picking up GSP, I have 2 blue tuxedo urchin and one white pin cushion urchin

 

[LeftyReefer]

Unfortunately, my order of fish and inverts showed up yesterday, minus the tuxedo urchin I ordered... received a refund for the urchin since they didn't have it. ugh. now I have to find an urchin elsewhere and probably pay another shipping charge. My LFS never has urchins, so shipping one is the only way I'm going to get one.

envious of all your beautiful algae eating urchins.

 

[hllb]

Unfortunately, my order of fish and inverts showed up yesterday, minus the tuxedo urchin I ordered... received a refund for the urchin since they didn't have it. ugh. now I have to find an urchin elsewhere and probably pay another shipping charge. My LFS never has urchins, so shipping one is the only way I'm going to get one.

envious of all your beautiful algae eating urchins.

Oh, so disappointing! I got mine from Blue Zoo aquatics - I think they still have them on sale. But yes, if you didn't order the minimum amount, you'd have to pay shipping again. The one I got from them is pretty small - maybe an inch to an inch and a quarter diameter.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Oh, so disappointing! I got mine from Blue Zoo aquatics - I think they still have them on sale. But yes, if you didn't order the minimum amount, you'd have to pay shipping again. The one I got from them is pretty small - maybe an inch to an inch and a quarter diameter.

Just placed an order with AlgaeBarn for a tuxedo urchin. Hopefully it shows up next week now. With shipping, AlgaeBarn was slightly cheaper than Blue Zoo Aquatics.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

They'll take it further than that. They'll eat right into the actual rock. I can always tell where mine is by the exposed dry rock and all the rock dust under it.
Plus, fun fact, they apparently eliminate their waste via the top of their head (head?). I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.

Very cool

 

[homer1475]

I had a beautiful blue tuxedo urchin and the bought a short spine urchin from my LFS. The next day I caught them together and thought perhaps babies? But after a few hours they hadn’t moved. I then thought maybe they were stuck together like Velcro? I went to separate them and found that the short spine had eaten half way into the tuxedo’s shell and devoured him. So word of caution, don’t mix them.

Intresting observation. I have 2 blue tuxedo's and a pink short spine pin cushion. All 3 I've had for 2 years now. The short spine will climb up and over the tuxedo's, but has never tried to eat them.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

They are great! They will eat pretty much every algae including your coraline.

They eat diatoms too? It's basically left my overflow alone and it's covered

 

[BuddyBonButt]

It sounds ideal for my tank! Can it be handled if I need to move it??

Yeah, I held mine quite a few times moving the ******* lower into my tank but not before placing it on top of some Nori. Whenever I have to do a water change it seems It's the most likely time for it to climb to the top of the tank.

 

[Squidward]

They eat diatoms too? It's basically left my overflow alone and it's covered

Diatoms that appear during the cycling of a tank? Not sure but those aren't a big problem.

 

[Tired]

A tuxedo urchin will definitely eat diatoms (I have one doing that now), but those usually go away on their own once the new-tank hospitality to them fades out. Mine's only got diatoms to eat because it's in a tank with a few bits of live rock and a bunch of dry rock, and the diatoms are having a party on all the free real estate.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

A tuxedo urchin will definitely eat diatoms (I have one doing that now), but those usually go away on their own once the new-tank hospitality to them fades out. Mine's only got diatoms to eat because it's in a tank with a few bits of live rock and a bunch of dry rock, and the diatoms are having a party on all the free real estate.

My tank is like 3 months old roughly and I'm really fighting diatoms

It's got a few hermits, blue tuxedo, 2 conch, 3 turbos, ones bigger than my palm..., and just added 10 astorino snails but I think a few died. They haven't moved in like 3 days lol

My tanks rock looks like a brown sludge sometimes.

If you're interested in seeing it

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[Tired]

Sludge would suggest dinos or cyano, not diatoms.

It's normal for snails to be basically dormant for a bit after being added to a tank. Don't write those off unless they start smelling like concentrated low tide. Best way to tell if a snail is alive to sniff it; if it's dead, you'll know.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Sludge would suggest dinos or cyano, not diatoms.

It's normal for snails to be basically dormant for a bit after being added to a tank. Don't write those off unless they start smelling like concentrated low tide. Best way to tell if a snail is alive to sniff it; if it's dead, you'll know.

Yeah I figured it out like 30 minutes ago lol. I'm doing research on how to fight it now.