Purple Pincushion Urchin

[tbrown]

Question for anyone with experience with pincushion Urchins. I recently purchased a Purple Pincushion from my LFS on a Black Friday sale. I have a 125 gallon (6' long) reef tank. The one I have is doing a great job of cleaning but it only does almost exactly 3' of the tank in circles. Front glass, side glass, back glass, rockwork, etc but only on half of the tank. Do they have a very small territory or does mine just have short legs and not want to talk? I'm considering getting a club/mine urchin as well so I can always put that on the other side but it's just silly this one refuses to go west of the center of the tank.

 

[blaxsun]

He's fully adorned himself with decorations, so that definitely means he's happy! I have a pair of urchins that free-range all over my 160-gallon tank, but not necessarily anywhere I'd like them to graze.

 

[tbrown]

He's fully adorned himself with decorations, so that definitely means he's happy! I have a pair of urchins that free-range all over my 160-gallon tank, but not necessarily anywhere I'd like them to graze.

Oh yeah, he's picked up snails, an acro, hermit crabs, and finally these empty shells. He's been carrying them for around 4 days now and seems content to leave everything else alone for now (except algae, he's eating algae still so I'm happy).

 

[bpbonds]

Mine will clean the whole tank, I put him in the sump sometimes to clean too!

 

[Fishy888]

Years ago I had a long spine urchin. It took a while before it got super active in regard to clearing. It could be that it’s still not comfortable staying out long. That could explain why it only does half at a time.

 

[tbrown]

Years ago I had a long spine urchin. It took a while before it got super active in regard to clearing. It could be that it’s still not comfortable staying out long. That could explain why it only does half at a time.

Maybe. He's out moving all day running circles. The good news is he's on the half with less corals so less destruction I guess.

 

[Fishy888]

I thought he was only out at night. If he feels comfortable enough to come out by day then I doubt nerves are gluing him to such a small area. Hopefully someone will know. I’m considering pincushions myself or tuxedo urchins.

 

[tbrown]

I thought he was only out at night. If he feels comfortable enough to come out by day then I doubt nerves are gluing him to such a small area. Hopefully someone will know. I’m considering pincushions myself or tuxedo urchins.

I like the look of the Halloween Pincushion but they're pricey!

 

[Fishy888]

I heard that recently too. I’m leaning toward tuxedo urchins right now but I won’t get an urchin until March or April. That’s when I’ll have flow and lighting taken care of. I’m still researching lights but Viparspectra and Noopsyche are the front runners right now. That’s another story though.

 

[tbrown]

I heard that recently too. I’m leaning toward tuxedo urchins right now but I won’t get an urchin until March or April. That’s when I’ll have flow and lighting taken care of. I’m still researching lights but Viparspectra and Noopsyche are the front runners right now. That’s another story though.

I'm thinking about the Club Urchin as an addition.

 

[bvanfish]

I got my purple pincushion. Love it. Favorite part of my tank so far. He takes nori out of my hand. Super cool animal

 

[vetteguy53081]

Question for anyone with experience with pincushion Urchins. I recently purchased a Purple Pincushion from my LFS on a Black Friday sale. I have a 125 gallon (6' long) reef tank. The one I have is doing a great job of cleaning but it only does almost exactly 3' of the tank in circles. Front glass, side glass, back glass, rockwork, etc but only on half of the tank. Do they have a very small territory or does mine just have short legs and not want to talk? I'm considering getting a club/mine urchin as well so I can always put that on the other side but it's just silly this one refuses to go west of the center of the tank.

It will spread out, but a typical pattern for them.

 

[tbrown]

It will spread out, but a typical pattern for them.

Thanks!

 

[reef pirate]

Question for anyone with experience with pincushion Urchins. I recently purchased a Purple Pincushion from my LFS on a Black Friday sale. I have a 125 gallon (6' long) reef tank. The one I have is doing a great job of cleaning but it only does almost exactly 3' of the tank in circles. Front glass, side glass, back glass, rockwork, etc but only on half of the tank. Do they have a very small territory or does mine just have short legs and not want to talk? I'm considering getting a club/mine urchin as well so I can always put that on the other side but it's just silly this one refuses to go west of the center of the tank.

I have one in a 75 gallon 4' that goes over everything glass rocks power heads even the heater. Good citizen and other than giving snails and loose rocks a ride has been a great addition since I got him a little over a year ago.

 

[tbrown]

I have one in a 75 gallon 4' that goes over everything glass rocks power heads even the heater. Good citizen and other than giving snails and loose rocks a ride has been a great addition since I got him a little over a year ago.

I added a Pencil Urchin and now the Purple goes EVERYWHERE. It's doing a great job. The Pencil on the other hand doesn't come out from behind the rockwork.

 

[VanIsleReefTherapy]

I got my purple pincushion. Love it. Favorite part of my tank so far. He takes nori out of my hand. Super cool animal

My tuxedo was in an Evo without much nuisance algae. It scoured all the coraline off my newly encrusted rocks and then it would climb to the top and beg for algae pellets, which it happily gobbled up.

I moved it to my 40g DT with a terrible hair algae problem. All it does is frag my zoas and wear them as hats, cruise the glass and returns, and beg for algae pellets at the top of the tank... "Woe is me, I'm starving! Feed me!" I don't anymore, he's just lazy. Meanwhile, doesn't touch the GHA. Maybe lies on it to sleep, leaving it perfectly intact. He's still one of my favourites, though.