Single reason NOT to own an urchin

[kevgib67]

Mine likes to dress for the night out. I’ve removed the blue mushroom 3times and the Rasta zoa once. But got to love it, my rocks have never been so clean! One drawback, with nothing left on my rocks it has spent the last three days cleaning my coralline algae of the back wall.

 

[Rmckoy]

I can not list only 1 reason
they are a holes . Rearranging rocks , bulldozing frag racks .

 

[Rocketfish]

They are absolutely a bulldozer. He currently has a big piece of GSP as a big green toupe!

 

[btltez]

hmmm...I have two urchins in my 120....they completely destroy algae and keep rocks clean. One never even has a shell on it and the other always has shells on him but neither touch coral they seem to just move around it. They will knock frags down that aren't glued but that's my fault. I love my urchins they are characters and do a great job.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I Love Urchins but despise the fact that they seem to only focus on my beautiful purple coralline covered rocks Lol

I had this 3-4lb piece of rock, maybe 12”x6” 99% covered in deep purple coralline.

Three days. Three days and my wee little tux stripped it to bare rock.

 

[cpalminteri]

His name is Ragnar

 

[schooncw]

This urchin is 6 or 7 years old and has grown to about 6" in diameter. It eats 2 sheets of nori every day and is a pain most of the time but I refuse to get rid of it, because it is so interesting, sort of like my big pain in the butt hermit.
I have 2 more types of urchin in the tank.

 

[Crotalus]

They are good at cleaning, but...

 

[A Young Reefer]

Yeah....

 

[Boaz1021]

You can see him on the back wall, carrying a coral as an umbrella.

 

[homer1475]

If your going to own an urchin, glue your frags down. It really is that simple.

Love my 2, and would never own a another tank without them.

 

[A Young Reefer]

honestly only reason I am still keeping mine is because it wiped my red turf algae after trying everything. the smallest way of showing appreciation is not returning it back to the lfs.

 

[Reef_Obsessed]

I’ve had 2 tuxedos for years. Never an issue

 

[Jesterrace]

I have 2 Tuxedos in my tank and although there have been some minor issues (ie mowing down a single head Blasto that I placed flat down in the rockwork), the service and cool factor that they provide is just too big to ignore. I agree on not keeping the larger urchins in a reef tank, you just can't work around them. I had a half grown long spine bulldoze a big Frogspawn Colony that had been glued firmly in place for over 2 years. Got rid of him the next day and got a Tuxedo and then added another (I have a Red and a Blue).

 

[Jesterrace]

If your going to own an urchin, glue your frags down. It really is that simple.

Love my 2, and would never own a another tank without them.

Agreed. Honestly I don't get why folks don't just glue down their frags from the get go (unless they have a frag rack in their display tank), it's just too easy to get them knocked over and damaged even if you don't have an Urchin in your tank. Any frag that goes into my display tank gets glued when it goes in.

 

[DHill6]

My tuxedo seems to leave the purple corraline alone unless it’s carrying a few pieces of it for camouflage. Silicone edges on bottom of tank completely covered, lower parts of glass in spots, it hasn’t touched it. Urchin has been in this tank 3-4 yrs. Not a nuisance, just a Roomba.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

The real problem is you didn't give her a hat. She won't steal your corals if she has a hat

 

[DHill6]

The real problem is you didn't give her a hat. She won't steal your corals if she has a hat

Another hat owner. Mine wears a witch or Mickey ears For awhile than boots them off. Prefers corraline flat pieces, crafty kid.

 

[EricR]

Another hat owner. Mine wears a witch or Mickey ears For awhile than boots them off. Prefers corraline flat pieces, crafty kid.

Baby Yoda ears here:
*ooops,,, we're getting off topic,,, sorry...

 

[Karen00]

I love reading these threads about urchins! I have to make sure I'm not drinking coffee while reading otherwise I would be spitting it out with laughter. I wish my tank was big enough for an urchin!