Success with Urchins

[landlocked303]

Wanting to get an urchin but am feeling a bit anxious about long term success. Anyone have advice on which ones to get and how to keep them health?

 

[cloak]

The link below might help.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rs/index.php

 

[sa6hir]

I've had 2 tuxedo urchin in my tank for about 9 months... I don't do anything special for them nor did I know they didn't do well long term in aquariums. What is long term success & how long are they ment to live in the sea?

 

[ahiggins]

Not going to help but I had a purple pincushion one and it moved literally everything in my tank. If it wasn't tied down, it was getting a ride on his back.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Urchins arnt too difficult to care for, even in a relatively immature tank (but cycled obviously) they're mainly herbivorous, and depending on what variety you pick up, you don't need to worry about them rescaping your tank (pincushions and tuxedos will pick up small items)
varieties such as the short spine (of which I have 2) won't be purposely messing with your scape. They feed on nearly any hard textured algae (including coralline) as well as macro algaes. As long as your tank isn't bare when it comes to algae on your rock/glass, then it should be relatively easy to care for one of these amusing critters

 

[ReefQueen]

Mine has been with me for at least 4 years, he even went to live in a buddies tank for about a year. I couldn't tell you how old he is because he has been about the same size since I got him. He's definitely an adult as I watched him broadcast his goods all over my tank a few days ago

He has lived in big tanks, little tanks, very clean tanks, and very very dirty tanks. I am pretty sure he is unable to be killed lol. You should do fine with an urchin as long as you get one that is healthy. As someone else mentioned, they will pick up anything not glued down and wear it as a hat It's funny until it's one of your expensive/favorite corals lol.

 

[ahiggins]

Mine has been with me for at least 4 years, he even went to live in a buddies tank for about a year. I couldn't tell you how old he is because he has been about the same size since I got him. He's definitely an adult as I watched him broadcast his goods all over my tank a few days ago

He has lived in big tanks, little tanks, very clean tanks, and very very dirty tanks. I am pretty sure he is unable to be killed lol. You should do fine with an urchin as long as you get one that is healthy. As someone else mentioned, they will pick up anything not glued down and wear it as a hat It's funny until it's one of your expensive/favorite corals lol.

hahahaha

 

[themcnertney]

Think big!!!
In terms of the size of the tank that is.

 

[4FordFamily]

Yeah I've had urchins for as many as ten years without much trouble. In an established tank, I see that if they make it a month they'll probably last awhile.

I've kept longspine, royal, tuxedo, "Halloween", pincushion, and pencil. I even have a pencil that survived copper treatment I forgot about.

 

[d2mini]

I have an armful (ouch) of black urchins in my 120g.
At one time I had counted as many as 16 that I could see.
Great clean up crew members and the plain black ones (short or long spine) don't seem to mess with the coral or carry anything around.
Pincushions and tuxedos I won't put in my tank any more.

 

[4FordFamily]

I have an armful (ouch) of black urchins in my 120g.
At one time I had counted as many as 16 that I could see.
Great clean up crew members and the plain black ones (short or long spine) don't seem to mess with the coral or carry anything around.
Pincushions and tuxedos I won't put in my tank any more.

Yeah the tuxedo and pincushion get annoying.

Aside from the sting the longspine are great additions! I had one that I lost last year finally that was almost baseball size (not including the spines). I bought a tank from a hobbyist leaving the hobby and had it for 7 years. It's "eye" was bigger than a dime!

 

[mikenestle]

Funny this thread would come up. I just had to glue a Chalice frag back down this morning before work. My Tuxedo decided he didn't want to wear it after working it loose and it was in the sand bed. If you don't mind the little extra work they are cool. Everybody that looks in the tank comments on him. Mine loves to wear zoas he picks off the rock FYI.

 

[JBradford]

I've had a pincushion for about 9 months. He does knock everything over, worse than snails, but he's fun to watch. I like seeing what new hat he has on everyday when I get home from work. No special care needed from me.

So far the best it tied at one of my cleaner shrimp and a frag plug of zoas.

 

[Paul B]

There have always been urchins in my tank and I forget about them because they are always there. This guy is maybe 10 years old and I got him as a tiny baby. Now he is about 8" across and except for making it harder for me to clean the glass when he is hanging out there, I ignore him and he ignores me. I am not sure how long urchins live but they seem to live for about 10 years in my tank which has an algae growth on the back glass so there is always something to eat. I think if you keep a sterile tank and vacuum everything it will starve in a year or less. Just my opinion of course.

 

[Friday24]

I've had a Blue Tuxedo for about 3 years, haven't done anything special for it...roams from the rocks to the glass eating algae.

 

[Saltdaddy]

I have two in a 165 for about 4 years. I love them. Great for algae. Yes they do pick up small things that are loose but has never moved anything that is glued. They have left all corals alone too. The kids love them too.

 

[DracoKat]

my rock boring has been with me for about 2 years now. first in a 28 gal nanocube, and now in a 75g. he doesn't move much in my 75g, but he does clean that area pretty well. He doesn't knock anything over, he's been a good urchin

 

[Gator1970]

Wanting to get an urchin but am feeling a bit anxious about long term success. Anyone have advice on which ones to get and how to keep them health?

When started my first reef tank about 15 years ago, I got a tuxedo urchin. I was a complete novice, knew next to nothing about keeping a reef, used test strips to check water quality, etc, lol, and that urchin thrived!