what is this? and how did it get here!?

[kamuii]

so i bought a cleaner shrimp today.. and i went to check on the tank for the night and i see this guy, it looks like a urchin, but it's small as my baby nassarius snails. i never bought one? is it an urchin? or something else?

 

[clsanchez77]

That is an urchin alright. Hitchiker in your rock possibly and the timing with the shrimp was just coincidental. My live rock came with 5 babies that slowly revealed themselves over the period of a few months. I just gave the last one away this week after about a year because of their love for coralline.

 

[kamuii]

That is an urchin alright. Hitchiker in your rock possibly and the timing with the shrimp was just coincidental. My live rock came with 5 babies that slowly revealed themselves over the period of a few months. I just gave the last one away this week after about a year because of their love for coralline.

are they hard to keep? i haven't done much research on them.

 

[clsanchez77]

are they hard to keep? i haven't done much research on them.

Some of the best detritivores I have ever had. You won't know much more about it until it is big enough to identify. Most of them only eat algae, scum and detritus. Some can do more damage but you won't know for sure until its bigger. They require no special care other than stable tank parameters.

 

[kamuii]

Some of the best detritivores I have ever had. You won't know much more about it until it is big enough to identify. Most of them only eat algae, scum and detritus. Some can do more damage but you won't know for sure until its bigger. They require no special care other than stable tank parameters.

oh ok. can they do damage to fish/inverts? sorry for all the q's just wanna get a basic understanding lol

 

[garethwood]

they dont move to quick so pose no threat to your stock apart from occasionally carrying a hermit around like a hat : ) they can be a pest with anything thats not glued down frags etc..

 

[kamuii]

they dont move to quick so pose no threat to your stock apart from occasionally carrying a hermit around like a hat : ) they can be a pest with anything thats not glued down frags etc..

ok, i don't have any coral yet so i don't think it's a big problem rn

 

[clsanchez77]

I think you are good. There are *some* that will eat corals, but until its bigger, you won't know for sure. They are easy to remove so I would keep him on the premise of innocent until proven guilty. They really are great scavengers!

 

[clsanchez77]

Btw, some species can actually bore holes in your rock work when they are small for protection. Don't panic, this stops when they get bigger and other animals in your reef will make use of the newly formed (and perfectly symmetrical) caves. Not all species do this.