Are sea urchines safe???

[hurrifan]

I just got a new piece of live rock and it had a hitchicker...a beautiful sea urchine. Are they safe for reef tanks? What do they eat? Anyone with any experience please help.

 

[davelin315]

Depends on who you ask. I am of the opinion that any urchin can turn carnivorous, even though they are supposed to be vegetarian. It also depends on the type of urchin. Check out the hitchiker section for some good descriptions I pulled out of the audobon society field guide that were posted to an urchin id question, and also run a search in this section for sea urchins, there are numerous threads about them. It will also depend on what kind you have, and it's important to know that before making any decision on your urchins fate. Even me, who has no faith in urchins, has a slate urchin in my tank.

 

[Brendan42]

some urchins are great algae eaters but others can bother inverts and cause the collapse of you rock structure by getting between two rocks and applying force on the rocks. i would look around the web and try to identify it.

 

[jdeets]

Yes--the answer will depend greatly on what kind of urchin it is. I personally stay away from long-spine varieties. I do have a tuxedo urchin in my tank and he hasn't caused any problems.

 

[Memnok]

I have a White Tipped Urchin that has never given me any trouble. He is not real fond of the light, and stays mostly on the back glass where he scrapes the coraline off the glass.

 

[hurrifan]

My urchin has long black spines. THe standard urchin I see 1000 times a day when diving off the coast of South Florida. THe tank has just been set up and I only have rock and sand in it currently. I want to keep but am not sure. The other types of urchins you all are describing is definitely not what I have. Does anyone know oif this specific type of urchin is dangerous?

 

[Anonymous]

If you've seen them diving, you're probably aware of how large they can get - people complain of them tumbling rocks among other things.

Here's an article on urchins. I've got a blue tuxedo and love him.
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/june/wb/default.asp

 

[jdeets]

As far as "reef safe," goes, in the "classic" sense of the word, long-spine black urchins are reef safe. I wouldn't have one, however, because (1) they really mow through the coralline algae, much more so than a tuxedo urchin, (2) they can bump into your corals and impale them with those spines and (3) they can impale you, too.

If it were me, I'd leave it alone for now but probably trade it in at the LFS for credit after it got a little bigger. JMO.

 

[SPC]

I have about 5 of the urchins you are talking about in my 180 reef. I have had no problems with them harming anything.
Steve

 

[davelin315]

Check this thread on urchins for identification help.

Good or bad urchin.

 

[Dragonlady]

About 3 years ago, I removed the purple urchins that emerged from live rock from my tank after one punched a hole in a coral.