mushroom,flower pot coral and urchin question.........

[Darkangel]

Hey i was just wondering, what kind of living conditions do green mushrooms need to thrive? i think they are the green hairy kind, they have small bumps all over them, low or high light?water conditions? etc.And same question for flower pot coral, low or high light etc.? And i really like urchins, what kind i s safer for reef, black long spined or banded longspine aka hatpin urchin? i already have two blue tuxedo urchins, should i keep only one of these if i want to add another specis? also what about the fire urchin? all tips and ideas welcome! Thanks all,

 

[fishfanatic2]

Hairy mushrooms don't need bright light by reef standards, and will do fine in reef water conditions/nothing special. They are actually small anemones. I believe flower pot corals have a reputation of being difficult. Being stonies, I would make a good assumption that they need high light levels. As for urchins, go with the black longspine/banded ones are questionable as for being reef safe (don't you just love urchins-I do)! Jst be careful since the longspine urchin isn't named longspine for nothing and has a potent venom. I have only seen fire urchins once in a LFS. They are quite big and bright orange, and can move so fast that it looks like a bouncing tank jumping over the sand. Below the tank was a warning about their venom that hurts like fire if stung. The only problem you'll have with 3 urchins is that you have to make sure they all get enough to eat. I feed my pencil urchin dried seaweed every 2-3 days, and he loves it!

Hope this helps!

 

[Mogo]

I put a mushroon polyp in my empty quarantine tank which right now has 1 18 " flourescent mostly burnt out lamp (pretty poor light). After a week, it seems to be doing fine. I intend to reintroduce it to the main tank when I get a chance to anchor it better.

 

[Darkangel]

hey thank you guys fopr your input, i really apreciate it.I love urchins! so cool! what kind of supplement foof err food* should they get? My fire urcin went behind my rocks 2 weeks ago and i havent seen it since it was about 4 inches in diameter, more red then anything, with wite spines and blue tips to them that were globular and he does move about kinda quick, hehe. talk more soon! peace,

 

[fishfanatic2]

I feed mine dried seaweed sheets about 2 inches long/2 inches wide every few days and my pencil devours it!!

Don't worry about the fire urchin since urchins like to go everywhere in the tank. As long as you can get to him to feed him once in a while, he's good. Oh yeah, I love urchins too!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

You guys have urchins in reef tanks? How well does that work out? Do the urchins bulldoze their way around the tank and make messes?

 

[monkeyboy]

Hey i was just wondering, what kind of living conditions do green mushrooms need to thrive? i think they are the green hairy kind, they have small bumps all over them, low or high light? water conditions? etc.

<Low, a few powercompacts will do. They tolerate a wide variety of water parameters so just keep the tank in good shape.>

And same question for flower pot coral, low or high light etc.?

<Well, if you're reffering to Goniopora sp., they do consistantly poorly in captivity. This is one of those critters that you wouldn't buy provided you researched it beforehand.>

And i really like urchins, what kind i s safer for reef, black long spined or banded longspine aka hatpin urchin? i already have two blue tuxedo urchins, should i keep only one of these if i want to add another specis? also what about the fire urchin?

<Don't worry about urchin personality conflicts, because they don't have any! I have several urchins in my tank (3 pincushin and a pencil) and have had them for a long time. They're algae eaters so you need to have plenty of micro, macro, or corraline algae for them to feast on. Make sure that they have plenty to eat; I recently removed a gigantic diadema urchin for munching a path across a montipora...>

all tips and ideas welcome! Thanks all,

 

[Darkangel]

Hey thanks guys! My urchins move around alot but my live rock is prety secure and i have had no mishaps as of yet and since i dont have alot of coral then its ok for now. *monkeyboy* yeah about that flowerpot, i loved the way it looked in the store but most of them were big,so i elected to get a very tiny one about half an inch in diameter whcich was like 3 bucks heh. I wanted to *test* it ou before i got a large one but i dunno if i will now, i will see how this tiny one does. My friend the lfs owner had two larger ones in his tank that he's had for like 5 months are they seem to be doing ok, but mine was brown in his tank and now iys alot greener then in my tank, and the one i have , its wavy arms dont try to reach as high as they did in his tank. I have heard that the hatpin urchins become carnivorous in thier adult stages of life and they eat inverts, anyone know what kind of inverts? thanks all, you guys make this hobby more fun!