Urchin Difficulty

Discussion in 'Inverts' started by Katie Grant, Dec 1, 2009.

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  1. Katie Grant

    Katie Grant Aiptasia Anemone

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Messages:
    578
    Location:
    Corfu, New York
    Soo Ive been looking into sea urchins and really wanna get one, preferably the pin cushion urchin, are they difficult to take care of? or need anything specific? Lets hear some info! ;);)
     
    Katie Grant, Dec 1, 2009
    Katie Grant, Dec 1, 2009
    #1

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  2. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

    Joined:
    May 24, 2009
    Messages:
    5,926
    Location:
    Colorado
    They're not hard at all. They will eat just about any algae in your tank including coralline algae.
     
    mikejrice, Dec 1, 2009
    mikejrice, Dec 1, 2009
    #2
  3. Jacwil

    Jacwil Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2009
    Messages:
    352
    Location:
    Finger Lakes Region, NY
    We have a rock boring and a purple pin cushion. They just cruise around and eat algae...the one thing that is kinda a bummer about them, is that if you have loose corals, they will knock them over. Our pin cushion actually strolled around for awhile yesterday with a cpl unmounted zoas on it's back :eek:
     
    Jacwil, Dec 1, 2009
    Jacwil, Dec 1, 2009
    #3
  4. Katie Grant

    Katie Grant Aiptasia Anemone

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Messages:
    578
    Location:
    Corfu, New York

    Well the only corals i have in my tank is gsp, monti, and a kenya tree. As of right now, so hopefully he doesnt pick up anything :)
     
    Katie Grant, Dec 1, 2009
    Katie Grant, Dec 1, 2009
    #4
  5. Jacwil

    Jacwil Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2009
    Messages:
    352
    Location:
    Finger Lakes Region, NY
    Lol...you should be good to go. My wife LOVES that li'l bulldozer.
     
    Jacwil, Dec 1, 2009
    Jacwil, Dec 1, 2009
    #5
  6. RedGambit

    RedGambit Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2009
    Messages:
    6,366
    Location:
    Plover, Wisconsin
    I have a blue tuxedo pincushion... He is such a cool little guy to watch. I have had no issues keeping him... I just make sure he occasionally gets some seaweed since between him and my snails they have the tank pretty clean. He has yet to bother any of my ricordeas/mushrooms or zoas... :)
     
    RedGambit, Dec 1, 2009
    RedGambit, Dec 1, 2009
    #6

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  7. iLLwiLL

    iLLwiLL Sailfin Tang

    Joined:
    May 6, 2009
    Messages:
    1,715
    Location:
    Central FL
    I had an urchin for around 2 weeks and I hated that thing. It only came out at night (during the day it stuck to the shade) so I never got to look at and every morning I was up to my arm pit in saltwater fixing something it had knocked over or picked up and moved across the tank. This thing also left really ugly and huge white streaks on my live rock where coraline used to be, needless to say it went right back to the LFS for a credit.

    ~Will.
     
    iLLwiLL, Dec 1, 2009
    iLLwiLL, Dec 1, 2009
    #7
  8. dreiling

    dreiling Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2009
    Messages:
    336
    Location:
    southern california
    they are as easy as they come, bulldozers they are so make sure your stuff is secure. and I hope you have a large tank because they love coraline algae
     
    dreiling, Dec 3, 2009
    dreiling, Dec 3, 2009
    #8