Long Spine Urchin

[Brew12]

I'm thinking about adding one to my tank. I've purposely been growing out turf algae to make sure it has plenty to eat.

Looking for opinions on if they are a good idea to add to an aquarium or if I should consider a different urchin?

 

[redfishbluefish]

I've never had one, but I have heard of complaints of the spines rearranging frags, or actually carrying them around.

 

[4FordFamily]

I've never had one, but I have heard of complaints of the spines rearranging frags, or actually carrying them around.

Longspines don’t carry stuff around but pincushion and the like do, but they can grow fast. I’ve kept one in every reef tank I’ve had for years. They are neat but also really suck when you forget they’re there and stab yourself. No fun haha!

 

[Brew12]

I've never had one, but I have heard of complaints of the spines rearranging frags, or actually carrying them around.

carrying frags around is exactly why I picked this one instead of a pincushion or tuxedo. Hopefully they don't!

 

[4FordFamily]

carrying frags around is exactly why I picked this one instead of a pincushion or tuxedo. Hopefully they don't!

I keep tuxedo, halloween, and pincushion it doesn’t bother me much I think it’s funny watching them carry xenia lol

 

[cracker]

I had a long spine urchin . Very striking animal. It would really eat the algae. However getting stuck "once" it seemed to always be where I wanted to get to. I have a couple of tuxedo's now lot safer ! LOL

 

[4FordFamily]

I had a long spine urchin . Very striking animal. It would really eat the algae. However getting stuck "once" it seemed to always be where I wanted to get to. I have a couple of tuxedo's now lot safer ! LOL

I bought one from another Reefer years ago that was the size of my fist not including the spines. I remember reaching my hand in with a net to catch a fish at night and several spines got me.

The worst is washing your hands afterwards, made it worse. Oh man not fun.

The one I bought a few months ago from LA has nearly doubled in size!

 

[cracker]

I feel your pain ! I got stuck trying to ease it into the display. I "barely" brushed it . Got me in 3 fingers . It's like a splinter that hurts like hell & Ya can't get it out ! I gained respect from day one ! LOL
Anyway Brew You will need a big tank. Those spines can reach well out from it's body.
great for algae control. They move surprisingly fast also. If Ya mess with it ,it will start waving the spines around as a warning. Still I think a very cool animal.

 

[4FordFamily]

I feel your pain ! I got stuck trying to ease it into the display. I "barely" brushed it . Got me in 3 fingers . It's like a splinter that hurts like hell & Ya can't get it out ! I gained respect from day one ! LOL
Anyway Brew You will need a big tank. Those spines can reach well out from it's body.
great for algae control. They move surprisingly fast also. If Ya mess with it ,it will start waving the spines around as a warning. Still I think a very cool animal.

Agree I love urchins. I once had a purple longspine, which they called a royal urchin. I haven’t found one since my LFS I worked at had one. Very cool

 

[4FordFamily]

Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

 

[4FordFamily]

I tried to log in to my AI app and I get wireless error so I couldn’t turn off blues but here are 3 of mine. The halloween and longspine are big!

 

[Brew12]

I tried to log in to my AI app and I get wireless error so I couldn’t turn off blues but here are 3 of mine. The halloween and longspine are big!

Very nice!

 

[Reef Stu]

I have a long spine. Pros are it’s very cool animal, and will eat all the algae. Cons are it Scrapes the rocks clean, so it will eat your Carline allergy too. Mine also ate my Pipe organ coral frag, and the Base of my Ribbon Gorgonian. I had to move it to another tank.

 

[fishybizzness]

I have two that came as hitchhikers on my live rock! I have so much coraline algea that I don't even notice what they grazed on..

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

I know this is an old post, but does anyone know how they tolerate tropical temperatures? I can collect them locally and I kinda want one for my urchin collection, but I'm not sure if I can keep them alive.