Oops all Rock-boring Urchins! (A little info before I get them please!)

[KleineVampir]

Just today I bought 9 short spine aka rock-boring urchins. Yes my tank has plenty of algae in it, if they can get through all of it I'll be amazed! And hopefully I can sell off the excess urchins. But it's been quite a while and hundreds of dollars have been spent trying to get rid of this algae.

But there's only one problem! I've never had an urchin before! First I want to ask if they can make it in a tank that's a bit on the warm side, about 80 degrees. Everybody says 72-78. Second, how do I get them into the tank? How do you handle them? It's surprisingly hard to find any information about that.

Some tank info: It's a 40 gallon breeder with a 20 gallon sump. Salinity slightly high at 1.026.

If anybody could shed some light on these guys I'd appreciate it! There seems to be a lack of info on them from what I can tell. Many of their wikipedia pages are nearly empty or nonexistent entirely! Also I have a frag rack with loose frags. I'm under the impression that rock-boring urchins do not have the habit of picking things up, but maybe I'm wrong. Does anybody think they're going to be a problem with the frags in the rack? Any frags out of the rack are glued down.

Here is a slightly outdated picture to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with here. I no longer have the xenia and the rocks are fuzzy with thick hair algae of some kind.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,handle w bag around hand,they will love the algae,going to knock frags off rack at night,about all i can tell you

 

[KleineVampir]

hi,handle w bag around hand,they will love the algae,going to knock frags off rack at night,about all i can tell you

Why I oughtta! Yeah may be one of those cases where there just isn't much to say. I always think there's gonna be that little piece of info I need to know but maybe there just isn't that much to it.

Are they going to destroy the rocks? Hard to imagine that they would do that, or that they could do that. Or maybe the holes they'd make wouldn't be big enough to matter to me. I'm hoping they'll be busy with eating the algae and they'll leave the frags and rocks alone!

I guess there's only one way to find out if their trouble to benefit ratio is good enough!

What do you think about using some kind of putty to keep the frags down? Is that a good idea?

 

[fishguy242]

you know i am just picturing small black urchins that hide in the rock during the day,unfamiliar w a rock boring,cannot imagine them doing too much rock drilling,all urchins love algae ,jmo, as far as rack of frags would see how it goes

 

[KleineVampir]

Ah here's one revelation: They are going to be about 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches wide. Then again that probably doesn't include the spines. So maybe roughly 2 inches in all? Surely those little urchins would not bother climbing up that frag rack.

These are what I bought: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/3080/shortspine-urchin?pcatid=3080&c=497+530+3080

And apparently I bought them out, so they're no longer for sale!

 

[fishguy242]

perfect ,bye bye algae,hope you get a few different color ones,and pick up some nori,think they will clean you out pretty quick

 

[KleineVampir]

perfect ,bye bye algae,hope you get a few different color ones,and pick up some nori,think they will clean you out pretty quick

Yeah I am preparing a contingency for that! I'm asking my local reef society if they would be interested in some. Of course it is a delayed reaction since they won't be able to buy them right away. But in the event that I do want to get rid of them I am trying to line up some buyers! We shall see how this goes!

 

[KleineVampir]

Check this out!

 

[fishybizzness]

I hope your rockwork is well stuck together. I had several of them come in on my live rock and they were ok when they were small. Once they grew, the reason for their name became apparent. They hide during the daytime and come out at night. They would squeeze between my rockwork and knock rocks over all the time. They also tend to favor coraline algea over regular algea. I ended up having to remove them and get a longspine. Imho, not the best choice for a reef aquarium.

 

[fishybizzness]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Waay too many for a 40g tank.

 

[Bryan68]

What LegendaryCG said! They are going to starve unless you supplement their food.

 

[KleineVampir]

I hope your rockwork is well stuck together. I had several of them come in on my live rock and they were ok when they were small. Once they grew, the reason for their name became apparent. They hide during the daytime and come out at night. They would squeeze between my rockwork and knock rocks over all the time. They also tend to favor coraline algea over regular algea. I ended up having to remove them and get a longspine. Imho, not the best choice for a reef aquarium.

So you recommend the long spine? People said it gets as big as a basketball though. This is a 40 gallon tank!

 

[Starkrost]

Now, I could be completely wrong, but I have a blue tuxedo urchin which has short spines. He’s one of my very favorite creatures in the tank. But, he’s a trouble maker. He knocks the frags off the rocks, he irritates the zoas when he climbs over them, and he’s eaten every little bit of coralline algae he could reach. I have one Trochus snail with a huge GHA hair do (think Trolls) and Oliver tries hard to eat it off of him. I don’t have enough algae anymore in the tank to sustain him however, he comes to top now every 2-3 days to get his Nori strip. I give him a 2 inch by 1/2 inch strip which he wraps around himself and nibbles on whenever he gets hungry. When he’s on the front glass, it’s absolutely amazing to watch his teeth work on whatever he thinks might be edible. He does carry my GSP with him everywhere he goes and has for a long time. I wish you the very best of luck with your new friends and just be understanding that they’re doing what they’re born to do.

 

[sfin52]

Mine doesn't move off the back glass. Never messes with the frag racks

 

[Starkrost]

Mine doesn't move off the back glass. Never messes with the frag racks

Siiiigh, some days that would nice. To not have to go frag hunting through the sand after the pistol shrimp has so thoughtfully buried everything.

 

[KleineVampir]

Yeah.. Who is to say what animals will do? Am I right? xD

So far these guys did shove the whole frag rack a bit but only because they wanted to squeeze between the rock and the rack. No biggie but it does show what they can do. Also I believe he ate a decent swath of algae on the side of the rack.

And I do have buyers lined up. So the great thing about this situation is that if I don't like what they're doing I can always sell them! And if I do like what they're doing I can always keep them!

 

[Kris 2020]

I have a rock boring urchin. Just 1 in a 65g. They will carry things around just not as much or as frequently as a tuxedo. They will knock your frags all over the place, and anything else too. Destructive little guy but I still love him. 9 in a 40 g will be like Godzilla in Tokyo. You will probably have to supplement them already tomorrow to keep them from starving.

 

[Johniejumbo]

I have a tuxedo and a rock boring urchin in my 40b. The rbu is only active at night and strips the rock of any type of algae. Been a model citizen so long as I don’t care about coraline algae. The tuxedo can’t seem to quit redecorating the place. If there is a loose coral it’ll move it lol. I have to feed them fairly regularly. They are algae dozers.
tank has never looked better.

 

[Starkrost]

I have a rock boring urchin. Just 1 in a 65g. They will carry things around just not as much or as frequently as a tuxedo. They will knock your frags all over the place, and anything else too. Destructive little guy but I still love him. 9 in a 40 g will be like Godzilla in Tokyo. You will probably have to supplement them already tomorrow to keep them from starving.

Go Godzilla!!