Urchin eating everything?

[Key-tie]

there is my pincushion eating a turbo snail that is as big as he was.
He chased it down, caught it and killed him for dinner.
I have plenty of algae for him, and he happily munched on live rock for 3 weeks before hunting and killing the snail.
The snail was most definitely not sick or dying, as again, was as big as the urchin

 

[Uptightjoker]

there is my pincushion eating a turbo snail that is as big as he was.
He chased it down, caught it and killed him for dinner.
I have plenty of algae for him, and he happily munched on live rock for 3 weeks before hunting and killing the snail.
The snail was most definitely not sick or dying, as again, was as big as the urchin

Haha! Mine has relaxed a bit now that there's more algae, no friends eaten in over 2 months XD

 

[Key-tie]

Here is an update on Archie, my urchin.
He has since taken down a nassarius snail that Archie actually dug into the sand to get, and now is actively trying to peel my last big turbo off the glass.
I cannot separate them without hurting them, i tried...its a death grip

 

[Key-tie]

You can literally see him prying back the shell slowly.

 

[Uncle99]

Had one move on top of a horse crab, drill a hole the size of a quarter, then had crab dinner,
Left a shell with a round hole.

 

[Uptightjoker]

Had one move on top of a horse crab, drill a hole the size of a quarter, then had crab dinner,
Left a shell with a round hole.

Maybe i should rethink adding those emerald crabs next month XD

 

[Key-tie]

Archie got the last big turbo, and is, right now...peeling him off the glass to eat him.
I could not get them apart.
Tried getting Archie off with krill, and he just shifted, ate the krill, and never let the snail loose.
Eating the turbo now.
No more snails for my tank i guess.

 

[burningmime]

I have a recipe for urchin cookies if you are interested. Probably doesn’t taste as good as snails though! Your urchin is a beast.

I guess that's one way to get the urchin out of the tank without letting him go to waste, but I'd worry about the spines getting stuck in my throat or intestine.

 

[mandyvan]

This rose urchin came from LFS with a hitchhiker margarita snail on the bottom, which it may or may not have been eating as a snack. After placing in the tank, the urchin began wearing the snail as a hat, in the photo. The skunk cleaner shrimp took the snail away. I hope this doesn’t mean war.

 

[2underdad]

I'm new to reefing and have had my tank setup about a month now. I have 2 black+white oc clownfish, a pincushion urchin, a couple dwarf red hermits and a handful of snails (only 2 trochus and 1 turban that I know of). The Urchin was my favorite thing I was getting even though I Knew I'd have to feed him and other inverts since there wouldn't be enough algae to sustain them in a new tank. Well starting day one, and I mean 20 minutes after acclimation, the urchin ate one of my snails. I put it as a one off because he was hungry/stressed from transit (I ordered all from live aquaria since the closest lfs with saltwater is a 2+ hour drive away. Anyways I have since got into a routine of alternating Nori and algae wafers and feeding the inverts every other day. The Urchin almost always eats all the Nori and all of the wafer, and STILL goes after my snails. (A month ago I started with 5 cerinth, 5 trochus, 5 nassarius, and 1 turban snail) and am now down to 3 snails total (I see the empty shells so I know that they are dead and not mia/buried). So I have a few questions.

1. Is this normal?
2. How can I stop him from eating everything else wheni already feed him so much?
3. Is it likely he will much on corals when I start adding them?
4. If it is likely he will much on them, are there any suggestions on aggressive/defensive corals that can fend him off and maybe put him in his place a bit?

Thank you ahead of time for reading and for the help.

(Also I have tons of pictures and will be doing a build thread soon)

Same, I have lost 2 turbos this week, so now I am target feeding with nori. Its crazy how much they will eat

 

[Cell]

I didn't know this was a thing either. An urchin will pick snails up and carry them around, but I'm not quite sure how it would pry open the operculum and suck the snail out.

I take it all back. I caught my tuxedo urchin near the top of my tank attached to the glass from its back with a cerith stuck to its mouth. I really couldn't tell who was eating whom, I thought the urchin might he dead or something but when I pulled the cerith off, it slowly rolled its mouth back the glass and went about its way. The cerith was fine too, so I guess it must have just caught it. I only snapped a pic after removing the snail, unfortunately, but you can see the urchin with its mouth in the water and back to the glass here just after I removed the snail.

 

[Lavey29]

Never have I heard of an urchin eating snails. If you can get an image of the urchin doing so I would be interested. Honestly I do not see how it is possible, but stranger things have happened I guess.

Probably eating algae off snail shell

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Here is the culprit sitting on the rocks amid the graveyard he has created.

Yes looking at that tank I will say there is not enough food for the urchin

 

[EricR]

Old thread revived...
My pink pincushion urchin always wants to much on coralline, of course, but beyond that gets in moods of what else he'll either love or avoid -- nori, algae wafers, clam/mussel chunks.

He did eat one margarita snail and one small blue-legged hermit when I first got him (((maybe 8 months ago))) but has since left my snails and remaining hermit alone,,, other than carrying them around as a hat.