Urchins: Love ‘em or Hate ‘em?

[BASEDVXO]

Honestly my pincushion urchin has become my favorite invert in my tank. Great at eating hair algae and cleaning the tank and rocks. Its always on the move and intresting to watch the little tentacle things on its body. Only thing is it likes to pick up little rouble and uses them like hats. lol i think its comical

 

[BackToTheReef]

I have an acrylic tank and scratches are inevitable. After the fact I wish I had gone with a custom glass tank but I wouldn't resist the tuxedo because of plastic, it's going to scratch on the inside and outside, no way around it.

I have an acrylic tank and a tuxedo with no issues, why do you say that?

Maybe just following some old reefer dogma??

I was always told with acrylic they would leave massive tracks across the viewing panes. I get acrylic scratches but always figured why add to the problem if I could avoid it based on the feedback I have always gotten. If it is just old dogma then I would be stoked b/c I really dig the tuxedoes and pin cushions.

Still not sure if I would mix them in if I went plywood/fiberglass/epoxy. Why take the chance???? (or is that more fear/dogma driving that decision????)

 

[jda]

What happens with a pincushion is cleaning a clam and gets into the shell too much to get crushed.. this happened yesterday. So fresh that the spine are wriggling still.

 

[Magellan]

Maybe just following some old reefer dogma??

I was always told with acrylic they would leave massive tracks across the viewing panes. I get acrylic scratches but always figured why add to the problem if I could avoid it based on the feedback I have always gotten. If it is just old dogma then I would be stoked b/c I really dig the tuxedoes and pin cushions.

Still not sure if I would mix them in if I went plywood/fiberglass/epoxy. Why take the chance???? (or is that more fear/dogma driving that decision????)

My tank was used when I purchased it, and the inside surface of the acrylic was definitely scratched. However, I haven’t added any in 2 years, and neither has my tuxedo. I’m sure larger species of urchin are capable of scratching acrylic, but mine is not.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

2 of my tanks are acrylic. And no problems.

 

[Hincapiej4]

What happens with a pincushion is cleaning a clam and gets into the shell too much to get crushed.. this happened yesterday. So fresh that the spine are wriggling still.

Holy crap. Clams don't play. You have an agressive clam! Haha

 

[Hermie]

longest lived invert and best most consistent most bravest cleaner, pincushion urchin

I want to try a tuxedo next

 

[austibella]

I love my urchins! they are cleaning up my outbreak of algae. Wish they ate majanos i have an outbreak on them too and my file fish will only eat them after I zap them dead with the majano wand .guess he likes them cooked.

 

[KC's CNC Creations]

back some 30+ yrs ago, i had a 29g setup, it had an under gravel filter system with crushed coral gravel (hey, it was the way to go back in the days). i had nothing in it but about 15 of the standard purple spine urchin that i collected while snorkeling in the FL panhandle. every week i'd drop some chunks of cut up shrimp in the tank for each one and they'd quickly move over to them and eat. not once did i ever have to clean the tank, the entire glass and crushed coral were always spotless and pristine. they thrived in that tank for well over 10 yrs before i gave them all away.

 

[Pistondog]

I'm thinking about getting an urchin...a Halloween urchin to be specific. But I figured I'd ask for some "urchin reviews" to start with. What's your take on them? Yay or nay? I do realize that IF I get one, I'll need to be sure I have glued down anything I don't want hitching a ride around the tank. Anything else I should be thinking about?

Doesn't matter if it is glued down. He breaks off just glued frags and wears them. They are very entertaining and disruptive.

 

[Hermie]

Doesn't matter if it is glued down. He breaks off just glued frags and wears them. They are very entertaining and disruptive.

gotta go with the 1-2 punch


superglue + epoxy

 

[hart24601]

I have had tux urchins in all my systems for.... dang at least a decade now. Absolutely fantastic, never had issues with them at all but I do glue coral down. I did have a short black spine that I caught eating coral once so I stick to tux now, although have had pincushions before without any incident but as I like smaller tanks now tux are perfect. I have been slightly surprised they are not recommended more overall in the hobby.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Weird hearing so much urchin hate. Sure they pick stuff up and move it around but the trick to reduce that is to give them things in the tank to camouflage with. My mom collects sea glass and so I littered the sandbed with glass and empty hermit shells which my tuxedo picks up. Idk maybe its dumb luck but they seem to pick up loose objects instead of glued.

 

[burningmime]

Doesn't matter if it is glued down. He breaks off just glued frags and wears them. They are very entertaining and disruptive.

Did you try a cowboy hat?

UV hat for sea urchins

Hello everyone, I just want to share my little a little discovery with you guys. After seen my sea urchins carrying snail shells, rocks on their back I decide to read more about it. Studies reviewed the possible reasons would be to protect themselves against predators and/or full-spectrum light...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Pistondog]

Did you try a cowboy hat?

UV hat for sea urchins

Hello everyone, I just want to share my little a little discovery with you guys. After seen my sea urchins carrying snail shells, rocks on their back I decide to read more about it. Studies reviewed the possible reasons would be to protect themselves against predators and/or full-spectrum light...

www.reef2reef.com

Was going to say backwards ball cap for the gangsta look, but which way is backwards?

 

[dragonreef69]

I'm thinking about getting an urchin...a Halloween urchin to be specific. But I figured I'd ask for some "urchin reviews" to start with. What's your take on them? Yay or nay? I do realize that IF I get one, I'll need to be sure I have glued down anything I don't want hitching a ride around the tank. Anything else I should be thinking about?

they are good for cleaning, I have 3, a pencil, a porcupine & a short spin black one. I glue the crap out of my corals buy if they want it moved, they'll bust it loose.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I've had mixed experiences:

I have a black (medium spine??) Urchin that's amazing. He never picks anything up and munches all algae like a champ. My algae issues dialed back significantly when I got him.

I had a short spine urchin that I added after him, and all that thing did was pick up frags and throw them into dark corners, or pick up hermits and carry them around until they starved to death or jumped from their shells.

I'll never ever get another one of the very short spined urchins (unless I go fish-only), but I'll also never be without a black urchin like I have now.

 

[Silent]

Just a little more diversity to the tank.

 

[IvanL]

Spawning at top of the waterline hanging sideways lol. Coral feeding frenzy!

 

[Austin456]

My blue tuxedo urchin is my favorite animal in my tank, he runs around my tank picking stuff up and it’s enjoyable watching him stretch his tube arms out.