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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / September 2004Sea urchins Multiplying Like Bunnies
I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but now I have seven. Are these creatures a pest I need to worry about? I read they eat algae which is fine by me, but do they do any damage to other reef creatures? I have read that some of them can/will munch on soft corals like zoos. Also, the algae that they eat is coralline. Personally, I dont think they add anything beneficial to the tank and I just took the three that I had to the LFS for store credit a month ago. hth ~Mort > I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean > Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but > now I have seven. Are these creatures a pest I need to worry about? I read > they eat algae which is fine by me, but do they do any damage to other reef > creatures? I am new to reef tanks. How do I remove them without impaling myself? > I have read that some of them can/will munch on soft corals like zoos. > Also, the algae that they eat is coralline. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > reef > > creatures? |I am new to reef tanks. How do I remove them without impaling myself? Gentle touch.They're not as sharp as they look, IME<g>  Signature--- billy --- Need comptech help? Newsgroup: news://news.winextra.com Web: http://www.winextra.com >I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean >Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but >now I have seven. Are these creatures a pest I need to worry about? I read >they eat algae which is fine by me, but do they do any damage to other reef >creatures? When they get big it can be a PITA as they will knock everything down and impale everything else. > I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean > Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but > now I have seven. Are these creatures a pest I need to worry about? I read > they eat algae which is fine by me, but do they do any damage to other reef > creatures? What urchins are they? Diadema? Tuxedo urchin? The second is not growing large and is recommended for a larger reef tank. It is rather unlikely they spawn in your tank... and if so, there is even more unlikely their larvae survive pumps/filters. Most likely, tiny ones come with the rock and you did not noticed them. Now, when they grown, they are more visible :-) I looked up teh urchins on the web. They look more like diadema urchins. The spines are relatively short with a purple hue. It looked something like a reef urchin, but it did not have the round white bad at the base of each stem. I have been wondering why I have been losing coraline, I assume these guys are not helping matters. > > I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean > > Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Most likely, tiny ones come with the rock and you did not noticed them. > Now, when they grown, they are more visible :-) Thyey will eat other algaes besides coralline, and when they are eating coralline, they can help spread it if the other factors for coraline growth is already there. They do become big and bulldoze things down I also got several diadema sp. urchins on the carribean aquacultured live rock I bought. Two of them are friendlier sorts, but this one pictured at the top of my page (the one with white bands on the spines) occasionally nibbled on corals. I caught him nibbling on an acropora frag. The damage was small (just on one tip) and healed quickly, but I didn't want things to get worse. It's now living in my quarantine tank, which has quickly become my "unwanted critters" tank. http://www.atreis.com/sw-critters.html Eric http://www.atreis.com/ > I looked up teh urchins on the web. They look more like diadema urchins. > The spines are relatively short with a purple hue. It looked something like [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] >>Most likely, tiny ones come with the rock and you did not noticed them. >>Now, when they grown, they are more visible :-) Well anybody in the Washington DC area that wants free sea urchins let me know. I think I found two more! > I bought live rock for my new tank about 1.5 months ago. (Carribean > Aquacultured) I noticed a couple of urchins came with the live rocks, but > now I have seven. Are these creatures a pest I need to worry about? I read > they eat algae which is fine by me, but do they do any damage to other reef > creatures? I live in Northern VA, Centreville to be exact. How big are they? I read on a website that they can get to 8". ~John One is about 2 inches and the others are .75 to one 1 inch accross > I live in Northern VA, Centreville to be exact. How big are they? I read on a > website that they can get to 8". > ~John If youre not taking them to the LFS for store credit I'll take one of the smaller ones off your hands. ~John My LFS gave me $10 store credit each! Worth a shot... hth ~Mort > Well anybody in the Washington DC area that wants free sea urchins let me > know. I think I found two more! [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > reef > > creatures? |
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