urchin

[divedeep1689]

how many purple urchins can i have in a 55 gal?

 

[fijiwigi]

I would say 1 would be plenty they are good eaters and may starve if there is more than 1

 

[divedeep1689]

ok thanks for that wat would be the advantages and disadvantages of having one in my tank? i know nothing about them my mom wants me to put one in the tank she saw one in a gift shop store tank in florida ( alvins island) lol

 

[roka64]

Watch out, they will pick up anything (snails included) and carry them around. I have had a few snails being carried around a few days and ended up starving. I still like them. I have a pincushion and a pencil urchin in my 55. They mostly seem to munch coraline and whatever is on the rock trying to get the coraline.

 

[divedeep1689]

ok i will keep a eye on it once i get it thanks

 

[roka64]

Check out my images, you can see mine hauling stuff around.

 

[Devilishturtles]

My purple urchin never picks stuff up, I think it's spines are too far apart.

Mine however, did like munching on soft corals (leathers and zoos). It's a heck of a scavenger though...nice part of my clean up crew.

Scott, I love the pictures of your urchin carrying around... a hydrometer! haha

 

[roka64]

LOL! Yeah, it did that for about a day. It was getting readings in different areas of my tank for me!

 

[divedeep1689]

my lfs tried to talk me out of buying one because he said if it died it would release a poision into my tank and kill my other fish. wat do you think? i dont have any corals yet.

 

[roka64]

Um, as far as I know the long spined urchins are the only poisonous urchin readily available in the hobby.

 

[divedeep1689]

wat about the purpule ones like this one http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Echinos/PurpleUrchin3.jpg

 

[roka64]

I think they are all Lytechinus vaniegatus, just different colors. I'm not 100% on that, so you may want to wait for some one that can definitely answer your question.

 

[divedeep1689]

k thanks man

 

[catmel]

I like my pencil urchin Eats lots of algae, doesnt move the rocks around ( so far!! lol) and is interesting to watch. Not sure about the purple ones though, sorry!