Are urchins reef save?

Oliver D

New Member
I ve got two urchins in my tank.One i a pencil urchin the other one is one i found in some rocks near my house.Is it safe to have them in my tank or should I get rid of them?
 

mr_tap_water

Well-Known Member
I've had a couple over the years The rock eating urchin was fine but have a tendency to squeeze between rocks Force them apart which can cause landslides, Second one I had it is quite common is the long black spine urchin which did take a liking to my montipora cap and left big white patches on it so had to get rid.


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frisbee

Well-Known Member
Until you can positively ID both of them you might want to hold off on adding them to your tank.
 

Oliver D

New Member
One is id as a Red Sea pencil urchin the other one is unknown we find them all over rocks and the reefs here
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I have had urchins in my tank continousely for at least 40 years and never had a problem. I don't remember when I got this guy but it was years ago and he is about 6" wide.



They cover some reefs in the sea like you can see here in Hawaii.



They may move small things around.



I used to have an urchin collecting business and once I had 24 of them in there at once. They didn't hurt anything but they all decided to spawn at once. That was a mess.
 

cracker

Well-Known Member
I had a black long spined urchin. I've heard they will eat a coral. It didn't munch on any of my corals.I think they are more dangerous to You the tank keeper.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
I've got about 6 Tuxedo urchins in my reef and they eat all the algea and non of the corals. I also have a spiky one as well but don't remember his name. All mine are Reef safe.
 
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