This mirror is being hosted with the permissions of the original content creator for preservation and educational purposes.
Presented by Charles & Linda Raabe
Mactan Island,
The Philippines
© 2008 All Rights Reserved
While providing great clean up services of algae when all other members
of the clean up crew refuse to eat it, I feel they are a last resort
and should only be kept in a reef aquarium under supervision, in that I
mean keep an eye on them. They have extremely powerfull "beaks" as
mouths and have no trouble at all in taking bites out of rock. So if
you value your coraline algae, these would not be a good choice. Also,
if you have an acrylic tank, those same beaks can chew right through
acrylic just as easily as it can rock. Personaly, I dont allow them in
my tank, simply because they can be very destructive by their eating habits and just by
plowing through the reef and knocking every thing over. The only ones
that I have kept were not by choice and came in hidden on live rock,
one type was the black long spined and the short spined rock boring
type, yes...rock boring. They can turn a nice piece of live rock into a
very artfull recreation of swiss cheese. I imagine there are types that
can do well within a reef tank, for me, I just haven't had that kind of
luck with them and would only add one as a desperate measure to wipe
out a large algae problem.
Do note that not all sea urchin species are herbivores. There
are quite a few species that during their grazing, will consume all
life that is found on what ever patch of rock they happen to be feeding
on. Some species have been known to eat soft corals as well.
Just as with all animals being considered for your aquarium, you
should research each species for its suitability. Be aware that some
species are venemous and can pose a health risk to you as well.
This mirror is being hosted with the permissions of the original content creator for preservation and educational purposes.
