| Pests, Hitchhikers, and Diseases Have a pest and need help getting rid of it, or found something cool and don't know if it's good or bad? Does a Critter have an odd spot? This forum is for you! |
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
05-26-2007, 11:07 AM
|
#1
|
|
Duper Mod !
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,034
|
Hitchhiker Urchin??
I noticed this in the 5.5 g the Thursday night it didn't really move when I poked at it but did move it's spines it stayed in that spot all day Yesterday but this morning it's gone. Is it an urchin? are all urchins algae eaters or are there non reef safe urchins
|
|
|
|
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
|
__________________
Kelli
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 11:09 AM
|
#2
|
|
The Bitter Mod
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,417
|
Awesome! I miss my sea urchin.
__________________
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue eyed men
To be young believers
|
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 11:11 AM
|
#3
|
|
Duper Mod !
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,034
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by theplatypus
Awesome! I miss my sea urchin.
|
so it's safe then?
__________________
Kelli
|
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 11:13 AM
|
#4
|
|
The Bitter Mod
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,417
|
I don't know. I just think they are the coolest things. Although they taste awful.
__________________
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue eyed men
To be young believers
|
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 11:14 AM
|
#5
|
|
Duper Mod !
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,034
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by theplatypus
I don't know. I just think they are the coolest things. Although they taste awful.
|
I don't even want to know why you know how they taste
__________________
Kelli
|
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 11:16 AM
|
#6
|
|
The Bitter Mod
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,417
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dobejazz
I don't even want to know why you know how they taste
|
Sushi
__________________
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue eyed men
To be young believers
|
|
|
|
|
05-26-2007, 12:31 PM
|
#7
|
|
Ahhhh Barnacles!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Near A Coral Reef
Posts: 1,211
|
I'm pretty sure from your pics that it is a free Urchin! They taste terrible but will usually dine on your coraline and other algae. 
__________________
I Keep looking at our in ground pool and wondering how much Live Rock I would need to make it a Reef!
|
|
|
|
|
05-27-2007, 09:58 PM
|
#8
|
|
I loves me a water change
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: WI
Posts: 7,759
|
Cool hitchhiker.
__________________
Chris
|
|
|
|
|
05-27-2007, 10:17 PM
|
#9
|
|
Tanks and bikes...hmm
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bremerton, Washington
Posts: 285
|
Kelli. When diving in Guam these were all over. As they eat they eat into the rock and eventually can never get out of the grooves that they make themselves. Most urchins are algea eaters. Some really like the coraline, but they are real messy eaters and they normally eat 1/4 of what they chew off the rocks. When i had mine in Guam.. I could see noticable tracks in the coraline but after a week... lots of pink and purple in places that I hadn't had it.. it helped my tank by free floating the coraline... IME...I think you got a good free creature..
__________________
"Man, of all the animals, is probably the only one to regard himself as a great delicacy." Jacques Cousteau
|
|
|
|
|
05-28-2007, 12:07 AM
|
#10
|
|
Duper Mod !
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,034
|
Cool Thanks Every one !! I hope I get to see him more often I haven't seen him since I posted
__________________
Kelli
|
|
|
|
|
05-28-2007, 01:48 PM
|
#11
|
|
Dude? Dude? Focus dude...
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Middle town KY
Posts: 1,071
|
o you cant miss my urchin those dang long spine urchins get HUGE
|
|
|
|
|
06-04-2007, 03:35 AM
|
#12
|
|
Been around
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: California
Posts: 285
|
You are one lucky reefer!
|
|
|
|
|
06-04-2007, 04:30 AM
|
#13
|
|
Upgrade-Fever
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 598
|
I got the same urchin as a hitchhiker. They usually come out at night, so during the daytime you don't see them often. He is 100% sure reef-safe.
Leonardo
|
|
|
|
|
06-05-2007, 01:08 AM
|
#14
|
|
senior member
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Walnut Grove, SC, USA
Posts: 13,632
|
Probably Echinometra mathaei or Echinometra oblonga, most likely E. mathaei, rock boring urchins/ They are totally reef safe, and will help control hair algae in the tank and improve coralline coverage with time. Google the above individuals for some pix.
HTH
__________________
Tom <"))))>(
(TDWyatt)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato
|
|
|
|
|
06-05-2007, 08:01 AM
|
#15
|
|
Duper Mod !
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,034
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leonardo's Reef
I got the same urchin as a hitchhiker. They usually come out at night, so during the daytime you don't see them often. He is 100% sure reef-safe.
Leonardo
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by tdwyatt
Probably Echinometra mathaei or Echinometra oblonga, most likely E. mathaei, rock boring urchins/ They are totally reef safe, and will help control hair algae in the tank and improve coralline coverage with time. Google the above individuals for some pix.
HTH
|
Thanks Guys
After I posted this I didn't see him again until yesterday but he ended up in the same nook I took his pic in
__________________
Kelli
|
|
|
|
|
Peace OUT 
