Safe for my tank? Purple lobster, purple urchin

[Kyuss]

A friend had a friend who is downsizing his tank and is getting rid of a purple lobster and a purple sea urchin $20 for the two. Would these be safe for my tank?

90 gallon reef, mostly softies and LPS.


critters I am worried about either eating or being eaten:
Seabae anenome
Snowflake eel
Six line
two clams

I am thinking it may be too big for the snowflake eel but who knows.

[jenglish]

the urchin is listed as "monitor w/ corals" which would concern me. The lobster is listed as reef safe. Most lobsters tend to be scavengers and I would think a fish would have to be slow to get caught by a lobster. But they do hafta sleep sometime. I have never kept either of these though. Good luck deciding

[crvz]

the urchin counts as a "monitor" mostly because it will bruise around the tank, likely spiking and/or knocking stuff over. I don't think there's really a risk of eating them so much.

The lobster is alright (if it's what I'm thinking of, wouldnt be sure without a picture), but I think it can get pretty large and may be a bit opportunistic, but worth the risk if you like it. The eel may like it, but for the money I wouldnt sweat it too much.

[wolfe4372]

i have a purple pincusion. they take dedication and alot of epoxy.
if you arent willing to gleu everything down i would say skip the urchin. but if your willing they make a good addition and help with the clean up crew.

[tlgreve]

I might get a purple lobster myself

[Phishnoob]

We love our purple lobster. He is not as shy now and runs around a little at feeding time. We have some small fish and so far we don't think there have been any problems.

[Kyuss]

hrmm I am tempted to get them but I am not sure if I would like the urchin wrecking havok in my tank, I have a lot of smaller pieces that it would prolly knock down. I am guessing a nano would be bad? I have an estalished 12 gallon nc12dx that would be a lot more controllable but I would be afraid of food sources.

[wolfe4372]

Originally Posted by [WDT]TardFarmer

hrmm I am tempted to get them but I am not sure if I would like the urchin wrecking havok in my tank, I have a lot of smaller pieces that it would prolly knock down. I am guessing a nano would be bad? I have an estalished 12 gallon nc12dx that would be a lot more controllable but I would be afraid of food sources.

mine is a 12 gallon nc12dx tank to. like i said epoxy.

other then that they eat algea, and will clean up other bits of stuff in the tank. ive had mine for the almost 3 years ive had my tank he was one of my first critters in my tank.
they are very entertaining when they decide they need a hat.