Are Mangroves Safe with Urchins?

kenny b · 09/15/2013, 11:44 PM

So my girl friend wants a pincushion urchin but I'd really like to grow some mangrove trees so I'm thinking about setting up a little 5.5g mangrove/urchin lagoon tank. I don't want an urchin to destroy my display 10g full reef I've been putting together. Does anyone know if the urchin will eat the tree roots?

Thanks!

Calappidae · 09/21/2013, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenny b

So my girl friend wants a pincushion urchin but I'd really like to grow some mangrove trees so I'm thinking about setting up a little 5.5g mangrove/urchin lagoon tank. I don't want an urchin to destroy my display 10g full reef I've been putting together. Does anyone know if the urchin will eat the tree roots?

Thanks!

The only urchins really small enough for either of your tanks are the tuxedo and pincushion kinds, those ones will probably not eat your mangoves, but they are very destructive and pick up rocks, snails, anything they can find and travel with them. I watched one pick up a horseshoe crab at my LFS

Nina51 · 09/23/2013, 11:11 AM

i don't see it as much with my tuxedo urchin but my pincushion urchin is constantly picking stuff up! he's been wearing this same piece of rubble for about 5 days now.

Calappidae · 09/23/2013, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nina51

i don't see it as much with my tuxedo urchin but my pincushion urchin is constantly picking stuff up! he's been wearing this same piece of rubble for about 5 days now.

imagine if that rubble was a mangrove root tho..

Nina51 · 09/23/2013, 01:05 PM

well, he'd look pretty spiffy but that's just what you don't want! lol

fabulousfavia · 07/21/2017, 05:33 PM

I keep and grow mangroves and I doubt pincushion or tuxedo urchins would mess with mangroves if provided with a rock island and if the tank was not overcrowded with mangroves.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

squeakymcmurdo · 08/13/2017, 02:53 PM

If you give him other treasures to pack around like shells and pebbles, he probably won't make the effort to disturb bigger things.

09/15/2013, 11:44 PM	#1
kenny b Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 61	Are Mangroves Safe with Urchins? So my girl friend wants a pincushion urchin but I'd really like to grow some mangrove trees so I'm thinking about setting up a little 5.5g mangrove/urchin lagoon tank. I don't want an urchin to destroy my display 10g full reef I've been putting together. Does anyone know if the urchin will eat the tree roots? Thanks!

09/23/2013, 11:11 AM	#3
Nina51 biggliest cofveve champ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 5th floor, Illinois, gewgaw expert Posts: 3,506	i don't see it as much with my tuxedo urchin but my pincushion urchin is constantly picking stuff up! he's been wearing this same piece of rubble for about 5 days now. __________________ of all the things i've lost, i miss my gary the most. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. Current Tank Info: i gave my reef away and i feel like a bird out of a cage!!

09/23/2013, 01:05 PM	#5
Nina51 biggliest cofveve champ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 5th floor, Illinois, gewgaw expert Posts: 3,506	well, he'd look pretty spiffy but that's just what you don't want! lol __________________ of all the things i've lost, i miss my gary the most. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. Current Tank Info: i gave my reef away and i feel like a bird out of a cage!!

07/21/2017, 05:33 PM	#6
fabulousfavia Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 198	I keep and grow mangroves and I doubt pincushion or tuxedo urchins would mess with mangroves if provided with a rock island and if the tank was not overcrowded with mangroves. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ I'm an impulse buyer, I need this, this, and this, oh and this would look nice with these zoas Current Tank Info: 55 gallon rimless saltwater reef tank and many more

08/13/2017, 02:53 PM	#7
squeakymcmurdo Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Star Valley, Wyoming Posts: 139	If you give him other treasures to pack around like shells and pebbles, he probably won't make the effort to disturb bigger things.