High Tide Aquatics

Urgent urchin query!!!!!!

Ok it's not urgent but it's still a urchin question.

So I bought two pencil urchins a week ago and then seem happy and healthy as far as I can tell. they are scraping my rocks clean till they are white and upon further inspection it looks like the urchins are eating bits of the rock as well and pooping little fruity pebbles. Am I seeing this right they are eating my live rock??? And if so. In 10 years will I have nothing left in my tank but sand cuz my urchins have eaten my rock??? Any info will help. Thanks for ur time!!
9db17ddfae390720dc1605137670f672.jpg
e0839d20ab06ac6850cff546e7c5c2f9.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Love to help but I have no knowledge of these urchins buy I cant see them eating your rock. Possibly parts of the rock just breaking off?
 
In the first pic under the zoa to the right is a pile of small pebbles (rock) that I watched come from the butt of the urchin on the top of the ship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Urchins eat algae and anything that might be on them. Algae includes coralline (the pink stuff that you see on your rocks and the pink stuff on your glass in the second pic) and actually aids in getting it spread throughout the tank. You're seeing the leftovers from their grazing, including some of the bits of coralline.

They're usually fine, unless you happen to have one in an acrylic tank where they're craze the acrylic.
 
Urchins eat algae and anything that might be on them. Algae includes coralline (the pink stuff that you see on your rocks and the pink stuff on your glass in the second pic) and actually aids in getting it spread throughout the tank. You're seeing the leftovers from their grazing, including some of the bits of coralline.

They're usually fine, unless you happen to have one in an acrylic tank where they're craze the acrylic.


So what I'm seeing is leftover Coraline and what ever else that is attached to the Algee (so maybe a little bit of the rock) but they don't bit chunks of rock and digest the algae on the rock correct?? That's Coraline and other hard materials they can't digest


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So what I'm seeing is leftover Coraline and what ever else that is attached to the Algee (so maybe a little bit of the rock) but they don't bit chunks of rock and digest the algae on the rock correct?? That's Coraline and other hard materials they can't digest

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, that's mostly correct, with the exception of certain corals. For some reason they really like the taste of xenias.
 
Good. I don't have any and don't plan on having xenias. Do they eat all soft corals or just xenias. They haven't touched my zoa or leather or mushrooms


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top