Itty Bitty Diadema urchins?

[AndyL]

Anyone spied some SMALL (under 3" tip to tip) long spine urchins around town?

Thanks in advance,

Andy

[Tarolisol]

I believe i saw one at elite but its spines with kinda blunt not like a regular long spine.

[Delphinus]

I definitely saw some small diadema urchins at Elite a couple days ago. I was tempted to pick up one myself.

[i have crabs]

seen some at wai's yesterday

[AndyL]

Picked one up at elite - 21.99 Got home expecting a ridiculous acclimatization period (urchins... sg changes...) amazing - colby keeps the tanks at 1.025! Should be a quicky...

Was looking at the one with the thick spines - interesting lil guy... But I wanted diadema - hair algae control + lack of decorating with zoos and other corals :D

(there's one left - dimeish body size, 1-1.5" tip to tip)

Andy

[Tarolisol]

Is this just a regular long spine urchin?If not could get get a pic?

[Delphinus]

Yeah, just the regular long spine urchin. Diadema's are the ones that will poke you since their needles are so long. They also are really good at making sure your aquagloves (if you use them) won't stay watertight for too long. :)

[Tarolisol]

Oh i see, i have one and it doesnt touch any algea accept coraline, and boy does it do a number on that.

[AndyL]

Diadema urchin:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=591

I know some of the pincushion/tuxedo urchins can be fonder of the coraline, never heard of it with the long spines though.

[Ruth]

I have 2 of these guys - and they do eat coralline algea - at least mine plow through it - and most other algea as well.
Also hurts like hell when if you get stabbed!

[Delphinus]

I picked up the other itty-bitty diadema tonight. Unfortunately by the time I was done dripping him in (even going from 1.025 to 1.025 I feel better drip acclimating s..l..o..w..l..y :lol:) the lights were off so I didn't get a picture. Maybe tomorrow.

This guy is teeney-tiny! :lol: 1.5" max with the spines. Man can he truck along at a good clip!

I found that, at least with a tuxedo urchin that I had for a long time, it didn't matter if the urchin ate coraline because (so the theory goes anyhow) they spread the spores around and the coraline spreads faster. I found my rocks were still purple and pink and so on, but the glass did get some coraline munched off.

I've never tried a diadema type before so I thought I'd give this guy a go. I like the blue bits in between the black needles :)

[AndyL]

Yep, mine was about 1/4" smaller... 1hr acclimatizing period - urchins and starfish are about the only animals that get an acclimatization in my world.

He finally came outta his hole, already doing a heck of a job on the hair algae in the 3g - you can see his trail from acclimatizing to the cave, then out this evening!

I'm trying not to say it...
I'm trying not to say it...
I'm trying not to say it...

Screw it... Tony does your wife know about your fascination with bums? :D

[Delphinus]

Afraid you've lost me. :neutral: (If a diadema urchin reminds you of a bum, then .. uh .. man you need to get some better porn man :p )

[AndyL]

I like the blue bits in between the black needles :)
That's not his eye buddy :lol:

[Delphinus]

I wasn't talking about that - I was referring to the blue shorter needles....

[AndyL]

ah yours must be a bit different from mine - mines got blue spots around his orange tookus.

[kari]

Do these things split like cucumbers? I remember having a large one long ago but now have two "Itty Bitty" ones.

[Delphinus]

I've never heard of that? You wouldn't think so on account of their shell ... could there have been a spawn (or hitchhikers)?

[Beverly]

These may sound like dumb questions, but what is the purpose of having an urchin in a reef? I know they will eat coralline algae and sometimes knock over corals, which makes me not want to keep one. Do they pest macroalgae as well? And why a diadema urchin as opposed to other urchins?

TIA :)

[kari]

Beverly,
Their purpose is to help one hone their attention skills. I've already moved up to Fire Urchin level :lol:.

[christyf5]

Beverly,
Their purpose is to help one hone their attention skills. I've already moved up to Fire Urchin level :lol:.

:rofl:

[Delphinus]

Because they're kewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwl! :lol:

No seriously, they're neat. Sure they knock things over but so do snails, so .. not really anything different there. In fact, if there's one profound lesson I've learnt as I near the 10-year mark in the hobby... glue those dumb frags down. They grow better anyhow if the isn't a hint of a wibble at the base.

And yes they do work on pest algaes as well, although it seems different species have different preferences. I had this sort of fuzzy brown algae that was really tough in texture, blue tuxedo urchin cleaned it right up. And although it's a coraline muncher, thing is, they actually help spread the coraline by spreading the spores around. So you have new coraline popping up much faster IME. So it's not all bad.

I have a green urchin (looks little like a tuxedo type, but a little different) and it is doing a number on the bryopsis I have in that tank. I couldn't be happier. And it is *so weird* to see this thing up on the glass, picking off little bits of hair algae or whatever ... with its "belly button mouth" ... LOL. :lol:

And why a diadema? Just for something different I suppose. But they also don't have a habit of dressing themselves with rubble like the globular types do. (Actually I don't mind the habit of "decoration" .. it helps me get at the little bits that I ordinarily can't get at... a very helpful janitor!)

Also when I was in Hawaii the diadema's I saw there had an incredible blue sheen to them. I can't describe it and I'm not sure if it showed up in the pictures very well but it was very neat to see. Ever since then I've sorted wanted to try one of those as well.

I dunno, it's like other ornamental things. Like, why CC stars, someone once asked me why I have those. The answer is sorta simple, "they remind me of the ocean." :mrgreen:

Hope that clarifies some of the madness... :wink:

These may sound like dumb questions, but what is the purpose of having an urchin in a reef? I know they will eat coralline algae and sometimes knock over corals, which makes me not want to keep one. Do they pest macroalgae as well? And why a diadema urchin as opposed to other urchins?

TIA :)

[AndyL]

Do a search on the florida / caribean projects to reintroduce diadema to their reefs (>90% lost due to an epidemic decades back). Little question as to their effectiveness at reducing annoyance algaes / macroalgaes, and reducing silt deposits on the reefcrest. Allowing corals to repopulate the reef.

In my little 3g - (s)he's making a massive dent in the bubble/hair algae infestation...

Like Tony said - the tuxedo / pincushions are rather annoying in relocating your frags (especially zoos) for you.

[tomini]

anyone know if they still have some more?

[Ruth]

They definately serve as a not too gentle reminder not to plunge your hand into the tank without thinking! I just finished jumping around holding my thumb because I did just that and managed to ram a spine up my thumbnail:twised:
They do encourage the spread of coralline - particularly on the glass viewing areas of my tank.
Right now I don't like mine very much as my stupid thumb (yes attached to an equally stupid person) is still throbbing but most of the time I find it a very interesting creature and they do a good job on pest algea IMO. If only it would get a taste for aptasia and majono!

[Delphinus]

Well, a month in, and not so itty-bitty anymore. 1.5" tip-to-tip at purchase time, now easily >3".

Here are some pics, you can sorta see the blue spines I was referring to earlier. They vibrate like CRAZY.

Definitely neat stuff ...

http://members.shaw.ca/hobiesailor/aquaria/misc/diadema1.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/hobiesailor/aquaria/misc/diadema2.jpg

Added bonus of catching at least 3 pests as well in these shots. :neutral: