Description
The Striking & Powerful Algae Grazer
Introduce a bold, prehistoric look to your aquarium with the incredible Pencil Urchin. Unlike the delicate, needle-like spines of other urchins, the Pencil Urchin boasts thick, blunt, crayon-like spines that give it a unique and striking appearance. Often encrusted with beautiful pink and purple coralline algae, each urchin is a living, moving piece of your reef's architecture.
But this urchin is more than just a pretty face; it's a heavyweight champion of algae grazing. The Pencil Urchin is a relentless, nocturnal herbivore that uses its powerful mouth (known as Aristotle's lantern) to scrape away even the toughest of algae. It is particularly effective against overgrown coralline algae on glass and equipment, making it a specialized tool for certain aquariums. Hardy, interesting, and undeniably cool, the Pencil Urchin is a functional showpiece for the right kind of marine tank.
Why the Pencil Urchin is a Unique Addition:
- Unique, Bold Appearance: Its thick, club-like spines are unlike any other urchin, providing a dramatic and interesting aesthetic.
- Powerful Algae Grazer: A true workhorse that will consume film algae, some hair algae, and other tough encrusting growths.
- Controls Overgrown Coralline Algae: For tanks where coralline algae has become overgrown on glass, overflows, or equipment, the Pencil Urchin is one of the only creatures that will actively consume and control it.
- Extremely Hardy: A very durable echinoderm that adapts well to stable, mature aquarium conditions, making it great for all skill levels.
Care & Specifications
The Pencil Urchin is easy to care for but requires a specific type of environment to prevent it from unintentionally rearranging your aquascape.
The Amiable Bulldozer: A Note on Behavior The Pencil Urchin is completely peaceful, but it is also clumsy and powerful. It is not malicious, but it will move with surprising force and will knock over anything in its path that is not secured.
- All coral frags and colonies must be securely glued down.
- Small pieces of live rock should be stable or secured with epoxy.
- This urchin is not recommended for tanks with many small, unsecured frags or delicate, unstable rockwork.
Tank Requirements:
- Minimum Tank Size: 30 Gallons or larger.
- System Maturity: Must be introduced into a mature aquarium with ample live rock and a stable algae supply to graze upon.
- Aquascape: Needs plenty of sturdy rockwork with crevices for it to hide in during the day.
Water Parameters:
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Temperature: 72−78°F (22−25.5°C)
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Specific Gravity: 1.023−1.026
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pH: 8.1−8.4
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Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate: As close to 0 ppm as possible.
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Calcium & Alkalinity: As with all urchins, stable levels are required for spine and test (body) health.
Feeding & Diet:
- Diet: Herbivore. It is a voracious grazer.
- Primary Foods: Its main diet will consist of algae found in the aquarium, with a strong preference for coralline algae. It will also consume film algae, diatoms, and some species of macroalgae.
- Supplemental Feeding: In very clean tanks, its diet must be supplemented. Provide dried seaweed (nori) attached to a rock with a clip or rubber band, or offer sinking algae wafers.
Compatibility: The Pencil Urchin is "Reef Safe with Extreme Caution." While it will not intentionally eat corals, its bulldozing nature is a threat to any unsecured coral. It is peaceful towards fish but may run over very small, slow-moving invertebrates like snails. It should not be housed with large Triggerfish, Pufferfish, or large Wrasses that are known to prey on urchins.
Acclimation: IMPORTANT: Urchins are extremely sensitive to changes in water chemistry, especially salinity. Slow drip acclimation over a period of at least 60-90 minutes is mandatory for their survival.
