Longspine Urchin and Acrylic

[Lucent]

So I am getting a 150 gallon acrylic tank built and trying to plan out my livestock. Is there a huge amount of scratching from urchins in acrylic tanks or is this a minor problem. I really want a longspine urchin, however I dont feel like buffing my tank out every 6 months. Thanks - Brandon

 

[NaH2O]

Brandon - I had a big LS Urchin in my acrylic 120 for quite a while. Its body was about the size of a baseball (spines were pretty long). I hadn't noticed any scratches on the acrylic at all. It mostly stuck to the rock, and would venture to the back of the tank where the corraline grew. Unfortunately, the urchin didn't survive the tank tear down and reset-up back in december.

 

[Lucent]

I read somewhere, I think it was wetwebmedia that if you keep your acrylic clean, as in wiping the algae off every day or so that they will leave that part alone since there is no food. Thanks for the response though, I was looking for someone with real world experience with them to give me some insight. - Brandon

 

[DonW]

I read somewhere, I think it was wetwebmedia that if you keep your acrylic clean, as in wiping the algae off every day or so that they will leave that part alone since there is no food. Thanks for the response though, I was looking for someone with real world experience with them to give me some insight. - Brandon

They can be a little destructive. They will knock over corals glued down or not. They can move fairly large rocks before the spines break. I just give it a haircut once a month or so and all is good. The spines grow fairly quick if you keep your mg a higher levels. It does no dammage to the acrylic tank as far as I can tell.

Don

 

[SaltyTemple]

I have a Tuxedo and he hasn't scratched up my tank, (7mos) but Saltwater City did show me their display tank where there were a fair amount of scratches on their acrylic. I agree with the keep the front clean idea. I don't see my urchin in the front, only back and rocks...

 

[dnjan]

I have two longspines - one scratches the acrylic and one doesn't (didn't have scratches until I added the second one). I end up buffing out the inside of the tank every year or so (takes a couple of hours on two successive days - could do it all at once but I get bored).