pencil urchin eating birdsnest :(

[thatmanMIKEson]

so this urchin was fine in a coral tank now it's in a holding tank with algae and it's eating this birdsnest with no algae on it, plus it ate the plastic on one of my wave makers.

I don't think I like the pencil urchin lol. I got 2 of them as little dots on some live rock, now they a wrecking ball size!!! LFS here we come!!!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

so this urchin was fine in a coral tank now it's in a holding tank with algae and it's eating this birdsnest with no algae on it, plus it ate the plastic on one of my wave makers.

I don't think I like the pencil urchin lol. I got 2 of them as little dots on some live rock, now they a wrecking ball size!!! LFS here we come!!!

Yeah, these pencil urchins - Eucidaris tribuloides - are not reef-safe. They primarily eat sponges in the wild, but in captivity have been shown to eat pretty much literally anything they can once they get hungry enough (including wood and fiberglass if they get hungry enough):

What type of Eucidaris? Sold as Pencil Urchin

Curious if anyone knows the species of this pencil urchin? I mostly want to confirm/deny if it’s a known coral or clam eater?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Yeah, these pencil urchins - Eucidaris tribuloides - are not reef-safe. They primarily eat sponges in the wild, but in captivity have been shown to eat pretty much literally anything they can once they get hungry enough (including wood and fiberglass if they get hungry enough):

What type of Eucidaris? Sold as Pencil Urchin

Curious if anyone knows the species of this pencil urchin? I mostly want to confirm/deny if it’s a known coral or clam eater?

www.reef2reef.com

yeah these have plenty to eat where they came from and where they are now they have been mowing down hair algae and ulva all kinds of coraline growth where they came from tomunch on.

they came from a tank packed with coral including this same birdsnest and never ate anything but coraline algae.

when they were small they didn't mess with anything I would only see them maybe once a month, as they got bigger I kept watching them and the coral and never saw any signs of them eating anything but my powerhead plastic, but I figured that was because its caked in coraline and that's what they were after. I only moved them because they were getting so big the spikes were knocking into things plus I have a new tank with algae perfect for them...so I thought

that's a test coral, and actually seems unfazed the polyps are out as it gets eaten.

now I'm thinking they are actually highly intelligent and they're upset I moved them, now they're trying to get me to put them back.

luckily I have one of those lfs that's a little under the bar and takes everything lol