Pencil Urchins not reef safe

[Acroyear61]

I’ve had this urchin for over a year and seen him clean a rock and eat a few zoas in the process but this morning he was full on eating one of my SPS. In 30 years I’ve never had an urchin full on eating a hard coral like that.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Yeah, pencil urchins are definitely not reef safe. They love anything crusty and full of skeleton. Mine had a taste for leptos and favia.
Tuxedo or shortspines are a safer bet. Could banish to sump at least.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've heard of this sort of thing happening a few times with pencil urchins, but I've also heard of these guys being reef safe. It makes me wonder if some pencil urchin species are safe while others aren't, or if it's a luck of the draw thing with various individuals of the same species like with some fish.

Either way, really unfortunate that it was eating your coral - I hope it recovers for you!

 

[t5Nitro]

FWIW, I got a small one on some KP aquatics live rock and kept him, now probably mature size. I've noticed that he likes to shave off all the branches of my PC rainbow acro. Noticed this now at least 2-3x.

I'm thinking my acros will have to get mounted higher up on some sort of created PVC type rack or whatever. I haven't seen the pencil urchin up on the magnetic frag racks on the glass yet.

 

[steveschuerger]

My pencil urchin who came as a hitchhiker with live rock delivery I would consider reef safe in regards that it’s never eaten any other inhabitants. But it’s been exiled to the refugium for causing one too many rock slides.