New Cleanup Member

[sumpfinfishe]

Here's the latest addition to my cleanup crew
It's about the size of nickel

[Skimmerking]

Hey there Rich what the heck is that.

What's his purpose.

mike

[sumpfinfishe]

Hey Mike
That's a tiny Tuxedo Sea Urchin, and there great for helping maintain algae. So far he's been all over the glass, and now he's exploring all over the rock. They can also be quite funny to watch as they will pickup stuff and carry it on the tentacles for camoflauge like rocks, algae, and even shells that are empty or full.

[EmilyB]

You got a lurch...

[Bartman]

Cute lookin' little fellow. Where did you get it? Was it hard to acclimitize?

[Lancer]

is it a blue tuxedo urchin? or is it just the lighting that makes it look blue?
thx

[AI Man]

Nice Rich long time no talk, I've never seen one that small before.
Let us know how fast he grows I'm curious

[Skimmerking]

whats he like in moving stuff around and eaten coraline...

Mike

[sumpfinfishe]

EmB wrote:You got a lurch...

Yep, my first teeny, weeny lurch, don't know why I waited so long

Scott wrote:Cute lookin' little fellow. Where did you get it? Was it hard to acclimitize?

I cannot disclose where I aquired it , however you can get them at J&L's and Big Al's, I just don't know about the size factor. I acclimitized it in the same way I do with snails. I placed him in a cup with 1/4 water that it was bagged in, then I simply run a drip with 3/4 cup of my tank water into the cup over the course of about half an hour

Lancer wrote:is it a blue tuxedo urchin? or is it just the lighting that makes it look blue?
thx

Nope it's just a regular baby tuxedo, and that image may have been shot under just the actinics

James wrote:Nice Rich long time no talk, I've never seen one that small before.
Let us know how fast he grows I'm curious

Howdy stranger, yeah long time no talk or see for that matter.
I heard through the grapevine that you headed out East, are you nut's
winters on it's way James I just had an , how about you set up a huge display in W.E. mall
PM me, and tell me all about the move. As for size; yeah I have never seen one this size before either and that's what caught my eye. As you know I only have the 27gl, so size does matter. It's about the diameter of a nickel, and yes I will keep track of it's growth in my monthly journal

Mike wrote:whats he like in moving stuff around and eaten coraline...

Well Mike, with the size that he is right now he can't knock too much over, however I do have some acro frags that he could tip when he reaches "golfball" size So depending on how fast this little "marble" grow's will determine when he make's the big splash into the roomates 60gl. I have not seen any white or faded patches of coraline, as this was a concern for me also. I have been keeping a keen eye on his tracks and so far so good

Thanks for the remarks, maybe in Jan I will upgate this post with a new pic to show it's growth rate