The Blue Tuxedo Urchin, also known as the Sphere Urchin or Globe Urchin, has five to ten broad-colored bands usually blue or black, with red, brown, or dark spines. This very striking combination, gives it the "formal" look and thus the name "Tuxedo Urchin."
During the day, it will hide among the rocks, in crevices, or under plants in a sandy substrate. At night, it will emerge to graze on the algae present in or near its home. The Tuxedo Pincushion Urchin generally roams alone, but several of them could be housed in the same aquarium if it is large enough to provide them with adequate food (algae) and shelter. It is sensitive to high levels of copper-based medications and it will not tolerate high nitrate levels. If it starts to lose a number of spines, it is often due to poor water conditions.
If algae levels are particularly low, its diet will need to be supplemented with dried seaweed.
Approximate Purchase Size: Small 1-1/2" to 2" Medium 2" to 3"
Testimonial By:
Testimonial:
Janis B Alpharetta, GA
I could not love this Urchin more! Some people don't care for their "carrying" behavior but I find it very comical.
I love mine. I love the way he collects random things and bits of algae from around my tank. There is nothing funnier than watching him crawl around the tank like a green tumbleweed.
Mine is a interesting creature that just mills doing its thing. It is funny to see some days it has a lot of shells stuff to to and other days not so much. A urchin with a lot of character, I find it all over the tank and is very active moving around. The only one draw back that has me concerned about it is that it will eat coraline algae, it has in my 75 gallon tank. I am not sure why this is considering it (the urchin) has more than ample food sources in the tank for it to graze on.
My Blue Tuxedo Urchin is a mowing machine! He cruises around the tank, eating hair algae and leaving nothing behind. Just be warned that these guys have a HUGE appetite! You need to have a lot of algae in your tank for it to eat. They are very, very difficult to feed otherwise. You can wrap some nori around a small rock and set it beside the urchin, and it will totally ignore it. So just buy one, and only get a second if you think you have enough algae to feed two of them. Mine is eating a lot more than I ever expected, and I know that if I had bought two they would be dead of starvation by now.
