Does a sea urchin kill a fish???

swhastan · 03/26/2008, 09:35 AM

In this moring, I noticed a sea urchin was eating a percular.

I don't know the sea urchin hunted the percular or the sea urchin ate the percular after she died.

Anyway, I missed several fishes such as fire gorby, flame angels and etc in my tank without any reason.

Can a sea urchin hunt a fish???

tydtran · 03/26/2008, 10:02 AM

Sea urchins are opportunistic. I don't think it killed the fish.

Mattmcf · 03/26/2008, 10:10 AM

i would have to say no. Most likely the fish had died and the urchin decided it would be an easy meal. As for the other fish you lost, did you find their remains? Or did they just disappear? Clowns are pretty hardy fish so you may want to make sure your parameters are in line.

Angel7989 · 03/26/2008, 11:10 AM

I once had my Sea urchin eat one of my Damsel fish while it was still alive. the damsel thought it would be a good idea to swim into my mantis shrimps burrow tube and got whacked by it, it wasnt dead but was at the top of the tank being blown around by the current and the urchin just happend to get a hold of it

Lmecher · 03/26/2008, 12:44 PM

An urchin would have a very hard time hunting a healthy fish. Mine is quite large and has never bothered my fish in the past year. So sad you lost your clown. : (

Thetman36 · 11/20/2012, 09:12 PM

my urchin ate my live clown today it happened after lights out I went down stairs and saw the clown trapped between the side glass and the urchin. it happens to be the spot where the clown likes to bed down for the night. I have 3 other clowns that sleep in the same spot I hope this is a one time event.

lightning whale · 12/06/2012, 08:08 PM

guys am reviving this thread because i have fish disappearing in my tank i have already lost many and i just noticed that there is an urchin in my tank came as a hitchhiker its small but the fish that i lost are all small to (chromies, bicolor dottyback and yellow tail damsel) actually the last time i saw the dottyback was when i released it and i have reaquascaped but no sign of them.... please help

Raceimage · 12/06/2012, 08:25 PM

Do you have nightlights? See if any other "Hitchhikers" come out at night. When I first set my tank up(no fish only live rock), my son and I would hit the live rock with flashlights to see what came out. I have 2 large urchins. The only fish I have lost have committed suicide - jumped out of tank. What else do you have in the tank? I have a coral banded shrimp that chased fish.

NYCBOB · 12/06/2012, 08:34 PM

I have always kept urchins in my reefs. My urchins have never touched any fish dead or alive.

lightning whale · 12/06/2012, 08:54 PM

now i have three clowns two big and one small, rettrrei anemone, striped damsel (the mistake of my life), 4 blue chromies, three lyretail anthies (used to be 4 but one went missing), two yellow&purple wrasse and one blue devil damsel, small mushrooms, small zoas and my sand sifting star. just to note that i lost fish before and after adding the anemone and some other fish

i have done night checking many time nothing except night time snails and a very small crab that goes into hiding when it sees my shadow. i guessed they might have jumped but no stick fish around the tank. I recently added two cleaner shrimps and two fire shrimps one fire and one cleaner went missing from day one the remaining two were still around but the other fire is missing now. something is definitely killing them

Thetman36 · 12/06/2012, 09:47 PM

I know for a fact that my clown was eaten by my urchin because i watched him get ingested. it took a long time but he was eaten by the urchin. when i discovered the horrific act it was too late to save the clown so i let nature take its course. But the urchin does not hunt down the fish it just got lucky.

Khemul · 12/07/2012, 03:48 PM

The reason we keep clean up crews is because they eat things we don't want rotting in the tank. This includes fish (or to be more specific, fish food).

We reconcile this concept with safety by picking creatures that aren't capable of bringing down a healthy fish. But by that very nature, we can't prevent them from taking down an unhealthy fish. Otherwise they wouldn't do the job we want them too.

Bristleworms, hermit crabs, some urchins, etc.. All of them will eat a fish if it is served up to them on a platter. But we keep them because they are incapable of taking down a healthy fish.

In lightning whale's case, I'd be looking for a Mantis Shrimp, hitchhiker crab or a bad hitchhiker worm.

mdbannister · 12/07/2012, 05:29 PM

Most sea animals are opportunistic and the sea urchin is no different (as stated already). Urchins eating live fish is rare, but it would possibly happen if the fish was already in poor shape (as in the case of the fish that got whacked by the mantis shrimp and eaten by the urchin). I would say an urchin eating a sleeping fish is probably a VERY rare occurence, but not impossible.

Driver13 · 12/07/2012, 08:02 PM

Never seen one kill a fish, but have certainly seen them eat them after they are dead.

Chuck2810 · 08/12/2017, 07:05 PM

Hate to resurrect an old one - but I got a small pincushion about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It really cleaned up a lot of the long algae. It has doubled in size to about a ping-pong size. Yesterday - it had on of my ocellaris in its grasp

- everyone looked happy up till then. I chalked it up to just scavenging. All water parms are great - and I then did a 20% change and also replaced my carbon packs. So now, the (rather large and goofy) Diamond Goby was in it's grasp - I got it out and it is limp and it must have just literally died.

Could this beast be a hunter??? I have one clown left now and the rest are corals and snails.
Only other 'addition' is that the algae seem to have developed large green pods - like bladderworts. Look like hard eggs almost. They are on all the walls. I scraped them off last week. I have a lot of calcium deposits - I have never seen those before but this is my first reef tank.
This urchin is a speed demon - moves half the length of the tank in 5 min, often. Ideas?

outssider · 08/13/2017, 03:50 PM

I don't think there is a chance in hell he ate a healthy fish

Urchinhead · 08/13/2017, 05:55 PM

Urchins are omnivorous. People, including many marine biologists, tend to be surprised to hear this.in general they eat "algae" but will go after other things including fish. An urchin "catching" a healthy fish is highly unlikely. And if you do supplementary feeding with plain unflavored Nori (seaweed) from the grocery store at a target feeding location in the tank when there is no algae you will likely reduce the problem.

Also go with the smaller urchin's like the Tuxedo instead of a long spine or purple urchin. Less likely for problems. Avoid rock boring (looks like a ww2 deep sea mine) as well as Australian fire urchins. The former will burrow into your rock and the latter is venomous like about 60%+ of the flora and fauna that comes out of Oz.

FoxFace Fish · 08/14/2017, 08:51 AM

I do not know if this help but I had a fish commit suicide by swimming into my long-spined urchins at maximum velocity........ Stupid Damsel!!!!

joshky · 08/14/2017, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoxFace Fish

I do not know if this help but I had a fish commit suicide by swimming into my long-spined urchins at maximum velocity........ Stupid Damsel!!!!

Depending on the damsel, it may have been a blessing.

FoxFace Fish · 08/14/2017, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshky

Depending on the damsel, it may have been a blessing.

But But I loved my Damsel Dori!!!

My little Cousin named it

chitown tom · 08/14/2017, 12:15 PM

my long spine sea urchin ate my baby long tentacle anemone.

I saw it with my own eyes.

Needless to say he was rehomed real quick!

03/26/2008, 09:35 AM	#1
swhastan Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Palo Alto, CA Posts: 302	Does a sea urchin kill a fish??? In this moring, I noticed a sea urchin was eating a percular. I don't know the sea urchin hunted the percular or the sea urchin ate the percular after she died. Anyway, I missed several fishes such as fire gorby, flame angels and etc in my tank without any reason. Can a sea urchin hunt a fish??? __________________ No money, no gains Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef tank

03/26/2008, 11:10 AM	#4
Angel7989 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Monterey, California Posts: 197	I once had my Sea urchin eat one of my Damsel fish while it was still alive. the damsel thought it would be a good idea to swim into my mantis shrimps burrow tube and got whacked by it, it wasnt dead but was at the top of the tank being blown around by the current and the urchin just happend to get a hold of it __________________ ..__.. {o,o} \|)__) .-"-"-. O RLY? Current Tank Info: 2 gallon nano tank and 74 gallon bowfront w/55 gallon sump.

03/26/2008, 12:44 PM	#5
Lmecher Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,337	An urchin would have a very hard time hunting a healthy fish. Mine is quite large and has never bothered my fish in the past year. So sad you lost your clown. : ( __________________ just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming ,swimming, swimming Current Tank Info: 120,50, 14 biocube, and 5 hospital tank

11/20/2012, 09:12 PM	#6
Thetman36 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Pearl River NY Posts: 19	my urchin ate my live clown today it happened after lights out I went down stairs and saw the clown trapped between the side glass and the urchin. it happens to be the spot where the clown likes to bed down for the night. I have 3 other clowns that sleep in the same spot I hope this is a one time event. __________________ Often in life the right thing is the hardest to figure out. Do the right thing Current Tank Info: 210 gal reef tank build/Bashsea 48X18X18 Biofuge Bashsea 8X30 Twisted skimmer. Pacific Sun Led http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2170019 Mp60 Mp40 Waveline dc 10000 Iwaki 70rtl Reeflow dart hybrid

12/06/2012, 08:25 PM	#8
Raceimage Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sarver, Pa Posts: 296	Do you have nightlights? See if any other "Hitchhikers" come out at night. When I first set my tank up(no fish only live rock), my son and I would hit the live rock with flashlights to see what came out. I have 2 large urchins. The only fish I have lost have committed suicide - jumped out of tank. What else do you have in the tank? I have a coral banded shrimp that chased fish. __________________ Gary Current Tank Info: 120 gal reef with 50 gal breeder sump, Reeflow Wahoo pump, Sea Swirl for motion in the mini ocean, AGM G2 skimmer, 2 Ecotec Radions LED fixtures, and 2 Ecotech vortechs, 90 Gal discus tank with fluval 404 and 4 lamp T5 fixture

03/26/2008, 10:02 AM	#2
tydtran Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 853	Sea urchins are opportunistic. I don't think it killed the fish.

03/26/2008, 10:10 AM	#3
Mattmcf Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orlando Posts: 299	i would have to say no. Most likely the fish had died and the urchin decided it would be an easy meal. As for the other fish you lost, did you find their remains? Or did they just disappear? Clowns are pretty hardy fish so you may want to make sure your parameters are in line.

12/06/2012, 08:08 PM	#7
lightning whale Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 21	guys am reviving this thread because i have fish disappearing in my tank i have already lost many and i just noticed that there is an urchin in my tank came as a hitchhiker its small but the fish that i lost are all small to (chromies, bicolor dottyback and yellow tail damsel) actually the last time i saw the dottyback was when i released it and i have reaquascaped but no sign of them.... please help

12/06/2012, 08:34 PM	#9
NYCBOB Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NYC Posts: 1,768	I have always kept urchins in my reefs. My urchins have never touched any fish dead or alive.

12/06/2012, 08:54 PM	#10
lightning whale Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 21	now i have three clowns two big and one small, rettrrei anemone, striped damsel (the mistake of my life), 4 blue chromies, three lyretail anthies (used to be 4 but one went missing), two yellow&purple wrasse and one blue devil damsel, small mushrooms, small zoas and my sand sifting star. just to note that i lost fish before and after adding the anemone and some other fish i have done night checking many time nothing except night time snails and a very small crab that goes into hiding when it sees my shadow. i guessed they might have jumped but no stick fish around the tank. I recently added two cleaner shrimps and two fire shrimps one fire and one cleaner went missing from day one the remaining two were still around but the other fire is missing now. something is definitely killing them

12/06/2012, 09:47 PM	#11
Thetman36 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Pearl River NY Posts: 19	I know for a fact that my clown was eaten by my urchin because i watched him get ingested. it took a long time but he was eaten by the urchin. when i discovered the horrific act it was too late to save the clown so i let nature take its course. But the urchin does not hunt down the fish it just got lucky. __________________ Often in life the right thing is the hardest to figure out. Do the right thing Current Tank Info: 210 gal reef tank build/Bashsea 48X18X18 Biofuge Bashsea 8X30 Twisted skimmer. Pacific Sun Led http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2170019 Mp60 Mp40 Waveline dc 10000 Iwaki 70rtl Reeflow dart hybrid

12/07/2012, 03:48 PM	#12
Khemul Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 988	The reason we keep clean up crews is because they eat things we don't want rotting in the tank. This includes fish (or to be more specific, fish food). We reconcile this concept with safety by picking creatures that aren't capable of bringing down a healthy fish. But by that very nature, we can't prevent them from taking down an unhealthy fish. Otherwise they wouldn't do the job we want them too. Bristleworms, hermit crabs, some urchins, etc.. All of them will eat a fish if it is served up to them on a platter. But we keep them because they are incapable of taking down a healthy fish. In lightning whale's case, I'd be looking for a Mantis Shrimp, hitchhiker crab or a bad hitchhiker worm.

12/07/2012, 05:29 PM	#13
mdbannister Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Ontario, California Posts: 79	Most sea animals are opportunistic and the sea urchin is no different (as stated already). Urchins eating live fish is rare, but it would possibly happen if the fish was already in poor shape (as in the case of the fish that got whacked by the mantis shrimp and eaten by the urchin). I would say an urchin eating a sleeping fish is probably a VERY rare occurence, but not impossible.

12/07/2012, 08:02 PM	#14
Driver13 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 53	Never seen one kill a fish, but have certainly seen them eat them after they are dead.

08/12/2017, 07:05 PM	#15
Chuck2810 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 1	Carnivor Urchin? Hate to resurrect an old one - but I got a small pincushion about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It really cleaned up a lot of the long algae. It has doubled in size to about a ping-pong size. Yesterday - it had on of my ocellaris in its grasp - everyone looked happy up till then. I chalked it up to just scavenging. All water parms are great - and I then did a 20% change and also replaced my carbon packs. So now, the (rather large and goofy) Diamond Goby was in it's grasp - I got it out and it is limp and it must have just literally died. Could this beast be a hunter??? I have one clown left now and the rest are corals and snails. Only other 'addition' is that the algae seem to have developed large green pods - like bladderworts. Look like hard eggs almost. They are on all the walls. I scraped them off last week. I have a lot of calcium deposits - I have never seen those before but this is my first reef tank. This urchin is a speed demon - moves half the length of the tank in 5 min, often. Ideas?

08/13/2017, 03:50 PM	#16
outssider Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Reseda, Ca. Posts: 1,717	I don't think there is a chance in hell he ate a healthy fish

08/13/2017, 05:55 PM	#17
Urchinhead Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Gabriel, California Posts: 681	Urchins are omnivorous. People, including many marine biologists, tend to be surprised to hear this.in general they eat "algae" but will go after other things including fish. An urchin "catching" a healthy fish is highly unlikely. And if you do supplementary feeding with plain unflavored Nori (seaweed) from the grocery store at a target feeding location in the tank when there is no algae you will likely reduce the problem. Also go with the smaller urchin's like the Tuxedo instead of a long spine or purple urchin. Less likely for problems. Avoid rock boring (looks like a ww2 deep sea mine) as well as Australian fire urchins. The former will burrow into your rock and the latter is venomous like about 60%+ of the flora and fauna that comes out of Oz.

08/14/2017, 08:51 AM	#18
FoxFace Fish Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 435	I do not know if this help but I had a fish commit suicide by swimming into my long-spined urchins at maximum velocity........ Stupid Damsel!!!! __________________ FoxFace RabbitFish For Life Everyone in this hobby has made a mistake at least once. Be smart and learn from others mistakes Current Tank Info: Reason I am broke as a joke

08/14/2017, 12:15 PM	#21
chitown tom Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Des Plaines Posts: 54	my long spine sea urchin ate my baby long tentacle anemone. I saw it with my own eyes. Needless to say he was rehomed real quick!