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[Anonymous]

Ok, here's one. I received a spiny urchin on my live rock who grew to dime size in a couple of months. He was chewing up my coralline so I put him in the sump. He has been doing an outstanding job of keeping the sump spotless. Now he thinks he has to keep the powercord to my sump pump clean too. Do any of you think that since they can chew up rock, he can barbeque himself and my system?

 

[Anonymous]

Yup. You could try threading your power cord thru plastic tubing to protect it, or slice down one site to get the cord in if you don't want to pull off the plug to do this. Otherwise it is probably a nice thing to have there.

 

[Anonymous]

Consider that urchins can do very short work of concrete pillars including the steel strengthening rods, causing major damage to them that has to be repaired/replaced. A little piece of plastic is like cotton candy

That is one of the inherant dangers of urchins, their mouths' are very strong and can basically chew up anything you can throw at them.

 

[Anonymous]

What about throwing a starfish in a sump to keep it clean? How much light, etc. would one need to live in there?

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passionately confused

~Lisa

 

[Anonymous]

Take the urchin out of the sump and trade it in at the local pet shop. Remember it is a closed system so what ever an animal "cleans" it passes in waste. It is of no real benefit.

Why take a chance on something eating through a power chord.



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Bruce Davidson
Louisville, KY
><((((º>..><((((º>

 

[Anonymous]

Reef Seller, while I wouldnt keep an urchin in sump, I think you missed the mark with your comment on waste in a closed system. Everything eaten becomes waste which becomes food foor the next level down on the food chain on and on through about 8 levels (someone gave that figure,fwiw) till it gets broken down to basic elements. This of course assumes you have a funtioning biofiltration, i.e. mature sand bed, cured live rock, etc. You will never get 100% reutilization in a closed system but they can work quite well when maintained properly. I think this is the biggest difference between a reef tank and a fish only relying on major mechanical filtration and water changes to keep acceptable water quality

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It would have been cheaper to do it right the first time
Doug @ ReefCentral.com
moderator

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input. I decided to keep him in the sump, but to block him into the input section with some egg crate that he can't fit through. I checked and there was no damage to the power cord. If he chews through the egg crate he's outta there......I think my skimmer will remove any excess uneaten urchin residues.

[This message has been edited by Hodad (edited 15 January 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

buzzzzzzerr eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh
Sorry Lisa the starfish will wrap itself on one of the sump/skimmer pump/powerheads and kill off the flow and itself as it get sucked into the pump and then maybe burning out the pump. Unless there is a very foolproof guard of some type built.