sea urchins???

Question

could i keep a sea urchin in a ten gallon saltwater tank?
will it hurt my clowfish or my crabs?
also i wanted to get a starfish too, would a starfish get along with all of these in my ten gallon tank?
my clownfish and crabs are doing good so far, my water tested out okay today, so i added some more live rock.
what would i feed the sea urchin if one would be compatible?
what would i feed the starfish if it will live?
could i also add a yellow watchman's goby?

thanks

does anyone know where you can get a background of a coral reef for a ten gallon tank?

Answer 1

You can keep a small sea urchin if you have live rock with enough coralline alga for it to eat and do weekly water changes. I've got two myself (different kinds) in a 29 gallon tank.

A ten gallon is too small for most of the starfish you see for sale. They need larger tanks if they're scavengers or they'll have trouble getting enough food. If it's one that will eat frozen food, it will probably produce more waste and that wouldn't be good for the other fish you've got. And unless your clowns are babies, they'll need a larger tank.

I would also say not to try the goby. A 10 gallon isn't a lot of room, and as the clowns mature, they'll be very territorial and pick on other fish in the tank.

You should be able to find a reef background at your pet store - they have single and double-sided backgrounds that can be cut for any length you want (back only, back and sides), and others that are pre-cut. Here are what some of the ones for sale look like:
http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_ProductList_PC_productlist_Nav_220_N_24+105+30+5463.aspx
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/info/22810/category.web

Answer 2

You cannot keep urchins with starfish or urchins with crabs. your urchin will eat the star and the crabs will eat the urchin. An urchin can be kept in a 10 gallon mature tank however it is very small. No live rock needed since you can target feed your urchin.

Also a 10 gallon is too small for a star fish and you would have to target feed him as well if you decide to get one. If you have added more live rock, do not add fish for 3 weeks. there is going to be lots of die off of the rock and your aquarium will go thru spikes in the biofilter. Urchins will eat a plant and animal matter, including kelp, decaying matter, algae, dead fishsponges, mussels, starfish and barnacles.

How many clowns do you have and how much live rock? Although adding a goby would seem to be fine with two clowns and How many crabs?

You can buy your reef background from petco, petsmart etc. they have them on rolls. you may need to trim it though.

Answer 3

deoends on the type of urchin, most o the ones i dee down here are longspine, black with long spines, they get too big, try to make sure they will stay under 4-5" max. as for starfish they get to big and no on the watchman. there are detrivore kits on ebay, and a ferw other sites taht contain mini brittle stars, very small, pennysize or samller, you could look into those and have over 10 in the tank.

Answer 4

If you want to know if dead sea urchins are not dangerous, the answer is yes, because when they die they loose thir spines.

Answer 5

Whoa! Too many organisms for a ten gallon tank.