What would eat pulsing Xenia?

gazbo, you said you had a boxer crab, maybe he's using your xenia as 'gloves'?

 

Nope not him but MYSTRY SOLVED!!!! after sleeping on the sofa and checking my tank every couple of hours and nothing until about 1/2 hour before the lights came on my banded sea urchin picked up the sand dollar and finished the stub he left from the night before. Got a pic. of him with him dragging the sand dollar off. I knew he would be risky but a LFS said it was reef safe and my wife picked it out so what can you do. He had been in there for at least 5 months only ate coraline algae, hair algae,live seaweed no problems until now. I can live with him eating coraline algae and my Xenia long as it can keep up. But can anyone tell me if this sea urchin might put any other corals on its menu if so then I'll have to get rid of him.


you can see the sand dollar under him

 

I've personally seen a emrald crab eat one of my xenias. I was mad.

 

hopefully mine will stay away. He has been a good boy for now

 

My husband and I just got a Xenia frag, then witnessed our peppermint shrimp go right to it after we put it in the tank, started plucking polyps[I think that's what you call them, the things that pulse..] off the Xenia and ate them! he is banned to the sump now. watch your shrimp. I'm pretty sure he is a peppermint shrimp and not a camelback shrimp, he doesn't look like one even though they do look similiar.

 

I know every critter is different and they can change there diet at anytime.I will have to keep a close eye on my critters since I reduced my feedings greatly to stop some cyano bact. My main concern is the hatpin/banded sea urchin....has anyone else owned one and what was there experience with them. I should start a new thread in inverts now that I know that he is the one eating my xenia.

 

Soon as i started reading this thread, sea urchin entered my mind, i have a long spined and he walks across my rockwork at night bulldozing the xenia like grass, but luckily for me they grow rapido...