is my tuxedo urchin dying?

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wbradenpt

Guest
normally it has spiky things all over it, but the spikes seem to have peeled off on maybe 1/5 of its surface. probably dying, i don't think they molt or anything like that. does this description fit for an urchin's last days?
haven't had anything die for a long time.
 
grabbitt

grabbitt

Active Member
I am not too savvy on urchins, but I believe they begin to lose their quills when they're stressed or malnourished..
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
could be either?
used to be in main tank, but recently put into refugium. it kept putting zoos that i was trading onto its back, and i kept taking zoos off. maybe (probably) that was stressing it out. in fact, the more i took off the more it put on, eventually it had put this huge pile of zoos on its back. was probably trying to hide from me.
i wonder if taking off the zoos directly damaged it? it's not like it pulled hard or anything. the zoos came off easily.
never have fed it anything, but it has been in tank for about a year. probably just eats algae, but there isn't really a big supply of that in the refugium.
what does it eat, just in case?
 
grabbitt

grabbitt

Active Member
Your urchin most likely survives on the algae growing on the glass and the LR in your tank. The zoos would not have damaged it. Like a decorator crab, I think it tends to pick up pieces of whatever seems to be laying around to use as a sort of camoflauge. In most instances, the zoos on the urchin can still survive and grow as normal. This is more or less a risk you take when buying an urchin such as the one you have (The same reason I decided against buying a decorator crab). Your removing these additions probably is not the problem; it is more likely to be water quality above any others. Are you treating your tank with any copper-based medications? Also, check your nitrates and alkalinity. If your water quality is low, the spines should grow back and the urchin should recover when you restore the quality.
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
everything is within specs water quality wise.
nitrates are zero.
alkalinity is around 3.
pH is 8.3
specific gravity is 1.026
must be something else. no copper or anything like that either.
how long do they normally live?
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
is it possible that oils from my skin would affect it? i've heard that touching a starfish could kill it due to oils from skin. any possibility of something similar with urchins? i'm sure that i made contact with it a couple of times recently.
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
i'll try an algae sheet. i'll keep a close eye on it, and if it seems to be dying, i'll get rid of it before it releases toxins.
 
W

wbradenpt

Guest
seems ok from looking at it, other than the whole falling apart thing.
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
shouldn't be drinking 3 of those in one night. seems that brain doesn't function too well at 3 in the morning. now that i think about it, if urchin is sensitive to pH changes, and it is in refugium, i just put together the connection.
the pH of the discharge from my calcium reactor is around 6.4 or 6.5. i do believe that it was hanging out over by the discharge tube yesterday.
it is on the other side now, should be ok.
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
Originally Posted by wbradenpt
normally it has spiky things all over it, but the spikes seem to have peeled off on maybe 1/5 of its surface. probably dying, i don't think they molt or anything like that. does this description fit for an urchin's last days?
haven't had anything die for a long time.
looking at the picture it makes sense. the urchin was on the sidewall when it was by the discharge tube of ca reactor, so the discharge would have been hitting it on the side. that also is where the damage has occurred. will update when urchin has recovered.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by wbradenpt
could be either?
used to be in main tank, but recently put into refugium. it kept putting zoos that i was trading onto its back, and i kept taking zoos off. maybe (probably) that was stressing it out. in fact, the more i took off the more it put on, eventually it had put this huge pile of zoos on its back. was probably trying to hide from me.
i wonder if taking off the zoos directly damaged it? it's not like it pulled hard or anything. the zoos came off easily.
never have fed it anything, but it has been in tank for about a year. probably just eats algae, but there isn't really a big supply of that in the refugium.
what does it eat, just in case?
I had a blue tux that stripped my rock of corline. He would peel off pieces and put them on his back for later. I also had two light plastic "Jumbo Gems". He picked up both and kept them on his back all of the time. You may want to ask Ophiura about this urchin. She is the most knowledgable about them.
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
unfortunately it must have spent too much time in the discharge of the calcium reactor. it has been bagged and tagged.
 
W

wbradenpt

Guest
if i would have cleaned the old 140g tank, wouldn't have happened. plan on setting up 140g fowlr and had planned on putting the urchin in that tank. but the urchin was starting to tear up my reef so it was put in fuge. didn't even think about the pH problem from the ca reactor until after the fact.
there is a moral to this story somewhere.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by wbradenpt
if i would have cleaned the old 140g tank, wouldn't have happened. plan on setting up 140g fowlr and had planned on putting the urchin in that tank. but the urchin was starting to tear up my reef so it was put in fuge. didn't even think about the pH problem from the ca reactor until after the fact.
there is a moral to this story somewhere.
Yep, Urchins are awsome, but don't keep one in a reef or a fuge (not that kind anyway). They are great specimens, but will eat your coraline in a FO as well. The blue tux that I had was at my small store. I had a piece of rock in there because it was an invert tank. He stripped that rock right down. When I sold him I gave the person the two "Jumbo Gems" that he seemed to love so much!
 
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wbradenpt

Guest
so do you think it was the low pH coming from the ca reactor that killed it? that's my hypothesis anyway.
 
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