Urchin help...

[flower]

I have a Diadema urchin...I HAD a ton of algae for him to eat, and my hope was one side of the tank would grow while it fed on another...well it has stared loosing spikes so that means it is starving.
LFS will take him...How on earth do I get him out of the tank? What do I grab it with...he is huge and pointy. I know I will have to transport it in plastic or glass.

 

[nycbob]

When i had to move mine, i put on a glove to take it out.

 

[btldreef]

I used those yellow gloves meant for doing dishes to move mine.

 

[smartorl]

Just gently lift him with your hand. They used to have a huge tank of them at Sea World for people to pick up and view, along with starts, and snails.

 

[flower]

Hands and just rubber gloves??? Seriously???


When I got this critter from SWF I was acclimating it in a Styrofoam container...it poked and I heard a pop...pop...pop until it dug in so bad I like to never get it out. When I tried to cut the Styrofoam away...its body held it together. It can go through a rubber glove so that is not an option. I am not touching it with my hands.
If that is the only way to get it out it will just have to die in there. It aims those pokey things at me when I put my hands in the tank or just look at real close...it does not like people.

 

[teresaq]

hahahahaha I touch mine and have never gotten poked, To move it, you have to push to the side a little at a time. it will let go and then they just kinda float. lol

 

[btldreef]

Well if it's possible that it's just going to die anyways, try one of those long scrapers and see if you can push him off, once he's in the sand, try to get him with a fish net.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384287/urchin-help#post_3365948
Well if it's possible that it's just going to die anyways, try one of those long scrapers and see if you can push him off, once he's in the sand, try to get him with a fish net.
Okay, I know I can get it to let go if I scrape at him with a plastic ruler..if I can catch him on the side of the glass. Maybe I can scoop him up with a plastic container big enough to hold him. Thanks for the idea. T and BTL...LOL...My fish net isn't big eough and I need it to rinse frozen food in.
He is such a great algae eater and he looks so cool..I really just want to find it a good algae ridden home. That LFS...I won't buy any coral from there because there is so much hair algae on everythnig. I know he will be happy there.

 

[smartorl]

I promise, you can gently grab him with your hand. Like Teresa said bump him off and gently lift him. If you squeeze you could get hurt but they don't move, so just easily resting you won't get poked.

 

[bountyhunter23]

Yeah Ive had my medium spine one for 4 years. Hes been through a lot! My first tank crashed, and he made it! But Ive moved him to, two different tanks. Each time is a pain but his spikes aren't like the one you have. They don't go through gloves. How does yours eat so much algae? Mine hardly ever eats algae! I can tell where he has been on a rock and grinding his disks over night. but that only happens like twice a year.

 

[monsinour]

When I gave my purple rock urchin away, I coaxed him to the glass with my grabber and then made him move up the glass. He eventually wanted down so he let go and then I caught him and put him in a tupperware dish. Was fun, but patience won out.

 

[flower]

I just got back on... My urchins spines are about 6 inches long and he can aim them towards anything he thinks is a threat. He can make tem short or stick them way out, and will poke me whether I squeeze or not, so I will not touch it.
He is huge, his center isn't that big but his spikes are. He has been down in the rock for the day and hasn't come out where I can do anything yet. I see black quills all over the bottom of the tank so I know he is losing them. I have an abundance of coraline which according to research they eat, the glass is nearly clear. The rocks still have allot on them but like I said, he is losing spikes.
The fish and coral all look happy and healthy, so does the anemone, I have not tested the water. I don't think it's a water quality issue.