if he is regrowing them there isn't anything wrong .. my longspine looses a few here and there but that isn't a problem that's just natural shedding.. there's a problem when your urchin suddenly looses half of his spines and he starts looking bare .. and widdlebiddy you should've gone with the longspine .. it's not like it's going to jump at you to attack you when your and is in the tank .. as long as you don't grab it or anything it shouldn't hurt you .. my long-spines is my favorite urchin .. but I like my verigated urchin too because he has like a million short blunt white spines and they're not that sharp .. I can pick him up with my hands becuase the spines aren't that sharp .. I don't really like the pencil urchins that much .. not a big fan of the thick spines .. i like urchins with lots of thin spines
A total shot in the dark since this post is almost 10 years old. I live on the eastern coast and found a urchin while walking the beach, was on the back of a horseshoe crab. Brought it home and introduced into my tank (60 g), I made the mistake of not acclimating it, this was yesterday. Today the spines are falling off, it has moved around the tank, but spends most of its time near the surface. There is live rock and plenty of alge growth on the back wall for it to it (if it's the right kind). The tank has several hermit crabs, a pair of "regular" crabs (kinda like emerald crabs in size and shaped, but light brownish), all wild caught and doing well, also two damsels.
Tested the water today. 8.4-ph, 0ppm-ammonia, 0ppm-nitrite, 2ppm-nitrate, 1.0265-SG. The ph and SG are both a little higher than I normally like to keep it, so will adjust, but all else seems to be in check.
Do you think it's stress related, not acclimating it, or something totally different? I could get ocean water and acclimate it today if not too late. Any idea what kind it is?
Sounds like Osmotic Shock.
Anything I can do to treat it? Do you recognize the type?
