Urchins need calcium?

A

atl reef

Guest
I just got 2 pincushion urchins and they seem to be doing fine. However the other day one was on the glass and I bumped it with my magnet cleaner and the tips of a few needles broke off. I gently did it again, and a few more ends broke off. So I'm wondering if they need calcium or something. I've been FOWLR for the past couple years and have only been in the reef game for about 4 months.
Field of Play: 55 gallon, 12 lbs live rock
Starting Lineup:
1 coral beauty
1 falsa clown
1 royal gamma
1 freckled hawk
1 coral banded shrimp
1 camelback shrimp
2 pincushion urchins
1 carpet anemone
1 leather coral
10 hermits
 
nanomantis

nanomantis

Member
Calcium is important for d*** near everything! We need calcium, fish need calcium, inverts need calcium, coral needs calcium.
Remember that an urchin's spines are for self defense. They are made to stab something and break and fall off. If they didn't the urchin would get dragged around by the fish! So its really not that strange. And on your calcium question, if your using a brand of salt worth its salt (see what I did there!) you should be fine on your mineral concentrations in a live rock tank.
 
burch2006

burch2006

Member
as long as he keeps up with his water changes. Urchins like pristine water conditions as well as lots of coraline algea which also requires lots of calcium.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Don't forget that 1/2 of Calcium carbonate is Carbonate! Without Carbonate the Calcium level really doesn't matter because it can't be used.
 
A

atl reef

Guest
I'm doing weekly water changes using Kent Marine salt, so I'm assuming that is a quality salt, and has the essential minerals. I also have a Kent marine calcium add-in I use every 2 weeks... What exactly does coraline algae look like vs other algae???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top