Blue tuxedo urchin spines falling off. Help....!!!

[afm32607]

Blue tuxedo Urchins spines have started dropping. Can it be fixed?

Just go him Saturday. Bought online. Some spines were floating around in the bag the day I got it. Moved several inches in the first day and covered itself with tank stuff But it has only gotten worse, there is now a bunch of tiny spines.

If it's defiantly going to die should I take it out now? It is holding onto the rocks vertically at the moment. How bad are they for the tank if I wait until it is dead dead?

3+ hr acclimation plus 20 minute temp acclimation.

75 gal Parameters -
Ammo 0
nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Alk 8.9
CA 400
pH 8.4 at night
Sg 35ppt

Temp 80

 

[hotelbravo]

why so long of an acclimation?? to long can be very bad. when an urchin starts shedding like crazy death usually follows im not sure if it can be reversed and brought back to health.

 

[afm32607]

Salinity in bag was 1.020 and he came in a ton of water. Everything I read, up until tonight, said long acclimation times for sea urchins.

 

[afm32607]

His feet are still reaching to grab stuff but it doesn't look good. How bad will it be for my tank if I just leave him until tomorrow?

 

[Calappidae]

Long Acclimation is pretty safe for Echinoderms specifically. Them, alongside Corals, Jellyfish, Anemones, Clams, Sessile Stuff, etc, don't release as much ammonia and stress out in the bag like a fish, shrimp, crab, etc would do. Crabs, Shrimp Fish, etc are also easier to get in the tank right away, being generally hardier than the former.


Could just be a stress response. Sometimes suppliers can be a bit rough with the net or hands removing them, and they have spines just hanging on their bodies by a thread.

They won't hurt a tank if they die, it's not going to impact much, other than you might have this urchin exoskeleton like thing laying around. This is just one of those, let nature take it's course things, it can recover if it wants to, just keep the parameters in check and don't swing them quickly.

 

[firemountain]

The same thing happened to me with my blue tuxedo. Lots of spines in the bag water. It didn't ship well and unfortunately it did perish within 3 days. Got it from Divers Den. They gave me a credit so I will try again.

I set my QT to match the bag water by calling them in advance to get a SG reading. When the urchin arrived, I did a second reading and they were only of by only.001

Anyway my drip acclimation time was a lot less....and it still died. Don't beat yourself up....certain things are out of your control.

FYI....I ordered from them a collector "Halloween urchin" as well. They were both drip acclimated together...and my Halloween urchin is doing great.

 

[afm32607]

It's still moving about so I guess I will wait until it's dead dead to remove it, which will probably require me to dismantle the tank.

Its depressing to watch them die. I got mine from live aquaria. They are usually much better at shipping but this time I had a red velvet fairy wrasse that was unable to swim upright and a DOA sexy shrimp. They do have a good refund policy so there's that.

 

[afm32607]

Not to be that kind of hobbyist but after its dead how can I preserve the exoskeleton? I know, morbid and pessimistic in the same sentence...

 

[Calappidae]

I think I recieved 3 out of twenty things from LA that made it in good condition, or they actually sent the right thing I ordered. Everything I get usually rejects food for the first 3 weeks..

 

[afm32607]

As an update urchin is still alive and moving around the tank. Can't tell if it has more or less spines than before. How long do they typically take to die if they are sick?

 

[mbingha]

As an update urchin is still alive and moving around the tank. Can't tell if it has more or less spines than before. How long do they typically take to die if they are sick?

Any update? I just got one on Wednesday and he's hardly moved and has lost a few spines. Hour+ acclimation and salinity and temp were exactly the same (refractometer). He was all over the place at the lfs. Nitrate nitrite and ammonia all 0.

 

[Betta132]

If it does die, you can just put it outside near some ants. The spines will all fall off, but the exoskeleton is a shell of sorts and is quite durable. Just do about what you'd do if you had a dead snail you wanted the shell from.
And no, that's really not morbid at all. Valid thing to do, urchins are cool. Also, they don't really have brains, so it's more like preserving a coral skeleton than anything else.

If it's still alive, get some nori and set the urchin on top so it has food within easy reach. If you keep the water clean, it may yet pull through.