Lost my urchin

[Bortass]

Hi guys.

I added a blue tuxedo urchin to my tank a bit over 1 month ago. I looked in the tank today and and it was on the sand and didn't look right. Sure enough it's just an empty exoskeleton. My snails and hermit crabs cleaned it out.

I acclimated it for about 15 minutes or so with a drip. It had been moving over my glass and rock work. there's plenty of hair algea and even some corraline on the glass for it to eat. I'm pretty sure it was eating but maybe I'm wrong.

Everything looked fine and it seemed healthy a couple of days ago. Yesterday I didn't spend alot of time looking in the tank. I think it was in the same spot on the sand as I found it's skeleton today. Though it still had the debris it was carrying for camo on it, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary.

Any idea of what may have happened to it? I got it from a LFS, so it didn't have a long trip from the store to my tank.

The exoskeloton has a small hole near the top and a larger one where it's mouth would be. The larger hole was facing the sand, so I think it moved to that spot and dies versus something 'gettting' it. Not that i have anything in the tank that should have bothered it.

Any thoughts? I'm bummed that it died, so I guess I won't try to add another one. I didn't think they were touchy but maybe they are harder to keep then I thought. Sigh.

 

[Elysia]

The holes that you see in the test are where the soft parts of the urchin were -- they aren't tell-tale signs of predation or anything (mouth and anus.) I don't know why your urchin died -- I have had two urchins, one of which died very soon after purchase and I had a heads up that things were not going well, as it started to loose its spines about two days before dying. Which was about a day longer than it was in my tank! The other has been in the tank for a year and has grown.
Sorry to hear about your urchin, those blue tuxedo urchins are beautiful.

 

[jhildebrand]

just like sea stars, urchins are crazy sensitive to sudden changes and long, careful acclimation is crucial to them. food doesn't sound like the issue here, nor does predation.

drip acclimation is great for these, but was the water oxygenated during the drip? may not have mattered because the time frame was so short. don't give up - these guys are entertaining, beautiful, and hardy once properly adjusted to your system. i'd try again with a bright, healthy specimen and an hour long acclimation. a sign of major stress or improper acclimation is loss of spines and is a sign of one going downhill fast. they are fairly easy otherwise in a reef tank with stable params. good luck...

 

[Grunt]

"I acclimated it for about 15 minutes or so with a drip."

Way too short, should be dripped over a longer period of time. Like jhilde said urchins are crazy sensitive to water changes.

 

[Premiumaq]

Royal urchins are tiny and short lived, and another possibility is that you got one that was ready to finish off anyway. When you pick a royal tux, go for one that's less than 1.5" and therefore not quite mature.

 

[Plankt0s]

He added it a little over a month ago... I dont think that acclimation is the problem here. Perhaps your tank get hot during the day or cool at night, or your ph swings.

 

[Yinzer]

Hello,
My blue tuxedo has a cracked body with a hole in it. I have no predators and I didnt do anything to him. he has a 1/2" hole in him. Its kind of like a humpty dumpty deal. Will he live? It has been two days and he is still moving around but I can see inside of him.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I have a long spined urchin that took a turn for the worse. Last night he seemed fine moving around. Tonight he has lost a few spines a a few are leaning over and he seems lethargic.

I tested the with FasTest and probably expired chemicals. It has been so long since I lost anything I haven't been testing.
Ammonia = 0
Nitirite = 0
Nitrate = 10 or less
phophate .5 or less
Any ideas of what I should do?

 

[TheFishMan65]

ph 8.2
Calcium 450 ppm
Alk 2.5 meq/l
Mag 1400
These were Red Sea not expired