I discovered quite by accident a fairly (I think) safe way to remove an urchin from rock or glass...my tripneustes gets occasionally into a blind pocket of the rockwork while caulerpa grows at the other side of the tank, and needs to be moved over to 'greener' pastures.
Getting him detached from where he is, however, threatens to break spines or otherwise do him harm.
I was feeding chilled arctipods to the tank, and the cold dose accidentally hit the urchin, who promptly detached everything and fell to the bottom of the tank.
What do invertebrate experts think about a jet of cold water (or phyto/zoo) as an urchin removal device? Is it kinder than other methods? It seems it might be, since the urchin recovers very quickly, and seems unharmed.
Getting him detached from where he is, however, threatens to break spines or otherwise do him harm.
I was feeding chilled arctipods to the tank, and the cold dose accidentally hit the urchin, who promptly detached everything and fell to the bottom of the tank.
What do invertebrate experts think about a jet of cold water (or phyto/zoo) as an urchin removal device? Is it kinder than other methods? It seems it might be, since the urchin recovers very quickly, and seems unharmed.
