Is my urchin okay?

[eb2292]

Hi guys,
I picked up a tuxedo urchin yesterday, drip acclimated him over an hour, then plopped him in my tank. His tube feet are all extended and he has some little spines on top of him. The thing is, he hasn't moved since I put him in. Should I be worried?

[snorvich]

What was the SG of the transport water? What was the SG of your tank?

[eb2292]

I did not test the water in the bag but my tank is 1.025

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by eb2292

I did not test the water in the bag but my tank is 1.025

I ask because inverts need to have their transport SG adjusted slowly to the same (roughly) as the target tank. But yours may be fine, give it some time.

[eb2292]

Gotchya. Would an hour not have been enough if there was a difference?

A bunch of his little tube feet are attached to a rock next to him. Just worried because he was a pricey little guy.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by eb2292

Gotchya. Would an hour not have been enough if there was a difference?

A bunch of his little tube feet are attached to a rock next to him. Just worried because he was a pricey little guy.

It depends on how big a difference there was between transport water SG and your tank SG.

I have three. Sometimes they do not move for a long time.

[eb2292]

Good to know. I will give it a couple more days. Thank you Snorvich

[MacDime]

Dont most sleep during the day? Mine is always in the same spot every single day but once the lights are out you can see him moving about the tank.

[EDJFA]

Mine move around constantly. I have two.

They both like to remind me from time to time that I need to pick a spot for my zoas and glue them down.

I know turbo snails get a reputation for being bulldozers, but I think urchins are worse. But I think they're cool and they do a great job as a part of my CUC.

[Nina51]

Originally Posted by EDJFA

Mine move around constantly. I have two.

They both like to remind me from time to time that I need to pick a spot for my zoas and glue them down.

haha!!! i have 1 tuxedo and 2 pincushion urchins. when ya have urchins, glue is your friend. my pincushions move around constantly but there have been times when i've seen my tuxedo in the same place for hours and hours.

[eb2292]

Haha that's awesome with those zoas.

Mine hasn't moved an inch since I put him in last night that's why I'm a bit worried.

[Pearldiver]

I have had an urchin in my tank for a week now and I don't think it's moved from the original spot it scooted to when I put it in... it's spines are still erect so I just assume he doesn't move much...

[eb2292]

Here's a couple pics of the urchin in question. Sorry for the iPhone + LED lighting combo lol

[Nina51]

hard to tell from the picture, does it have long spikes? this is a pic of one of my pincushion urchins...my tuxedo has the same sort of spikes.


i've had to move an urchin a couple of times when i was gluing frags. you can very gently pick it up and put it on the sand bed and see if it moves around. try placing it right next to the glass and see if it'll start climbing. remember, GENTLE!!

[eb2292]

Yikes.. My urchin has nothing like those spines that yours has. Mine has tons of tube feet and a few thin spines up top, but not all over. Not sure if they're retracted? or he's dying.

Going to be placing a call to the store where I got him tomorrow to see if I can exchange him.

[Nina51]

i'm far from being an expert but i've never seen a healthy urchin that didn't have the long spikes. my lfs tried ordering a couple for me once and by the time i got there to pick them up a few days later, they were dead. they had shed every single one of their spikes.

to my knowledge, the spikes don't ever retract. they are either always there or if not, it means they have been shed. stress will do that. they can grow back but i'm not sure how far gone they have to be before they're considered hopeless.

you should post these pics in the invert forum and see if you can get a few more opinions.

[ebond009]

when i had a pump blow out and expose copper in an old tank my urchin was shedding heavy for two days then croaked.shedding spines=not good usually..best of luck

[slief]

Originally Posted by eb2292

Yikes.. My urchin has nothing like those spines that yours has. Mine has tons of tube feet and a few thin spines up top, but not all over. Not sure if they're retracted? or he's dying.

Going to be placing a call to the store where I got him tomorrow to see if I can exchange him.

Both nice urchins.. Your Tuxedo looks a little less painful.

[eb2292]

Such a shame. I hope I wake up tomorrow morning and miraculously hes moving around and chowing down... But as of right now, not looking so good.

I got him from House of Fins in Greenwich, CT (They're a vendor on here). I have gotten nothing but extremely healthy and beautiful stuff from them in the past, but I guess **** happens sometimes.

Even though the little tube feet are out, the spines are the tell tale sign of a healthy urchin, if I've gathered correctly?

[pyithar]

this is my tux. it usually stick some stuffs to its body. i've read that behavior is a sign of a healthy tuxedo urchin. don't know if it's true. here's mine:

[Nina51]

that's a pretty one!! my tux rarely carries anything around although he does have a penchant for zoas that aren't glued down. on the other hand, my pincushions are ALWAYS decorated. i've seen them with everything from zoas to empty shells to complete frags.

Originally Posted by eb2292

Even though the little tube feet are out, the spines are the tell tale sign of a healthy urchin, if I've gathered correctly?

in a way, i suppose that's true. urchins that shed their spikes are either stressed or are being kept in a tank with poor water quality.

don't be too quick to give up on yours. he could be fine, just give it some time.

here's a better pic of my tux. i've also heard him called a "halloween" urchin. not sure there's any difference. i've had this guy for over 2 years.


all dressed up and nowhere to go.

[pyithar]

wow, beautiful urchins nina! the one carrying the frag looks so cool!

[Nina51]

thanks! they are fascinating creatures. people often ask me if i scrape my back glass because it's so clean. my urchins definitely earn their keep!

[so_tatted]

I have a tuxedo urchin also. Got him about a month ago. He was fine for the first few weeks, then something went wrong and he started dropping all his spines (along with some of my frags closing up). I kept checking my parameters and they were all good. I decided to pick him up and put him on top of a rock I have that was growing a good amount of algae. He immediately began eating and about a week later was back to roaming the tank and picking things up. He has now grown back all of his lost spines.

From my short experience with him, I would recommend placing him in a spot with a good amount of food supply. Since my tank is only about 2 months old, I supplement his food about 1 to 2 times a week with dried seaweed.

[EDJFA]

One of mine dropped all of his spines a few weeks after I got him. Poor little guy was completely naked for about a month. You should have seen him trying to wave his little feeler tentacles around to cover himself up.

I left him alone and the spines eventually grew back. Still not sure exactly what it was that made him shed like that.