Lifespan of urchin

Mr31415 · 07/08/2007, 04:19 AM

Anyone knows what the lifespan of this urchin is:

It was perfectly healthy for almost 10 months but the past couple of days it started loosing its spines and keeps on coming out in to the open in daylight - something it never did.

So is it reaching the end of its natural life or is something wrong?

Paul B · 07/08/2007, 04:41 AM

Sorry but it is dying. Thats what happens just before they die. They can live at least 8 years. I just lost two that old.
I used to have an urchin colllecting business.
Paul

Mr31415 · 07/08/2007, 05:19 AM

Any ideas on why it might be dying? There is still lots of microalgae and coralline for it to eat, and the water parameters had been stable for the past 10 months. Tank itself is 1 year old.

LobsterOfJustice · 07/08/2007, 06:55 AM

Doesnt seem like it would be dying from old age. Losing their spines is a sign of bad water quality or unstable parameters. Test all your parameters, and make sure nothing is changing too rapidly (pH, alk, salinity). Check all your equipment to make sure it is properly functioning. Make sure no other tank mates are picking on him (especially now that heis losing his defense). I had a tuxedo that lost all his spikes but I corrected the problem and they grew back and he is still with me today. So losing spikes is not a death sentence, but a sign that something is going wrong, and could lead to death if not corrected.

Mr31415 · 07/08/2007, 07:14 AM

Did test all of it - all fine.

That is the weird thing - nothing that I can test for is wrong.

Paul B · 07/08/2007, 07:21 AM

Urchins are a sure sign of water quality and are sometimes used for that purpose in research. The thing that is killing your urchin you probably can't test for. Nitrate, phosphate, and calcium levels will not kill an urchin unless they were way out of sync. The problem is probably heavy metals which you really can't test for in the minute quantities that will kill an urchin. I myself use RO/DI and carbon and zinc killed my urchins. My water company uses so much zinc orthophosphate to treat drinking water that it killed my urchins and corals. I am in the process of trying to correct the prolem. Carbon, and RO/DI will remove 98% of heavy metals but sometimes that two percent is enough to cause havoc. Our filtration methods are not always perfect. You could try a Poly Filter but usually when that urchin you have loses it's spines, it is dying. Hopefully as Lobster said it will recover but I have had hundreds of them and it is not a good sign.
Paul

Mr31415 · 07/08/2007, 08:31 AM

I always use RO water - sometimes DI depending on whether I have resin left. The weird thing is unless the municipality changed their water provisioning standards I have been using the same water for 1 year now...

I am also using the same water in another tank which shows no signs of distress on the same urchins (well, same kind of urchins). That tank evaporates as much as 3gpd.

Is there *anything* I can do? A month ago I had some RTN on my acropora and euphyllia due to (I think) neglected replacement of Rowaphos/GAC, VERY low Calcium level (270mg/L), VERY low flow since both my Tunze Turbelle streams were blocked and my return pump were at 50% efficiency...

I corrected all those problems but could that have contributed? My other corals are fine now and the acropora and euphyllia stopped with the RTN and is growing again.

All my other livestock seems unaffected, except for one Chromis I have lost due to unknown reasons.

Oh yeah - two months ago I tried TWallice's method of killing bryopsis - so I raised my Mg to 1600mg/L using Tropic Marine's BioMagnesium supplement. I noticed an increase in microalgae. So I did a water change to try and lower it again.

Could any of those be contributing factors?

Paul B · 07/08/2007, 08:36 AM

Quote:

I always use RO water - sometimes DI depending on whether I have resin left. The weird thing is unless the municipality changed their water provisioning standards I have been using the same water for 1 year now...

I have been using the same water from the same company for almost 40 years and it happens in my tank every few years. Also one of my urchins is still alive too but it will succumb soon.
I still think it is metal. The only other thing I can think of is temperature but i am sure you have tested that or soap or insecticide from your hands, again I would use a Poly Filter.
Paul

07/08/2007, 04:19 AM	#1
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	Lifespan of urchin Anyone knows what the lifespan of this urchin is: It was perfectly healthy for almost 10 months but the past couple of days it started loosing its spines and keeps on coming out in to the open in daylight - something it never did. So is it reaching the end of its natural life or is something wrong?

07/08/2007, 04:41 AM	#2
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Sorry but it is dying. Thats what happens just before they die. They can live at least 8 years. I just lost two that old. I used to have an urchin colllecting business. Paul __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

07/08/2007, 06:55 AM	#4
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Doesnt seem like it would be dying from old age. Losing their spines is a sign of bad water quality or unstable parameters. Test all your parameters, and make sure nothing is changing too rapidly (pH, alk, salinity). Check all your equipment to make sure it is properly functioning. Make sure no other tank mates are picking on him (especially now that heis losing his defense). I had a tuxedo that lost all his spikes but I corrected the problem and they grew back and he is still with me today. So losing spikes is not a death sentence, but a sign that something is going wrong, and could lead to death if not corrected. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/08/2007, 05:19 AM	#3
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	Any ideas on why it might be dying? There is still lots of microalgae and coralline for it to eat, and the water parameters had been stable for the past 10 months. Tank itself is 1 year old.

07/08/2007, 07:14 AM	#5
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	Did test all of it - all fine. That is the weird thing - nothing that I can test for is wrong.

07/08/2007, 07:21 AM	#6
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Urchins are a sure sign of water quality and are sometimes used for that purpose in research. The thing that is killing your urchin you probably can't test for. Nitrate, phosphate, and calcium levels will not kill an urchin unless they were way out of sync. The problem is probably heavy metals which you really can't test for in the minute quantities that will kill an urchin. I myself use RO/DI and carbon and zinc killed my urchins. My water company uses so much zinc orthophosphate to treat drinking water that it killed my urchins and corals. I am in the process of trying to correct the prolem. Carbon, and RO/DI will remove 98% of heavy metals but sometimes that two percent is enough to cause havoc. Our filtration methods are not always perfect. You could try a Poly Filter but usually when that urchin you have loses it's spines, it is dying. Hopefully as Lobster said it will recover but I have had hundreds of them and it is not a good sign. Paul

07/08/2007, 08:31 AM	#7
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	I always use RO water - sometimes DI depending on whether I have resin left. The weird thing is unless the municipality changed their water provisioning standards I have been using the same water for 1 year now... I am also using the same water in another tank which shows no signs of distress on the same urchins (well, same kind of urchins). That tank evaporates as much as 3gpd. Is there anything I can do? A month ago I had some RTN on my acropora and euphyllia due to (I think) neglected replacement of Rowaphos/GAC, VERY low Calcium level (270mg/L), VERY low flow since both my Tunze Turbelle streams were blocked and my return pump were at 50% efficiency... I corrected all those problems but could that have contributed? My other corals are fine now and the acropora and euphyllia stopped with the RTN and is growing again. All my other livestock seems unaffected, except for one Chromis I have lost due to unknown reasons. Oh yeah - two months ago I tried TWallice's method of killing bryopsis - so I raised my Mg to 1600mg/L using Tropic Marine's BioMagnesium supplement. I noticed an increase in microalgae. So I did a water change to try and lower it again. Could any of those be contributing factors?