(new tanker) Sea Urchin question

[redfin9]

I just noticed my sea urchin with some white spots. Been perfectly healthy and have had about 5 months or so. We recently lost a Banner fish who was new (2 mo) and was perfectly healthy as well, eating right away and adapted to the tank. Water test have salinity and nitrate all in perfect order ... my local fish guy didnt give any concern if test were good and if no one else died its probably bad luck than a disease, but now I see the Urchin. I guess it could be sand but not sure how it would have got there.

 

[bsr2430]

I would guess sand! Sounds like an odd coincidence with a banner dying at the same time. The white spots on her doesn’t look like a disease.

 

[Cjud7982]

looks like sand to me. look up the anatomy of sea urchins, the urchins mouth is on the bottom side. They digest it and expel the sand or undigested pieces of rock out the tops center hole, essentially their rectum.
FYI i have never seen an urchin with spots, the usually just lose spines, stop moving and starve.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I just noticed my sea urchin with some white spots. Been perfectly healthy and have had about 5 months or so. We recently lost a Banner fish who was new (2 mo) and was perfectly healthy as well, eating right away and adapted to the tank. Water test have salinity and nitrate all in perfect order ... my local fish guy didnt give any concern if test were good and if no one else died its probably bad luck than a disease, but now I see the Urchin. I guess it could be sand but not sure how it would have got there.

I can't tell what it is from the pic but sand wouldn't surprise me, ours collected sand, snails, hermits, shells....at at one time it had all of the mentioned attached at the same time. Sometimes it was such a pain. :)

 

[EmdeReef]

Hard to tell in the pic. Can you take a pic without the blues on? Is that a long spined urchin?

 

[redfin9]

here is one with the blues. Is kinda looks like sand but then you see it on the sides and wonder

how it could stay on.

 

[EmdeReef]

Does look like sand, they’ll grab just about anything.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Agree, looks like sand to me as well.

 

[lapin]

I go with sand from the pictures. Big urchins are really tough. I had a star of the east urchin that came on a piece of live rock. It was in a brute container for a month. Just salt water no heat. Salinity up and down all the time. I never knew it was there. After being in my tank for about a month I began to see rock being cleaned and I knew my tang was not that good at it. I saw it at night a few weeks later.