Our urchin seems to be unwell

[newtothesaltlife]

Hi everyone.. we are fairly new to this (had our tank for a bit more than 6 months now). Yesterday, we found our urchin on the sand upside down, so I did a quick Google search and found that someone recommended to flip him back over, so we did and he went on his merry way. Today, I found him once again upside down on the sand, and this time, 8 of his spines/legs (?) had fallen off. Up until this weekend, he has been quite active on the rocks and the glass (can't recall ever seeing him on the sand), and we've had him for at least 3 months. For reference, I've attached a picture of him to this post; he's looking a little droopy imo. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. My husband had a saltwater tank years ago, but he didn't have an urchin, so we are flying a little blind here. Thanks in advance!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef and sorry for your trouble!

Dropping spines isn't a good sign. From the pic, it doesn't look there's much food for your urchin in the tank - I'd try putting some algae wafers/pellets in the tank next to/under it and rubberband-ing some nori to a rock for it.

 

[kevgib67]

^ This, you may have added it a little prematurely as your tank and rock look very clean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone.. we are fairly new to this (had our tank for a bit more than 6 months now). Yesterday, we found our urchin on the sand upside down, so I did a quick Google search and found that someone recommended to flip him back over, so we did and he went on his merry way. Today, I found him once again upside down on the sand, and this time, 8 of his spines/legs (?) had fallen off. Up until this weekend, he has been quite active on the rocks and the glass (can't recall ever seeing him on the sand), and we've had him for at least 3 months. For reference, I've attached a picture of him to this post; he's looking a little droopy imo. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. My husband had a saltwater tank years ago, but he didn't have an urchin, so we are flying a little blind here. Thanks in advance!

Age of tank is a huge factor as you will get small spike of ammonia and nitrate which they do not handle well.

 

[jda]

What is it eating? They need film algae to graze. Coralline is fine too.

Put some nori in there with a rock on it or wedged between some rocks and set it on top of the nori sheet. Once they start to drop spines, this is not good, but there is a chance still.