Tuxedo Urchin Info

[dsinsocal]

Are Tuxedo Urchin's hard to keep? Are they like Fromia starfish, where we just expect them to die within 6-12 months? I had mine for about 5 months and over the course of a few days it dropped all of the junk it had been carrying and just sat on the bottom of the tank with very little visible activity to it's spines/legs. I assume it's dying/dead.

Coincidentally, the Fromia that I've had for about 8 months JUST started showing signs of limb disintegration this week too. And, finally, my large Crimson Hermit that I've had for nearly 2 years also appears to be a goner. I'm giving him another day or two though, because he's done this to me before during molting time.

Any ideas of what might be happening? I"m not even sure if these events are related.

The only change I've made to the tank in the past couple of months is a 25% water change (temps and salinity were matched) before I went on vacation. The only other thing I can think of is that the person feeding my fish while I was gone may have introduced something into the tank with his hands, or there's some sudden chemical warfare going on between the softies. I've already started a fresh dose of carbon.

I run a mixed tank (75g) with pretty much every type of coral available. 95% of the stock looks fat and healthy, as always, but my GSP (of all corals...) seems to be annoyed too -- only coming out about half way, and then retreating. It does this several times during the day, like it wants to come out and, gets irritated, then goes back in. All of my LPS and SPS look perfectly fine. It's perplexing, and disturbing. I hate seeing things die.

 

[Greybeard]

Tuxedo urchins are easy. Algae eaters... including coraline, unfortunately.

They're also known to be bulldozers. Plowing over corals, picking up frags and such to use as camoflage...

IHMO, they're worth it. I like urchins, but I understand folks that don't want them in their reef.

 

[Silver14SS]

The pincushion and pencil urchins I have are pretty tough. Sounds like something is off if multiple critters are showing signs of distress.

Have you tested parameters other than salinity? Maybe nitrate, phosphate, or something else spiked while you were gone.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I've had mine for over a year. Love the tuxedo. Definite work horse

Ive read high mag levels can negatively affect inverts like snails. Not sure that it applies to urchins

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

I've had mine for over a year. Love the tuxedo. Definite work horse

Ive read high mag levels can negatively affect inverts like snails. Not sure that it applies to urchins

I've heard if Mg approaches 1500 ppm, then snails start to die. I think I had this issue not too long ago.

My GSP stays in when my alkalinity gets low. Not sure how sensitive urchins are to it though.

 

[Coldcloud]

Tuxedo urchins are the only ones I have ever had success with. My current one has just passed the year mark. Sometimes it will randomly sit in the same spot for a day or two, but then start roaming the tank. Mine goes back and forth on carrying a lot of stuff too. When I first got it, it always stayed super covered. These days though it only has one or two items. I wonder it just feels more comfortable in the tank, because nothing really bothers it.

 

[eschaton]

I had one in my old tank, and found it basically bulletproof. It lived for around five years in my tank, which is to my understanding the maximum lifespan that has ever been recorded in captivity (plus it was fully grown by the time I had purchased it). Once it even "spawned" despite not having a partner in the tank.

As others noted, it will eat some coraline, which some people don't really like. And it does have the tendency to pick up small rocks, bits of bubble algae, frags of zoas, etc. I tend to think of this as more charming than a pain honestly.