Urchin dying?

[KittenChiu]

I was very stupid and did not acclimate my new pincushion urchin properly. Just floated the bag and then dropped him in yesterday. Now he has lost all the spines on the bottom side and hasn't moved around the tank at all. He still reacts if I poke him and some of his little tentacle feet are opening up and moving around some but a lot are just hanging there. What do I do.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

I was very stupid and did not acclimate my new pincushion urchin properly. Just floated the bag and then dropped him in yesterday. Now he has lost all the spines on the bottom side and hasn't moved around the tank at all. He still reacts if I poke him and some of his little tentacle feet are opening up and moving around some but a lot are just hanging there. What do I do.

he is certainly stressed. Check your nitrates and Ph. And is there anything in the water, like fish medicine, that could be causing it?

Just monitor for death and pull when. Best of luck, they really arent hard to keep once you get them happy in your tank

edit: if it makes you feel better, when I buy a new urchin I just pull them out of the store bag and michael jorden them into my reef. Love pincushions on CUC

 

[justmee]

Don't think there's anything you can do, once they start losing their spines it's pretty much done for...

Don't you have a blooming issue with your tank? I thought I also saw bubble algae in your tank. I wouldn't add anything else to your tank until you take care of those issues.

 

[KittenChiu]

No meds in tank, nitrite and nitrate are at 0, pH is 8. Algae bloom is mostly macroalgae gracilaria, manually removed as much algae as I could. Was suggested that I add an urchin to help control the issue. Tank has been running for about two years, never had an issue until I added a tiny clump of gracilaria...

 

[justmee]

Manually removing algae doesn't mean you don't have any problems with your tank, you still have to pinpoint what's causing your tank to bloom. One thing you can do is to perform constant weekly water change for the next several of weeks to control the bloom, or keep on do water change until the algae problem is gone. Remember, this hobby requires a lot of patience...

 

[TheBackAndForth]

No meds in tank, nitrite and nitrate are at 0, pH is 8. Algae bloom is mostly macroalgae gracilaria, manually removed as much algae as I could. Was suggested that I add an urchin to help control the issue. Tank has been running for about two years, never had an issue until I added a tiny clump of gracilaria...

I would suggest probably high phosphates

 

[TheBackAndForth]

The phosphate cycle is such that only water changes and time will remove it as PO4 leaches from your rocks.

Again, buy a test online and see what that level is, then slowly correct. It'll eventually come into line.

Try to do large changes that pull a greater % out at once

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Also, youre not stupid. Learning from mistakes is important in this hobby.

minimize nutrients in the tanks, get a CUC to take care of what you have, and try another urchin and see if it survives. Could just be a stressed out invert that was going to die no matter

 

[Auto-pilot]

Picture????? Ive had one that lost 80% of his spines and he came back to life and is alive and happy to this day

 

[justmee]

I seriously would not suggest getting another urchin or any live stock until the tanks water parameters have been taken care of.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Picture????? Ive had one that lost 80% of his spines and he came back to life and is alive and happy to this day

yeah ive found them to be pretty tough if not dead. in tank crashes over the years with nasty ammonia swings my urchins always pull through.

Now im stocking purple pincushions that were tank bred. wonderful eating machines, tough as hell.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

I'm actually for trying another because they are non-sentient. They have a simple nervous system, but NO PERCEPTION of pain. In some ways not unlike a plant.

I would not suggest this of a fish or hermit crab or cephalopod etc because they can perceive their stimuli and think about it. An upper cortex is an important consideration for me.

It's the same reason brain dead individuals arent treated for pain even if they are exposed to painful stimuli, whereas a minimally conscious person or anybody with upper cortex activity would be treated for pain.

 

[KittenChiu]

I will be doing more frequent water changes for the time being, but the rocks have been there since I started the tank. I finally got a python siphon, yay! So that should make things easier. No fish in this tank either, until I get this under control. Fingers crossed for the urchin, I'll take a picture tonight.

 

[KittenChiu]

Sad pile of urchin.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Does your water maybe have copper in it?

RODI?

 

[Auto-pilot]

Does your water maybe have copper in it?

RODI?

Thats a good question!!!
Urchins can also be really sensitive to salinity.
Just wait it out, if he starts moving again he might just bounce back. I get seaweed and put it next to my urchins and they eat it. I had an urchin that lost most of its spines because I shocked it when I put it in my quarantine tank. It bounced back and I Kept feeding it and now hes a big pain in the butt because he pulls everything off my rocks! Long story short don't give up hope
I would test Phosphates, salinity, nitrates, and make sure they are not out of whack

 

[KittenChiu]

Water is mixed from the tap, have not tested for copper but the shrimp have all been ok?

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Water is mixed from the tap, have not tested for copper but the shrimp have all been ok?

I think that’s definitely your problem.

Tap water has tons of minerals. Tons. Inverts and corals are super sensitive to that at times.

Would suggest moving to rodi. Most fish wouldn’t be affected but lots of inverts well.

A four stage rodi for about 100 dollars would be a good investment

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Also that may be the cause of your algae. It depends

Rodi water is almost necessary

 

[justmee]

If you don't buy an RODI unit, you can always buy RODI water or mixed water from your local fish store.