Urchin in Distress

[EMTX777]

Hello all- This is my first post, although I am a frequent creeper to the forum; I find this group to be the most knowledgeable and trustworthy when it comes to discussions, issues, and general marine aquarium topics.

I am looking for some help with a long spine urchin that I have who is in distress and that I would really prefer not to lose. I've had this urchin in my 400 gallon FOWLR tank for about a year. The urchin is typically all over the aquarium and will readily take nori in a clip when offered. I am currently at work while I am making this post, so I do not have the parameters of my tank; but I can post that later today.

About two weeks ago, something occurred in the tank that caused 4 of my other urchins to drop to the bottom and die- the timeframe for this drop and die was within a two day period. My long spine was the only survivor and, since that point, it has done nothing but move lethargically in the corner by my UV filter. It will come over to the clip to eat, then move back to the corner. I gave it about a week to see improvement and there has been none. I still have no idea what caused the die off (no chemicals in or near the tank).

In the meantime, as I was performing a water change, I checked my salinity and it is absolutely off of the charts high. I finished the water change with straight RO-about 15 gallons worth as I didn't want to stress the fish, and particularly the struggling urchin with too much of a change. I felt like with the volume of water in this aquarium the impact would be helpful but not impactful on the inhabitants. Of course, once I tested the water again, it is still so high that my salinity tester cannot read the level. I believe the salinity became this high due to a couple of top-offs my spouse made. The fish visually appear to be unaffected by this level and they continue to thrive and eat. I know I need to bring the level down in increments, but I am unsure of how to do so with this urchin issue.

My long spine is now worsening since the water change and I am aware that they are very sensitive to saline adjustments. Is there anything at this point that I can do to save this urchin? I have thought about moving him to my 60 gallon, but in his weakened state, I feel that the move would do him in. I have read that urchins can come back from severe stress if the conditions are correct. At this point, he has dropped about a quarter of his spines and is just moving listlessly in the corner.

Any thoughts, feedback and/or advice is very welcome.

Thank you!

 

[Baldyreef]

Hello all- This is my first post, although I am a frequent creeper to the forum; I find this group to be the most knowledgeable and trustworthy when it comes to discussions, issues, and general marine aquarium topics.

I am looking for some help with a long spine urchin that I have who is in distress and that I would really prefer not to lose. I've had this urchin in my 400 gallon FOWLR tank for about a year. The urchin is typically all over the aquarium and will readily take nori in a clip when offered. I am currently at work while I am making this post, so I do not have the parameters of my tank; but I can post that later today.

About two weeks ago, something occurred in the tank that caused 4 of my other urchins to drop to the bottom and die- the timeframe for this drop and die was within a two day period. My long spine was the only survivor and, since that point, it has done nothing but move lethargically in the corner by my UV filter. It will come over to the clip to eat, then move back to the corner. I gave it about a week to see improvement and there has been none. I still have no idea what caused the die off (no chemicals in or near the tank).

In the meantime, as I was performing a water change, I checked my salinity and it is absolutely off of the charts high. I finished the water change with straight RO-about 15 gallons worth as I didn't want to stress the fish, and particularly the struggling urchin with too much of a change. I felt like with the volume of water in this aquarium the impact would be helpful but not impactful on the inhabitants. Of course, once I tested the water again, it is still so high that my salinity tester cannot read the level. I believe the salinity became this high due to a couple of top-offs my spouse made. The fish visually appear to be unaffected by this level and they continue to thrive and eat. I know I need to bring the level down in increments, but I am unsure of how to do so with this urchin issue.

My long spine is now worsening since the water change and I am aware that they are very sensitive to saline adjustments. Is there anything at this point that I can do to save this urchin? I have thought about moving him to my 60 gallon, but in his weakened state, I feel that the move would do him in. I have read that urchins can come back from severe stress if the conditions are correct. At this point, he has dropped about a quarter of his spines and is just moving listlessly in the corner.

Any thoughts, feedback and/or advice is very welcome.

Thank you!

im very sorry to hear this, do you think you could very slowly acclimate it to the 60 or a solo qt tank? as the high salinity will most likely do it soon, @Jay Hemdal and or @vetteguy53081 will most likely be able to help way more than me on this subject

 

[Garf]

it is still so high that my salinity tester cannot read the level.

I would urge you to check the salinity checking method again, this is waving some big flags for me. There are some of Randys links in my signature thingy, regarding calibration.

I believe the salinity became this high due to a couple of top-offs my spouse made

Unlikely, unless they were enormous.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello all- This is my first post, although I am a frequent creeper to the forum; I find this group to be the most knowledgeable and trustworthy when it comes to discussions, issues, and general marine aquarium topics.

I am looking for some help with a long spine urchin that I have who is in distress and that I would really prefer not to lose. I've had this urchin in my 400 gallon FOWLR tank for about a year. The urchin is typically all over the aquarium and will readily take nori in a clip when offered. I am currently at work while I am making this post, so I do not have the parameters of my tank; but I can post that later today.

About two weeks ago, something occurred in the tank that caused 4 of my other urchins to drop to the bottom and die- the timeframe for this drop and die was within a two day period. My long spine was the only survivor and, since that point, it has done nothing but move lethargically in the corner by my UV filter. It will come over to the clip to eat, then move back to the corner. I gave it about a week to see improvement and there has been none. I still have no idea what caused the die off (no chemicals in or near the tank).

In the meantime, as I was performing a water change, I checked my salinity and it is absolutely off of the charts high. I finished the water change with straight RO-about 15 gallons worth as I didn't want to stress the fish, and particularly the struggling urchin with too much of a change. I felt like with the volume of water in this aquarium the impact would be helpful but not impactful on the inhabitants. Of course, once I tested the water again, it is still so high that my salinity tester cannot read the level. I believe the salinity became this high due to a couple of top-offs my spouse made. The fish visually appear to be unaffected by this level and they continue to thrive and eat. I know I need to bring the level down in increments, but I am unsure of how to do so with this urchin issue.

My long spine is now worsening since the water change and I am aware that they are very sensitive to saline adjustments. Is there anything at this point that I can do to save this urchin? I have thought about moving him to my 60 gallon, but in his weakened state, I feel that the move would do him in. I have read that urchins can come back from severe stress if the conditions are correct. At this point, he has dropped about a quarter of his spines and is just moving listlessly in the corner.

Any thoughts, feedback and/or advice is very welcome.

Thank you!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It sure sounds like the salinity is the core issue here, but we really need to figure out what the level was and what it is now.

What tool are you using to measure with?