I have a long spine black urchin that has been doing great. I've had him for several months and he has doubled in size. I just noticed today that he is losing quite a few spines and he has white spots on him that appear to be his skeleton showing through. Anyone seen this before? Is it just a thing they do or is he in trouble?
Is the white on the spines or on his body? And have you noticed him loosing spines before? The one we have at work looses spines all the time.. im not sure at what rate though.. He has lost spines since here was here 4 months ago in my tank..
I have one too and mine loses spines as well. I'm not really sure that this is a good thing though. I also have a Tuxedo Urchin that has lost no spines so I'm really not sure what to tell you.
Thanks for the replies. He was dead this morning and had lost 30 to 50 spines over night. I dont know what happened. All other fish and inverts are fine
Urchins are very sensitive to water changes/quality. There has to be something that triggered it. Unfortunately, when they begin this process, it's already too late. Very few people report saving their urchins in this state even after bringing their water to "pristine" quality.
This happened to me when I was new to reefing. JustDavidP is correct it will happen when there is a change in the water quality (usually it is related to ammonia, nitrite, or higher nitrate levels). Mine fortunately recovered.
I have a long spine black urchin that has been doing great. I've had him for several months and he has doubled in size. I just noticed today that he is losing quite a few spines and he has white spots on him that appear to be his skeleton showing through. Anyone seen this before? Is it just a thing they do or is he in trouble?
Thanks.
How large of a tank was this urchin in? How much algae did it have to eat and how long has the tank been setup?
FWIW... I've also found that serpent stars are the "Canary in the coal mine" for reef tanks as well. They, like the urchins, are not fond of declining water quality. Nitrates are not tolerated. The serpent stars and urchins tend to "slow down" in their activity with higher nitrates. They become very sluggish and will not even track down food. They instead will sit still and try to capture food as it passes by them.
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