*almost* instant urchin death

[Thade_hicks]

Have a buddy that set up a tank with arag alive and it was set up for a month or two before adding anything. He introduced a half-dollar size pincushion urchin after having a skunk clown for 2 weeks. Over night, the pincushion dropped all it's spines and died. Any ideas?

 

[Lavey29]

Ya tank is unstable and not suitable for urchins which need an established system.

 

[Thade_hicks]

I wondered, the guy also set up with tap water would that cause that instant death too?

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I would suspect that the tank is not established enough to support a delicate animal like an urchin. The tap water could also have played a part.

 

[Thade_hicks]

I would suspect that the tank is not established enough to support a delicate animal like an urchin. The tap water could also have played a part.

I kinda figured. I'm gonna have him wait for another and top off and water changes to curve it a littl

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have a buddy that set up a tank with arag alive and it was set up for a month or two before adding anything. He introduced a half-dollar size pincushion urchin after having a skunk clown for 2 weeks. Over night, the pincushion dropped all it's spines and died. Any ideas?

Immature tank is one reason and how was Urchin acclimated and for how long ?
Did you equalize salinity with that of tank ?

 

[davidcalgary29]

Most urchins sold for the aquarium market are actually really hardy -- I bought most of my tuxedos online, and they survived a three-day voyage (some in the dead of winter) and being placed in my tanks with minimal acclimation time, and that much to get a temperature match. Pincushion urchins are less tolerant of unfriendly environments, but still tough enough.

I'd guess a contaminant or salinity (either in the bag or the aquarium) that is wildly divergent from the reef aquarium norms.

 

[Thade_hicks]

Immature tank is one reason and how was Urchin acclimated and for how long ?
Did you equalize salinity with that of tank ?

Dropped for three hours, other than that idk

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dropped for three hours, other than that idk

I’m not a fan of drip method but did you verify salinity to that of the tank below releasing it?
Did you use bag water?

 

[Paul B]

I bought most of my tuxedos online, and they survived a three-day voyage

This is how I collect my tuxedo urchins.

 

[Thade_hicks]

I’m not a fan of drip method but did you verify salinity to that of the tank below releasing it?
Did you use bag water?

What do you suggest instead of dripping the for inverts? And I don't know, like I said it's my buddy's tank not mine.

 

[davidcalgary29]

What do you suggest instead of dripping the for inverts? And I don't know, like I said it's my buddy's tank not mine.

There's no evidence that urchins or sea stars can be a vector for ich infestations, so I rinse with clean seawater (matched to my tanks' salinity), do a fairly brief temperature match, and then place in the tank. There's no data on whether or not these inverts can transmit other pathogens, but there's not much point in worrying endlessly about the unknown; I just try to take sensible precautions.

I've actually never lost any invert by not adhering to the drip-acclimation method. I don't know of any source that keeps their inverts at 1.020 SG, so I haven't found osmotic shock to be an issue at all, really. I do try to quarantine any invert that's not a sea star or urchin, but undertstand that this is just not feasible for most people.

 

[Cell]

Was this ordered online and shipped overnight?

 

[Thade_hicks]

Was this ordered online and shipped overnight?

No, got it at a petstore, had been there a few days

 

[vetteguy53081]

What do you suggest instead of dripping the for inverts? And I don't know, like I said it's my buddy's tank not mine.

Place specimen in clean container and add a 8 oz cup of tank water every 15 minutes six times and test ph and salinity until it matches display tank