Help with Urchin Acclimation

jk1151 · Feb 3, 2020

Hello- I had done a lot of reading before picking up my first urchin but now have a question. I was planning on drip acclimating for awhile to match salinity and then hoping it would displace enough water from the lfs bag I could put it in without much worry of introducing any pests. But my lfs store just told me to dump him in with that water because they don’t like air! Now I’m worried because I don’t really want to dumb their water in my tank! I’ve worked hard to make sure there are no pests and now I’m not sure best acclimation procedure for this little guy. I have no fish yet, in month 3 of my tank and quarantine everything prior to putting in but read you don’t have to QT urchins so I was going to put him right in tonight. Any help on best way to acclimate and put in to tank would be welcome!

Spare time · Feb 3, 2020

Just drip it but dont take it out of water. It's ok to have them out of water for a second (that is from my experience) but that's not ideal

Lizbeli · Feb 3, 2020

Drip and when the bag starts to get full empty half. Then drip again. Repeat until you believe it has been long enough where the water inside is your tank water. Then you can introduce to tank keeping him submerged.

IKD · Feb 3, 2020

I’ve moved them (quickly) from a drip container to a tank without an issue. You can scoop quickly into a small cup with tank water and then ease him into the display

Keiki · Feb 3, 2020

Turn it upside down when putting them in the tank. Once in the tank turn it upright. That way no air bubbles get trapped.

codycolina707 · Feb 3, 2020

jk1151 said:
Hello- I had done a lot of reading before picking up my first urchin but now have a question. I was planning on drip acclimating for awhile to match salinity and then hoping it would displace enough water from the lfs bag I could put it in without much worry of introducing any pests. But my lfs store just told me to dump him in with that water because they don’t like air! Now I’m worried because I don’t really want to dumb their water in my tank! I’ve worked hard to make sure there are no pests and now I’m not sure best acclimation procedure for this little guy. I have no fish yet, in month 3 of my tank and quarantine everything prior to putting in but read you don’t have to QT urchins so I was going to put him right in tonight. Any help on best way to acclimate and put in to tank would be welcome!

think it should be fine when i put my longspine urchin in i grabbed it by a spine which broke and he went flying into my laundry basket pulled him out and put him in the tank an he was fine

rkpetersen · Feb 4, 2020

I've transferred dozens of sea stars and urchins without water after acclimation, and they all did fine. A second of air exposure isn't really a concern.

Magellan · Feb 4, 2020

rkpetersen said:
I've transferred dozens of sea stars and urchins without water after acclimation, and they all did fine. A second of air exposure isn't really a concern.

+1
Transferred 2 tuxedo urchins this way, no problems. Would be much more concerned about dumping the LFS water into your tank, I would never do that lol

vanpire · Feb 4, 2020

I have seen sea urchins exposed to air during low tide on sand bars in the Philippines. These were short spine sea urchins like Halloween sea urchins. No issues at all with them. They just slowly crawled to water. Same with some the starfish there. I wouldn’t keep them out for hours but a few minutes wouldn’t cause any issues. I have also have sea urchins on the tank wall exposed for 10-15 minutes during a water changes. No problems. BTW, I have 7 urchins between my display and sumps.

fishguy242 · Feb 4, 2020

agree no lfs water near your tank ,no prob air transfer,agree rotate under water so no air is trapped in mouth underside

jk1151 · Feb 7, 2020

Thanks everyone - I got these after the fact unfortunately. He seems to be doing well for sure! I am glad to hear a brief second of air is no big deal because that is what I ended up doing. I just couldn't put that water in to my brand new tank. Appreciate you all.

BuddyBonButt · Jul 5, 2022

codycolina707 said:
think it should be fine when i put my longspine urchin in i grabbed it by a spine which broke and he went flying into my laundry basket pulled him out and put him in the tank an he was fine

I want someone to animate this so I can save the video as my lockscreen background... I know it sucked for the urchin but dang this sounded funny