Lost my beautiful tuxedo urchin

[Johnny M]

Bought him at a well known sw lfs here in central NJ about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Acclimated him to DT for 2hrs and started eating turf algae right away . Was doing well for about 3wks , even had ‘camouflage’ on his back. Several days ago I noticed he wasn’t moving around like he usually does lost the camo on his back & started losing his spines. He died next day. Tank is fully cycled - 5 months- all parameters within normal limits. However the only problem I was having was with pH. It was hovering around 7.3 - 7.8 ( pinpoint monitor with calibrated probe) . I went back to where I bought him looking to buy another one but the salesperson said I need to get my pH up to ~8.1 . He thinks maybe that’s what eventually killed him was a low pH. I then bought a CO2 scrubber ( BRS) and hooked it up to my hob AquaMaxx 1.5 skimmer on tank ( have a rear sump). After 2 days of use pH during day is ~8.15. & at night ~8.05. Think that pH is good enough for trying another T. urchin? I also have a rainford’s goby & several Trochus & Cerith & astrea snails along with 2 red fire shrimp and they all seem to be doing well. *I use Tropic Marin classic salt & keep sg @ 1.025.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Most likely starved. Not a ph issue.

Look at how much corraline you have. They eat that. Look at the color of your rock. It’s a layer of algaes and bacteria. They eat that too.

 

[Hitman]

I think your ph is fine now. Did you have plenty of algae for him/her to eat? Keep a eye on their spines as losing spines is a indication of poor water and or starvation. I feed mine a chunk of Nori every few days. Heck if he is hungry and out of turf algae or other food he will hang out on the front glass during the day where I clip the Nori which tells me he needs a boost. After a while they will learn where you feed them and return to that spot asking for a meal.

 

[Johnny M]

Most likely starved. Not a ph issue.

Look at how much corraline you have. They eat that. Look at the color of your rock. It’s a layer of algaes and bacteria. They eat that too.

I have very little corraline algae. But have lots of turf and some gha on rocks. also there was a lot of turf algae left in some of caves & overhangs i created and was actually placing him on the TA bc sometimes he was missing it, so I'm not sure if he was starving. With that said maybe I should of placed some algae sheets on his back? Also should I wait until there is lots of visible and more coraline algae b4 I buy another one.
*I bought a bottle of Helix Coraline purple algae that I added approx 2 months ago but haven't seen much growing yet. Also should I extend lighting schedule - Kessil AP700 - 1.5hr ramp up then ('ocean 3'- ~16K on color wheel) on app for 6hrs. @ 34%, then ramp down 1.5hrs to 0%, in order to speed up coraline and other algae growth??

 

[Johnny M]

I think your ph is fine now. Did you have plenty of algae for him/her to eat? Keep a eye on their spines as losing spines is a indication of poor water and or starvation. I feed mine a chunk of Nori every few days. Heck if he is hungry and out of turf algae or other food he will hang out on the front glass during the day where I clip the Nori which tells me he needs a boost. After a while they will learn where you feed them and return to that spot asking for a meal.

As mentioned b4 water parameters Looked good : SG= 1.025 ; 0 = ammonia & nitrite, 2ppm of Nitrate; Phosphate = 0.007ppm ( Hanna checker ULR), pH b4 scrubber = ~7.83 ; Ca = 395 ; Mg = ~1300 ; Alk = 8.7dKH ;temp = 76.5

 

[Johnny M]

I have very little corraline algae. But have lots of turf and some gha on rocks. also there was a lot of turf algae left in some of caves & overhangs i created and was actually placing him on the TA bc sometimes he was missing it, so I'm not sure if he was starving. With that said maybe I should of placed some algae sheets on his back? Also should I wait until there is lots of visible and more coraline algae b4 I buy another one.

*I bought a bottle of Helix Coraline purple algae that I added approx 2 months ago but haven't seen much growing yet. Also should I extend lighting schedule - Kessil AP700 - 1.5hr ramp up then ('ocean 3'- ~16K on color wheel) on app for 6hrs. @ 34%, then ramp down 1.5hrs to 0%, in order to speed up coraline and other algae growth??

*Extended 16K photo period from 6 to 8 hrs. I think this will help with a little more algae growth. apparently the 3 Trochus, 4 Cerith, 3 Astrea are doing a good job eating it as soon as it grows. However they will not touch turf algae. Only the urchin was doing that. I guess I'll wait a few more weeks for more growth b4 I get another one. Oh, also have 3 Nassarius snails that are doing a good job keeping the sandbed stirred up. Also about 5 days ago added 80 oz. of copepods from Copepods.com - a "seed" pack.

 

[Auto-pilot]

I agree with hitman and salty, with the time frame it sounds like he starved, i feed mine seaweed. If hes not on the glass sometimes I just pin it on a rock near him with a heavy feeding tube and he finds it and usually eats it.... it can be kinda hard to get them to eat sometines