possible dead purple urchin

[smom1976]

I have a few questions. I recently bought some coral from a website and I think a couple things may be dead.. I bought a purple urchin and it is larger than my fist but the water it came in was murky and it smelled. the spines are not all strait and it hasn't moved. (I did put it in the tank to see if maybe it was alive) The delivery was Thursday and it is now Saturday should I pull it out? I really don't want my tank to crash. We started our first tank in January 36 ga...l bow front. Loved it so much I got a 75 gallon for Valentines day with a sump and everything.. I really enjoy it so much. So I have a little experience with water changes! that is about it. My next question is I bought 2 acans they are very pretty but it looks as though one was cut through it to separate on a frag. It is about 1/4 missing from what I can tell. (being that you really don't know what might be missing but can guess) will that one that is cut make it? I do not have a beef yet with the company because I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone. By end of work Thursday business was over and no one answered the phone on Friday so I have emailed the company hopefully there will be no problem. But for now I want to find out about the urchin. Does anyone have experience?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Hi! Sorry you're having difficulties. The urchin's spines not being straight isn't really a problem, but the smelly murky water is a big indicator that it could have been dead when you got it. I would have done just as you have and put it in a tank to see how it responded since some inverts can recover from "pretty far gone" (though I would have put it in a quarantine tank rather than the display). If it hasn't moved at all since Thursday, then I'd say it's definitely dead.

As for the acans, a picture would help. They would have been cut to frag them, so that's normal...but I'm wondering if I'm missing something from your description. Could you post a pic? If it looks puffy and "happy" then I'm sure it will be fine.

Keep us posted!

 

[Pete polyp]

I agree, if the urchin hasn't moved it's probably a goner. With acan, you would be surprised at how they will recover. I have had many frags that had eyes cut right through the center and eventually recover. I have accidentally broken tiny pieces off, glued them to a plug and 3 months later had a full eye with babies.

 

[smom1976]

I understand about the quarantine tank.. I have one. I got three damsels and did a quarantine tank .. nothing in the tank but good water a filter and a heater.. they all died within a week.. .. not sure what happened.. maybe it was the quarantine tank that killed them.. they were free from someone ..

 

[smom1976]

YUP.... very dead!!!

as for the acan..

 

[Naiad]

Do you have any hermit crabs? They will let you know if something is dead or very close to it. They are like vultures. With a qt tank you have to monitor ammonia daily as it is never fully cycled.