Tuxedo urchin care

Marco333 · Nov 11, 2018

I have had my tuxedo urchin for about a year. One of my favorite inhabitants. Always moving around the tank eating. However, a few weeks ago he stopped moving and just hangs out on the glass not doing much. I’m worried it is slowly dying. It has not lost any spines that I can see but it barely moves at all. I check during the day and night. I’ve tried feeding it nori in case it was not getting enough food but it just ignores it. I really want to keep this guy alive. Any suggestions on what could be bothering it? Do I need to add any trace elements to the tank that it needs? Tank is a 40 breeder that has been up for almost 2 years. All other inhabitants are fine. I do a weekly 10% water change with reef crystals. Thanks for any advice!

EmdeReef · Nov 11, 2018

Hasn’t moved from one spot in a few weeks? Do you have any coralline algae on glass?

What are your nitrates? Very high nitrates may make them lethargic.

Coralreefer1 · Nov 11, 2018

They will tend to illustrate that behavior. If their is food around that particular area and it is happy, it will stay their like a sea anemone. I had a black rock Urchin that I hardly ever saw. He was too busy living life in the back corner of my tank, behind rocks. Thought he was dead...try dosing a different form of dried algae or even algae tablets. Experiment with it...for the most part, I think he’s fine. Missing spines are the first to go...

NB Reefer · Nov 11, 2018

Looks healthy from the photo. Check paramaters to make sure there has not been a spike of something.

Marco333 · Nov 11, 2018

EmdeReef said:
Hasn’t moved from one spot in a few weeks? Do you have any coralline algae on glass?

What are your nitrates? Very high nitrates may make them lethargic.

I used to have coraline on the back glass but he has eaten most of it off. It’s been pretty bare for a couple of months.

I just did a Salifert nitrate test and it’s coming back basically 0. Below is an image from the test I just did. I’m going to do magnesium, calcium, and alk next. I haven’t done them in a while because my tank has been very stable. Probably should keep up on the tests.