Urchin death

I just bought an urchin 2 days ago, I acclimatised him right and the water seems perfectly fine, as the other fish, snails and such are doing fine. He was moving around last night, getting closer to some rocks, and this morning his spikes are falling out and he isn't responding to a gentle prod. Just want to know if I should be worried for my other creatures lives and the cause for his death

 

Water seems fine? Did you test your water parameters? New additions are generally less tolerant of bad water than inhabitants that have been in the tank and been able to slowly adjust.
You say you acclimated it right how was that? I generally slowly or drop acclimate inverts since they are more sensitive.

I’ve also noticed inverts are super sensitive to salinity changes and I’m wondering if you tested your level and the level in the bag. Many fish store will run salinity on the low end to save money since they use a lot of salt at each water change.
Also could have just been it’s time. Inverts are definitely more sensitive. Also seems from your last post about the blenny you don’t have algae for this guy either, what environment was it in at the LFS and for how long. Many times critters like this are over looked for feeding a sheet of algae and just left to forage in small breeder boxes where no food for them is to be found.

 

I just bought an urchin 2 days ago, I acclimatised him right and the water seems perfectly fine, as the other fish, snails and such are doing fine. He was moving around last night, getting closer to some rocks, and this morning his spikes are falling out and he isn't responding to a gentle prod. Just want to know if I should be worried for my other creatures lives and the cause for his death

What kind of Urchin was it?

 

It was a pincushion urchin and they did feed the Blenny at the LFS but I just assumes that the starry blenny eats mysis and brine like all the other blennies but nobody told me.

 

It was a pincushion urchin and they did feed the Blenny at the LFS but I just assumes that the starry blenny eats mysis and brine like all the other blennies but nobody told me.

All LFS assume your know the care requirements of the livestock you are purchasing unless you ask.
Most people now have smart phones and I suggest you pull out your phone and do a quick bit of research before you purchase saltwater livestock especially. Some livestock sold in the saltwater aquarium trade is next to if not impossible to care for in the normal home aquarium. Flame scallops and moorish idols are two that come to mind right off the bat.
you don’t want to purchase livestock just to watch it wither away and die. No one does. We’ve all done it. I started saltwater tanks before smart phones were even invented. I wish I had that at my fingertips when I first started. It would have saved me lots of headaches.
This little oversight should be fairly easy to fix. Just get some algae and spurlina flakes and see if it takes them.
best of luck and anymore questions feel free to ask. We’ve all been there.

 

What kind of Urchin was it?

Urchins can be sensitive to nitrate levels so if you have higher nitrates that could be the problem. Do you happen to know what they are?

 

I'm sorry for not asking but people on these forums are really confusing. I've read many other forums saying they supplement their starry blennies with brine but now you're saying they absolutely will not eat that?!?!
I did have a lot of knowledge on the fish in the beginning as I knew I shouldn't get one due to different food requirements. I later saw forums saying they eat brine and mysis once they're purely fed of algae in the tank which there is a lot of and needs cleaning. I mainly wanted him to clean the algae in the tank and on the glass before I fed him more of the good produce algae but now with lockdown I'm stuck not knowing what to do therefore I wrote if they could feed off my algae and also supplement their diet with brine.

 

The nitrate levels are perfectly fine along with everything else that I have tested, which is pretty much the essentials.
I have no clue what happened

 

The nitrate levels are perfectly fine along with everything else that I have tested, which is pretty much the essentials.
I have no clue what happened

Could also be an acclimation issue. Although Urchins are generally pretty hardy. Out of curiosity what was your nitrate reading?

 

Can't tell you the exact reading but it was really low, almost as if there wasn't any yet it was still in the green

 

Can't tell you the exact reading but it was really low, almost as if there wasn't any yet it was still in the green

What nitrate test are you using?

 

pro aqua test jbl

 

pro aqua test jbl

Have you compared it with another nitrate test (ie Red Sea, Salifert)?

 

only have the one

 

only have the one

I would double check just to verify the results.