Saving a sea urchin

[Skifflexie]

Hey guys, it's been a week since I saved a sea urchin from a repro class I'm in; we were suppose to dissect him alive and I refused. I took him home where he stayed in his little shipment bag with a bubbler. I set up a 10g saltwater tank the next day.
I bought 7 lbs live rock
10 lbs live sand
10 gallons of salt water from a LFS from their tanks.
A small power head
A small heater.
And then added his bubbler

The first day he climbed on the rock, but then stayed there for almost 24 hrs and lost spines and his spines he had intact were droopy.

I for sure thought he was gonna die from all the stress.

Well the last few days he's been moving all over, his spins are straight and bright, he hasn't been loosing any more. And his tentacles are waving around like crazy.

I'm unsure about what species he his for sure, I'm guessing he's a green urchin. But if anyone could help identify him, that'd be great.
From what I've read, he's a cooler water urchin (his tank is currently 71 degrees F) and that he eats algae.
I've been leaving the lights on most of the day to help grow algae, and I have been putting little slices of dried seaweed food in there, but I haven't seen him touch it. The live rock does have some purple growth, and some other things growing on it.


His first day in the tank


Yesterday, looking much better


The water test from yesterday, the color of the viles look slightly different in person compared to the photo.
The salinity is 33
Specific gravity is 1.024

Just looking for some suggestions. I wish I would have had more time to let the tank cycle and set up, but I was in a bind, he had been in that bag for at least 3 days.

I know that maintaining 10g saltwater tank is hard, I plane on getting a much larger tank, I just have to buy things here and there and save up.


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[Sniperhank]

His color looks rough, but with stable parameters can recover.
Urchin are slow eaters and can stay in one place for awhile eating. Can be more likely to move at night as well.


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[Skifflexie]

This is what he looked like when I got him home.

We had about 15 urchins in lab, they all varied in color, some green, some white, some were purple/red and then some were mixtures of white and green.

Do you think there is a natural variation in color, or that he's this color due to stress?
I just thought they came in different varieties and colors as some fish do.


lol I've noticed that he does most of his moving at night.

It's kind of ridiculous but I've fallen in love with this little guy, his name his pokey. I'm really hoping he l survives.


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[Sniperhank]

He could be just fine, as long as things are kept stable and pristine.

 

[54seaweed]

71* is just a little to cool for a urchin 78* range he will be more active

 

[Sniperhank]

And it looks to be a pin cushion urchin.
Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Aquariums: Pincushion Urchin

 

[Autumnsky]

You might try and get him some (Feather and Grape) Calerpa. Here is mine - taking a handful for a ride around the tank in his crazy hairdo. I am not sure if yours will do the same. It carried it around and then it must have eaten it, because after a few days, one night it was there decorating him, it was gone the next morning!

I plan on buying him some more, or maybe finding someone with too much and maybe keeping a bunch for him, giving it out a little each week.

Good Urchin keeping to you, I love mine too!

 

[Skifflexie]

I asked the professor if he knew what species he had ordered... He replied "there are multiple species???" I couldn't believe it... Like wow.
The main reason I think he's a green urchin is because I googled about the embryology experiment we had done, and tried to find a company that sells them to schools. I found a website with the exact same type of experiment (injecting potassium chloride to depolarize and cause egg or sperm release) and then multiple techniques for causing polyspermy or hybrids, or normals blastocysts.

So I'm thinking that may be the same company, or maybe it's just a cheap type of urchin that multiple companies use.





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[Skifflexie]

You might try and get him some (Feather and Grape) Calerpa. Here is mine - taking a handful for a ride around the tank in his crazy hairdo. I am not sure if yours will do the same. It carried it around and then it must have eaten it, because after a few days, one night it was there decorating him, it was gone the next morning!

I plan on buying him some more, or maybe finding someone with too much and maybe keeping a bunch for him, giving it out a little each week.

Good Urchin keeping to you, I love mine too!

Aw, yours is adorable. I will try to find some of that plant. We don't have and salt water carries here in my city, it's about an hour drive, and he didn't have anything like that a week ago when I bought the rock and water. Can I order it online?


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[Skifflexie]

http://raven.zoology.washington.edu/celldynamics/downloads/methods/urchinlab.html

I'm pretty sure I know what he is, you were correct with the pincushion urchin guess. I looked up Carolina lab corp, they sell an urchin kit with 14-15 urchins which is what we had and they send 1 of 2 types of species of urchin, and the 2nd type is deff. not him. The first type looks like him, and they come in a variation of color, purple, green, white, etc, which I saw purple ones in lab as well.

http://www.carolina.com/marine-and-saltwater-animals/sea-urchin-embryology-live-set/162500.pr

Lytechinus variegatus is his species name. I will try and slowly up his temps, see how he responds. He may of not liked it the first time I tried since he had been in a bad for at least 3 days with no heat.


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[Autumnsky]

Sea Urchin Embryology Lab

I'm pretty sure I know what he is, you were correct with the pincushion urchin guess. I looked up Carolina lab corp, they sell an urchin kit with 14-15 urchins which is what we had and they send 1 of 2 types of species of urchin, and the 2nd type is deff. not him. The first type looks like him, and they come in a variation of color, purple, green, white, etc, which I saw purple ones in lab as well.

Sea Urchin Embryology Live Set | Carolina.com

Lytechinus variegatus is his species name. I will try and slowly up his temps, see how he responds. He may of not liked it the first time I tried since he had been in a bad for at least 3 days with no heat.


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Slowly up the temp my temp maybe a degree a day. Mine in appx. 78-79F.

That is the part of the biology/science I don't like.

 

[alyxandria]

Good for you to refuse! Takes a strong person to do that. You did an awesome thing.

 

[Skifflexie]

Good for you to refuse! Takes a strong person to do that. You did an awesome thing.

Thanks. I can understand some things for dissection, but sea urchins literally have like 3 structures inside of them. I know that they are invertebrates, but I still don't think it's right to just start cutting them apart while they are alive.

Lol I'm prolly one of the only animal science pre vet students that is vegan (most of my course work is about farming and factory farming animals). I didn't become a vegan for ethical reasons, but more for health reasons, but the longer I've been vegan, the more I realize that in a way, I am an ethical vegan.
(No worries though, I'm not here to persuade anyone or pass judgement)


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[Fresh2o]

I'm hoping Pokey lives a long and uneventful life. Good for you for rescuing it.


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[Skifflexie]

He's climbing the glass lol, I didn't know he could do that.


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[Autumnsky]

What are you feeding it? I just got some more Fern Calerpa to feed mine and boy did that ever get his attention! I am keeping it separate now since it ate it all the last time. Local coral person said just give it a little at a time/potion it out. Try algae food too. I haven't tried an algae wafer yet, I am worrying it would get too soft waiting for the Urchin to come get it.

 

[Fresh2o]

He's climbing the glass lol, I didn't know he could do that. View attachment 267229


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Climbing things like Spider-Man! Except slower. Smaller. Rounder with spines. And Aquatic.
Okay, not like spider-man. Might be hungry and on the move. Maybe check the same place the urchins came from for the caleurpa.


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[Skifflexie]

What are you feeding it? I just got some more Fern Calerpa to feed mine and boy did that ever get his attention! I am keeping it separate now since it ate it all the last time. Local coral person said just give it a little at a time/potion it out. Try algae food too. I haven't tried an algae wafer yet, I am worrying it would get too soft waiting for the Urchin to come get it.

Since I've been leaving the lights on, algae has started to grow, and I've been putting little pieces of dried seaweed in there, which I never see him touch


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[Skifflexie]

Got pokey some new friends:
Seymour the turbo snail
Maniaclese the emerald crab
Two unnamed zebra hermits
Zombie the nissian snail

And some new rock and some calerpa

Also we bought a used 75g and are in the process of cycling.


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[Sniperhank]

Watch that caulerpa. That stuff easily takes over a tank.