Why oh Why???????

[Flsprophet2]

Last night my royal urchin was doing fine, today I found him dead All of his spines had fallen off in one spot. When I scooped him out he was completely hollowed out (probably the crabs got to him after he died)
I know that urchins cannot tolerate high nitrates but he has been with me since the cycling had ended and has been very active up until his sudden death.
I tested my water and everything is normal
ph=8.2
ammonia=0
nitrites=0
nitrates=20
phosporus=0
calcium=460
I can't understand what went wrong. Are they hard to keep? I need some help to what might have caused his untimely death
I really liked him and would like to get another one.

 

[quarryshark]

Hm, how long did you have him? Any of the fish picking at him? Your nitrates aren't high enough to kill him.
Has you PH and temp been stable?
I have 4 that have been with me for a year and a half with no issues. They are not particularly hard to keep, they just don't adjust to changes in water quality too well and must be acclimated veeery slowly.

 

[Flsprophet2]

Hm, how long did you have him? Any of the fish picking at him? Your nitrates aren't high enough to kill him.
Has you PH and temp been stable?
I have 4 that have been with me for a year and a half with no issues. They are not particularly hard to keep, they just don't adjust to changes in water quality too well and must be acclimated veeery slowly.

I have had him for about 6 months he was one the first to go in after my cycling was complete. None of my fish ever picked at him and my temp and ph are stable temp is always at 80.1 and ph at 8.2

 

[quarryshark]

Maybe it was just his time. He may have been older when you got him.
I don't see any other reason why he would perish from what you descibe.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[SquishyFish]

Sorry to hear about you losing it...

My guess would be that it was the Trates. Urchings are very sensitive to Trates and will usually die from prolonged exposure.

 

[Flsprophet2]

My friend brought up the fact that it might have just been his time.
Does anyone know what the life expectancy of urchins are?
I miss him in my tank already. I am going to find a replacement for him sometime this week.