Black long spine urchin spewing stuff???

[cracker]

Hello , sorry I don't have a clue how to "search "this topic. So today I was installing larger powerheads in the 200. all of a sudden all this white milky stuff started spewing right put of the top of the urchin's body! It lasted about 3 maybe 5 seconds. I freaked out ! The water did blast the urchin and toppled it just a bit . Was it a defensive thing? Did it spawn or something?
Do I need to be worried about fouling the tank? I've never seen anything like it. Pretty cool actually . Thanks for any OP's !

 

[DaveK]

It may have spawned. It may have also been from rotting away inside. Keep an eye on it and on the tank.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Dave, I just did a little research It seems to have spawned from the pics I saw. The urchin is now half way up an overflow appears to be doing it's normal thing I hope! Now it happened so fast I can't really say exactly if it was sperm or eggs.. Very cool to see ! I hope it was tasty for the corals.

 

[PCDS]

When mine is some where high up I often see loads of "droppings" tumbling down - another thing that makes me laugh. I love my tank.

One of my turbo snails did the milky fluid thingy recently. I was surprised by the amount!!!

 

[cracker]

I see a lot of urchin pebbles also. Now I learned they can spawn when agitated. I think the blast from the powerhead knocked him off his perch and he got pissed! I'm thinking "mellow out man it was just a blast of water" ! I didn't find anything about it being coral food .
Today A friend came by, What's Ya doing? I'm checking out the spawning habits of long spine sea urchins. He gave me that "You need a life " look ! LOL

 

[Oxylebius]

Today A friend came by, What's Ya doing? I'm checking out the spawning habits of long spine sea urchins. He gave me that "You need a life " look ! LOL

Awesome!

 

[Oxylebius]

Sounds like it spawned and was unhappy about the new flow. It will get over it. I used to force urchins to spawn in the lab. Pretty simple to get them going.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Oxy, I read where a change in salinity or such would force a spawn event it was ,pretty interesting. The beast is back to it's normal routine.

 

[cracker]

Oxy You stated You forced urchin spawns in the lab. May I ask how You ended up in a lab spawning urchins ? What other interesting or maybe not so interesting things did You do?

 

[Squatch XXL]

Oxy You stated You forced urchin spawns in the lab. May I ask how You ended up in a lab spawning urchins ? What other interesting or maybe not so interesting things did You do?

Please Tell me it involves Teddy Pendergrass songs in the background.....

 

[Oxylebius]

Oxy You stated You forced urchin spawns in the lab. May I ask how You ended up in a lab spawning urchins ? What other interesting or maybe not so interesting things did You do?

The purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) has been used in biology labs in order to study early development and fertilization. It is a perfect organism for the study, as they can be easily induced to spawn in a number of ways, in the lab we injected them with potassium chloride. Don't try this at home , let your urchins be happy w/o being pricked. Because they are easily studied, urchin eggs and sperm provide valuable information on fertilization and development that applies to many organisms, from jelly fish to humans.

Please Tell me it involves Teddy Pendergrass songs in the background.....

Ha! How about a little James Brown mixed in as well...when I read this post James Brown "I got you, I feel good" was playing here

 

[cracker]

Hey that was a serious question. Leave Oxy alone! LOL I could however get a kick out of some back ground music .