I think my Tuxedo Urchin is getting smaller

[RaymondL]

I hope I"m mistaken, but it seems like my urchin is shrinking - spines are fine and it's active, and I do have rocks with green hair algae, and also brown dirty glass, so I wouldn't think it's starving.

What sort of water conditions should I be looking out for that might cause this?

 

[Formulator]

Sounds like its not getting enough food, even though you may think there is plenty to graze. I’m not aware of any water quality issues that would cause shrinkage. They are very sensitive to salinity swings, but they drop spines in that case. You might try feeding some algae wafers at night to supplement its diet.

 

[RaymondL]

Sounds like its not getting enough food, even though you may think there is plenty to graze. I’m not aware of any water quality issues that would cause shrinkage. They are very sensitive to salinity swings, but they drop spines in that case. You might try feeding some algae wafers at night to supplement its diet.

Thanks - I went out to get some Nori from LFS - bought a clip for it, and tried to use it against the glass, but the nori just sways around from the flow and wavemaker. Should I be getting algae wafers as you suggested or is there a way to make the nori work

 

[Lavey29]

Maybe he's working hard and losing body fat to be a lean mean tank cleaner.