Help!!! Milky white stuff squirting out of the pencil urchin

[fishfanatic2]

I just did a water change on my tank, and my pencil urchin began spewing out 5 strands of opaque white stuff. It looks like thick, white spider silk and dissolves into milky stuff in the water, making it cloudy. What is this stuff and is there any reason for alarm? There hasn't been any aggresion toward the urchin by any of the tankmates. Thanks in advance.

 

[pathos]

don't worry about it. this is a good sign as the urchin is spawning

pathos

 

[fishfanatic2]

He has currently stopped, and I think most of it might have been sucked up by the filter. Is it possible that he will spawn again? He is the only urchin in the tank, and I would love to give raising urchins a shot .

 

[Anonymous]

I believe he is probably a "she". Eggs look like what you described. Sperm looks more like a milky cloud. The water change almost certainly caused the spawning. Interestingly enough, if you inject an urchin with potassium chloride they will instantly spawn. Better yet, any urchin in the tank they are placed in will also spawn. Raising urchins is probably nearly impossible (I'm guessing here), but they provide great food for your corals.