Well, I think inflating and contracting the body is a good way to visualize recharge times and make the structure look more organic.
I think the fact that the shell isn't symmetric is good, as long as the divergence is so subtle that two Spikers next to each other don't look like twins. (The idea of assymetry is to create the impression that every structure has an individual, random pattern. If you can see that this is not the case, it's better to just go symmetrical.)