Daisy82 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Well, I lost a conch two days ago, and just noticed a large turbo snail dead on the sand with 5 crabs (red leg and blue leg and one unidentified) going at him like they're at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I'm worried that there's something wrong with my tank. Or have my crabs developed a taste for escargot? Details: 65 gal set up for two months, used water and some live sand from an established tank. Have 15 gal sump with skimmer and carbon to filter. I use RO water to top off. Tested two days ago after the conch died - nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia were normal. PH was just a little bit low, so I put some PH up in the sump. Salinity is at 1.025. Temp is at 80F. A couple of times my sump has gotten too low, which made the pump spew air into the tank for a few hours. There are quite a few baby snails in the tank, and there is algae growing on some of the glass that they feed on. I have been wondering if I'm not feeding enough (could the snails be starving?) - lately my Yellow Watchman Goby has been alot bolder with trying to get the food, and my serpent star has been emerging for a little while while the lights are on (unusual). I have a tang, the goby, two shrimp and the starfish - I feed a cube of frozen shrimp or some flakes every evening. Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you guys think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Try feeding 2-3 times a day. More than likely you hermits are eating the snails because of a lack of food. On a reef fish eat all day long not like in our tanks once or twice a day, at a set time. You might start adding some pellets in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Daniel Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Snails, in my experience, are very sensitive to pH swings. How big have your pH swings been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Not big swings at all - just a couple of clicks too low one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 For feeding a bare CuC i recently got what I think is some great advice. Use "Chromis Equivalents." Do a visual search of your CuC and put the biomass at how many Chromis that would equal. Double it for the critters in the sand and hiding in rock that you don't see and feed appropriately. Also, check to see if you have any copper trace in your tank perhaps? Have you tried a large (50%+) water change to make sure you don't have any bad trace elements ect. You may want to check on your iodine levels. If you dose it may be too high or if you don't dose they may not be getting enough to grow out thier shells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overkill Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 starving snails are easy to catch said the (clibanarius tricolor)and even more tasty when your hungry!!!!!! watch eats at bottom serpent star eats off bottom crabs eat of bottom when there not chowing down on escargot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 For feeding a bare CuC i recently got what I think is some great advice. Use "Chromis Equivalents." Do a visual search of your CuC and put the biomass at how many Chromis that would equal. Double it for the critters in the sand and hiding in rock that you don't see and feed appropriately. Also, check to see if you have any copper trace in your tank perhaps? Have you tried a large (50%+) water change to make sure you don't have any bad trace elements ect. You may want to check on your iodine levels. If you dose it may be too high or if you don't dose they may not be getting enough to grow out thier shells. Ok, I will check that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Yeah I was going to ask if you had been treating the tank with any new chemicals or medications. A lot of medications contain copper and copper will certainly destroy some inverts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Just the stuff to raise PH.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 I just found a small piece of metal (hose connector) that had popped off and was rusting in the sump - could this be the cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Absolutely. Take it out and run carbon for a while. Along with some water changes it should filter the metals out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 A small bit of rust wouldnt be enough to cause a problem. Ferric oxide is what they use in phosphate removers such as phosban so I would think a little bit of rust would be ok unless it was copper in that case all your inverts would be dead. I wouldnt recommend leaving chunks of metal in your tank but I dont think it will do any harm. Most pumps have screws that are exposed to saltwater and will rust and I havent seen any ill effects as Ive also found a rusty screw in my tank with thriving coral. Now ive seen hermits flip snails and eat them which is why I dont carry too many of them in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Any luck with troubleshooting this down? Your snails stop dieing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 if the hermits are starving maybe the snails are too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 No more dead snails - I ran some fresh carbon just in case. I can't imagine the snails going hungry - there's plenty of algae on the tank walls. Is that enough for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I usually suppliment with nori. They come graze on that then go back to grazing on rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 I will try that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overkill Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 you can easily under estimate the feeding requrments of the hemit crab there like little gangsters they run in packs and will actively hunt inverts and the occasional wrasse with a true pack mentallity. under fed they will eventually turn on themselves 5 hermitts in 65 gal tank seems a little much. I have only one in my 180 gal i prefer to use black brittle stars and serpent strars they clean up better and are more invert friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 +1 for the stars I had 3 brittle stars and 1 harlequin serpent star and they took care of any left overs the fish didnt eat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 Wow - good to know. I always felt like I might be overfeeding, but it sounds like that may not be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Daniel Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 My snails are happy, but just to be clear for others who may encounter similar problems-- what do you suspect to have been the cause of the snail deaths? Do you think it was the rusty metal hose connector? Or do you attribute their deaths more as a result of underfeeding? I'm willing to bet it was the metal, but you know the situation better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 I started feeding sinking pellets a couple of days ago, and my crabs mobbed them as soon as they hit the sand - they looked very hungry. I'm betting they ate the snail and conch alive (what a way to go ) because they weren't getting enough grub. There have been no more snail deaths - in fact, more babies have popped up ....... and the circle of life continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 hermits will flip snails and eat them live or even if the snail falls over and cant get back up. Try rubber banding some nori to a small rock it should last a little longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Good idea - I will try that too. Thanks so much, all, for the helpful suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 The pellets should take care of your problem. 5 hermits should not be any problem in a 65g, I keep 15-20 in my 45g with 25-30 different snails. I will be at least doubling this for the 120g that I am building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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