Y’all...I knew saltwater would be a hard but this is just painful. Over the last two months I’ve lost quite a few inverts. I’ll admit, some of it was entirely my fault; a solid 1/3 of the losses are solely ‘learning pains.’ However, some of my inverts have kicked it in less than 12 hours of being in my tank. I have no flipping clue why either. I regularly test my water and it’s perfect; Ph 8.2, ammonia 0.0ppm, Nitrate 0-5ppm, Nitrite 0.0ppm, Salt 1.024. I’ll be getting the reef testing kit today for more answers. But, my gut is telling me that my calcium and phosphate are fine. I don’t have excessive algae build up and I use high quality products.
At this point, I’m out about $400 worth of saltwater livestock and I’m desperate for advice. About 80% of the losses are critters like anemones, various snails, a sea cucumber, and a starfish. When it comes to things with an exoskeleton, I fair MUCH better. I keep mainly shrimps and hermits who all seem to be doing well. In total, I’ve lost three of those guys. Two emerald crabs and one electric blue hermit. One emerald crab is totally on me - I added too much ph buffer too fast and I’m pretty sure it shocked him. The other emerald, however, was doomed before I took him home. I didn’t have him more than two days before he died. As for the electric blue hermit, I think he may have simply been old. He had been at the store for quite some time. He was adult size when I got him and he appeared totally fine. He was shedding, moved shells, was really active...then *bam* went to sleep and never woke up again.
Does anyone have any idea what could be going on? I use instant ocean sea salt and I make sure to keep the salt levels consistent each water change. Could it be something as stupid as not mixing the salt throughly enough? Is there something else I should be testing for?
Being honest, the financial loss isn’t what really bothers me. (Don’t get me wrong, $400 is a week’s worth of pay for me and it sucks) Loosing my pets is what really breaks my heart. I end up trying to save my buddies in the best/safest way I know how, yet, they still die. Is there even a way to save gelatinous inverts? I’m all ears. Inverts are what made me fall in love with saltwater, and, they continue to be my favorite part of the hobby. I’m tired of letting myself and them down.
It’s also worth noting that I had been spotfeeding with Kent micro vert. Today, I started to spotfeed using a homemade mixture I designed. It’s a combination of zoo plankton, photo plankton, micro vert, calcium, and iodine. Is this recipe balanced enough to keep all my inverts happy and fed?
Thanks in advance,
Alison
At this point, I’m out about $400 worth of saltwater livestock and I’m desperate for advice. About 80% of the losses are critters like anemones, various snails, a sea cucumber, and a starfish. When it comes to things with an exoskeleton, I fair MUCH better. I keep mainly shrimps and hermits who all seem to be doing well. In total, I’ve lost three of those guys. Two emerald crabs and one electric blue hermit. One emerald crab is totally on me - I added too much ph buffer too fast and I’m pretty sure it shocked him. The other emerald, however, was doomed before I took him home. I didn’t have him more than two days before he died. As for the electric blue hermit, I think he may have simply been old. He had been at the store for quite some time. He was adult size when I got him and he appeared totally fine. He was shedding, moved shells, was really active...then *bam* went to sleep and never woke up again.
Does anyone have any idea what could be going on? I use instant ocean sea salt and I make sure to keep the salt levels consistent each water change. Could it be something as stupid as not mixing the salt throughly enough? Is there something else I should be testing for?
Being honest, the financial loss isn’t what really bothers me. (Don’t get me wrong, $400 is a week’s worth of pay for me and it sucks) Loosing my pets is what really breaks my heart. I end up trying to save my buddies in the best/safest way I know how, yet, they still die. Is there even a way to save gelatinous inverts? I’m all ears. Inverts are what made me fall in love with saltwater, and, they continue to be my favorite part of the hobby. I’m tired of letting myself and them down.
It’s also worth noting that I had been spotfeeding with Kent micro vert. Today, I started to spotfeed using a homemade mixture I designed. It’s a combination of zoo plankton, photo plankton, micro vert, calcium, and iodine. Is this recipe balanced enough to keep all my inverts happy and fed?
Thanks in advance,
Alison