Snails and starfish keep dying

coreygrrt

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Hello all,

I keep attempting to have a tank clean up crew get established but the snails and starfish keep dying, IMMEDIATELY!

The tank is a 50 gallon going on 2 months old, nitrogen cycle completed. Was running a cannister filter, switched to a sump last week with protein skimmer and ample mechanical filtration, GFO, and carbon.

Parameters:
Salinity 1.024
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Phosphate .06

I have (thriving) a scooter blenny, blue cheek goby, two clowns, engineer goby, sailfin tang, 10 hermit crabs, and an emerald crab.

So far I had one trip to the store for a starfish and a nassarius in which they never moved at all upon entry to the tank and died.
A second trip I placed a nassarius and it spewed white cream upon entry, never moved, then died.
A third trip I got a fighting conch, it was active in the bag, upon entry to the tank hid in its shell, the next morning I could see its eyes peeking out and it left its hook out, by the 3rd day its hook fell off and I blew a little water with a turkey baster into the shell only to see white cream come flying out, he died.
A fourth trip got two nassarius, one very active upon entry into the tank, the other sluggish but they both eventually started scooting around. I found the slower one belly up the next day, the other I think died but can't tell him apart from the rest of the shells in the tank.
And finally yesterday I got two sand sifting stars that were active in the bag and completely still upon entry to the tank. In the same spot today as I put them in yesterday. I think they're dead and plan on pulling them out tonight if they still are in the same spot.

I did a 30 min temp float acclimation each time followed by a slow drip while sitting in a bucket on the couch (so as to not let temp fluctuate) until double the volume was achieved.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I can't find a solution and a really want a clean crew to get under the sand, not just the surface.

TIA!
 

Crashjack

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Some inverts are sensitive to nitrate but probably not @ 20 ppm (if I remember correctly it would need to be at least 50-60 ppm to cause problems). I would recheck nitrate just in case. Salinity is another possibility if you were actually lower than 1.024 sg. Personally, I would keep salinity at 1.025-1.026 with inverts (including corals). Though 1.024 isn't that low, you don't have a lot of room for error.
 

CanuckReefer

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Hello all,

I keep attempting to have a tank clean up crew get established but the snails and starfish keep dying, IMMEDIATELY!

The tank is a 50 gallon going on 2 months old, nitrogen cycle completed. Was running a cannister filter, switched to a sump last week with protein skimmer and ample mechanical filtration, GFO, and carbon.

Parameters:
Salinity 1.024
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Phosphate .06

I have (thriving) a scooter blenny, blue cheek goby, two clowns, engineer goby, sailfin tang, 10 hermit crabs, and an emerald crab.

So far I had one trip to the store for a starfish and a nassarius in which they never moved at all upon entry to the tank and died.
A second trip I placed a nassarius and it spewed white cream upon entry, never moved, then died.
A third trip I got a fighting conch, it was active in the bag, upon entry to the tank hid in its shell, the next morning I could see its eyes peeking out and it left its hook out, by the 3rd day its hook fell off and I blew a little water with a turkey baster into the shell only to see white cream come flying out, he died.
A fourth trip got two nassarius, one very active upon entry into the tank, the other sluggish but they both eventually started scooting around. I found the slower one belly up the next day, the other I think died but can't tell him apart from the rest of the shells in the tank.
And finally yesterday I got two sand sifting stars that were active in the bag and completely still upon entry to the tank. In the same spot today as I put them in yesterday. I think they're dead and plan on pulling them out tonight if they still are in the same spot.

I did a 30 min temp float acclimation each time followed by a slow drip while sitting in a bucket on the couch (so as to not let temp fluctuate) until double the volume was achieved.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I can't find a solution and a really want a clean crew to get under the sand, not just the surface.

TIA!
Snails are often tricky in my experience over the years, I always lose at least one even on an extended slow drip. I'm curious as to what the salinity was for all these at the LFS. As for the sand sift stars, keep an eye. I've had them dormant for days, then all of a sudden they perk up and start moving. Two sand sifters in a 50 and you may find one of em starved out before too long btw. One would do the job for you effectively imo.
 
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coreygrrt

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Thanks for the reply guys! I'm not seeing limbs falling off yet on my stars and one has ended up on different parts of the tank about 8 inches away. Not sure if it's alive and did it on its own or if the periodic ac motors turning on or hermits moved it. I'll keep you guys updated!
 

CanuckReefer

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Thanks for the reply guys! I'm not seeing limbs falling off yet on my stars and one has ended up on different parts of the tank about 8 inches away. Not sure if it's alive and did it on its own or if the periodic ac motors turning on or hermits moved it. I'll keep you guys updated!
Good news. My bet says your 5 legged friend(s) is adjusting.
 

jaganshi066

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Some inverts are sensitive to nitrate but probably not @ 20 ppm (if I remember correctly it would need to be at least 50-60 ppm to cause problems). I would recheck nitrate just in case. Salinity is another possibility if you were actually lower than 1.024 sg. Personally, I would keep salinity at 1.025-1.026 with inverts (including corals). Though 1.024 isn't that low, you don't have a lot of room for error.
Mine fluctuates from 1.023-1.025 and all my inverts are well so I don’t think 1.024 makes a difference at all.
 

Crashjack

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Mine fluctuates from 1.023-1.025 and all my inverts are well so I don’t think 1.024 makes a difference at all.
I agree, but keeping a lower salinity reduces the margin of error so if someone is reading high or allows salinity to fall, there could be a problem. That said, I don't know why someone would want to keep lower salinity in a reef tank but to each his own.
 
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