dead nassarius, too brittle star?

[dickhordishay]

So I added a cleaner crew the other day. It included the following: Scarlet Hermit Crab: 10
Blueleg Hermit Crab: 10
Nasssarius Snail: 10
Brittle Starfish: 2
Coral Banded Shrimp: 1
Emerald Crab: 3
Turbo/Astrea Snail: 20
Cleaner Clam - Half Price!: 2


One emerald crab died during shipment. I can't find the other two now - maybe they're still alive. A couple of scarlets died already, and several nassarius snails have dropped off my rock and aren't moving ( I assume they're dead, but I'm not sure).

Oh yeah, I just saw that one of the brittle stars lost the very tip off one of his legs (tentacles?). Is this normal?

Why am I losing nassarius snails?

My water parameters today are: temp: 77.6 SG:1024 amm:0 nitrite:0 nitrate:5-10

 

[graveyardworm]

Where did the cleaner crew come from, how long were they in transit, and how did you acclimate them?

It is pretty normel for a brittlestar to lose a leg or portion thereof during handling. That why they call them brittle. Not sure how yours lost his it could also have to do with inadequate acclimation.

 

[dickhordishay]

from saltwater.com to connecticut.
i used their acclimation procedures (drip method).
the brittle was in my tank for a couple of days and now there's the tip of one leg and a good portion of another.

 

[dickhordishay]

Oh yeah, good thing is I saw the emerald out today!
Bad thing is almost all nassarius are now dead

 

[graveyardworm]

If everything was acclimated properly then I would guess that the problem is due to some sort of shipping stress. Is the brittle eating? If so then it will likely be okay.

 

[danch]

Re: dead nassarius, too brittle star?

... several nassarius snails have dropped off my rock and aren't moving ( I assume they're dead, but I'm not sure). [/B]

That's strange, in that nassarius prefer to live in a fine sand substrate. Had they ever gone underground for you?

 

[dickhordishay]

Okay, I was mistaken.
The nassarius are doing fine, though I see a bunch of them on my glass and not in my sand.
It's the astreas that seem to dying.