I'm sad :(

[sfboarders]

Last week my 100 gallon FOWLR tank finished cycling and I did a 60% water change. My parameters are the following:

Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitirite 0 ppm
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
pH 8.4 ppm (was at 7.8 on Monday but I let some air in the house and the lids off and it went back up)
Salinity 1.024
Temp 78 deg

I don't have any of the "reef" test kits but it's on the way.

Last night I went to the LFS and picked up a cuc that consisted of the following:

(2) peppermint shrimp
(5) nassarius snails
(5) trochus snails
(5) turbos

I put all the cuc in the same bucket and dripped acclimated them for 1 hour and then put them in my tank. The snails moved for a bit and hid in their shell. The shrimp floated around a bit and 1 clinged to a rock and the other made it to the sand. They were chilling for about 15 minutes and the bigger shrimp on the sand went on his back. After a couple minutes the shrimp on the rock floated and ended up on his back next to the other shrimp and they both died.

I was so sad at this point. My 2 yr old son was so happy to see them in the bucket before his sleep time and end up not seeing them in the morning. :sad2: The small snails appears to be alive still cause I can see their antennae coming up as they are buried in the sand. Some medium snails appear to be alive as well but not sure about the turbos. They're just sitting still.

So I guess I did not acclimate them correctly? I'm thinking that since I put them all together in the bucket and most of the bucket had LFS water that my drip was not enough to dilute it with my tank? My drip was running at 2 drips per second. Should I have done the float and add water method? Are my numbers off? I'm just afraid to add any more life to my tank because the shrimp didn't last that long.

 

[Koshmar]

Where did you get the tank? Was it ever treated with copper? What about aerosol sprays near the tank?

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I had some shrimp to do the same thing,my salinity was at 1.042.My hydrometer was showing 1.024. I have since invested in a refractometer. hth

 

[reeferoo]

Also, you can check a hydrometer against a refractometer/good salinity tank
At my LFS, I brought my crappy hydrometer in, he tested his water with his refractometer, I tested with my hydrometer, and it always reads 3 points low, so now I know to just adjust it. I agree that with that fast of a change, salinity or contamination are my first thoughts

 

[sfboarders]

I bought the tank used from cl. Not sure about if it ever had any copper in it and no aerosol spray sprayed near it.

I have a brand new refractometer from Marine Depot. I mix my saltwater in a 65 gallon barrel. When I mixed the RO/DI and oceanic salt mix the salinity was at 1.022 and now it's at 1.024 (does the sand make the salinity go up a lil?). I don't know what the salinity of the LFS was.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

When I bought my refractormeter I took to my lfs to check,calibrate with their water to make sure.Mine was not calibrated from the factory.Just another thought.

 

[sfboarders]

When I bought my refractormeter I took to my lfs to check,calibrate with their water to make sure.Mine was not calibrated from the factory.Just another thought.

I ordered some salinity calibration fluid from MD. Do you think my snails are ok? Or are they on there way to departure?

 

[Elysia]

Sometimes shrimp can be difficult. It seems as though once you successfully acclimate them, they are usually with you for the long haul (unless someone eats them or there is a molting problem.) But sometimes the acclimation is just not adequate. And it could be that they were already stressed from not being properly acclimated when relocated from the wholeseller to the LFS. A retail store is less likely to acclimate animals that have a low resale value, and in the States that includes hermits, snails, and peppermint shrimp. Generally, hermits can take it, but its not great for any of them.

 

[sfboarders]

Well I got some salinity calibration fluid and my refractometer was wayyyy offf. The salinity checks for 1.026 and it came out to 1.050. I checked my water and it was around 1.010. That's probably why my shrimp and most of my snails died with the exception of the nassirius snails. They seem to have buried themselves under the sand. One of them was adventurous and went up and down my tank twice.

So my question....

What do I do to bring the salinity up? Add some salt mix (oceanic) to the tank or do a full water change? I'm sure if I add salt to the tank the shrimp will get shocked and probably die correct?

 

[coastie81]

DO NOT ADD SALT DIRECTLY TO THE TANK. mix up new salt in your container with RO/DI water to a salt level of 1.026. let mix for atleast 24hours with a power head and heater in container. Then slowly over a couple of days top almost a week, when you do water top offs use the pre-mixed salt water instead of fresh ro/di water to SLOWLY bring the salt level back up. Poor water into either sump or wet/dry filter or whatever you have. At the last resort pour it directly into the tank after it is mixed and about the same temp as your D/T. just my .02

 

[sfboarders]

DO NOT ADD SALT DIRECTLY TO THE TANK. mix up new salt in your container with RO/DI water to a salt level of 1.026. let mix for atleast 24hours with a power head and heater in container. Then slowly over a couple of days top almost a week, when you do water top offs use the pre-mixed salt water instead of fresh ro/di water to SLOWLY bring the salt level back up. Poor water into either sump or wet/dry filter or whatever you have. At the last resort pour it directly into the tank after it is mixed and about the same temp as your D/T. just my .02

Yea, I was just thinking about just adding salt to the top of RODI water. I'll do it tomorrow when the light is out so I can properly check the salinity in the daylight.

 

[coastie81]

make sure the water mixs for atleast 24 hours before going into any part of your tank.