Invertebrates haven't moved yet, looking dead?

F

Fmellish

New member
Please help, my inverts haven't moved much since I added them to my tank a few days ago. Some, like my brittle star haven't moved at all and have just kind of shriveled up under a rock.

Params
TDS: 180 PPM, (0 before adding salt)
Temp: 79
SG: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 mg/L
Alk: 120 ppm
pH: 8.4 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Please see pics and advise.

This is one of my 2 turbo snails, he hasn't really moved since I dropped him in a few days ago, and now he has turned up in the air a bit and his foot is turning blackish.
01152006_002.jpg


This is my sand star who has moved around the tank a bit. and went under the sand bed and rose from the sand bed on the other side, which was kind of cool, but today he just sat under this rock only half submerged, and he looks thin and his little feelers aren't moving anymore.
01152006_003.jpg


This is my brittle star who I dropped in this spot, (between 2 rocks), and he never moved. His tentacles aren't moving anymore. Sorry for the cut off pic, I'm out of space on my ISP.
01152006_004.jpg



So why are none of my inverts moving? A few of my margarita snails move a little, but even they have slowed down.

Please advise!

Thanks
Josh
 
Was there anything in the tank before you added your inverts?

If not, is it possible that your critters suffered a lot during transport to your tank?

When the lights are out, use a red light or flashlight to scan the tank. Is anything moving? Is anything eating your inverts?

Your parameters seems within a normal range. Assuming your critters have died, next time, you might just want to add a couple of snails and see what happens. Turbo snails don't do as well with water over 80 degrees.

Usually, most critters will move at least once a day. No matter what they are. Many animals move more during the night.

Best of luck,

Roy
 
there was nothing in the tank before these inverts. They are my first inhabitants. This tank just finished cycling. Once my ammonia, trites, and trates hit 0 I added these 12 snails, (10 margarita, 2 turbo), and the 2 star fish. I have 2 fish in the tank who are doing quite well.

I have been watching them at night, and they do'nt move.


THe snails were most active on day 1.

Nothing is totally dead yet, even the turbo snail who is turning black is moving its whiskers a little.

If someone can tell me if these guys are GOING to die, I will remove them right now so they don't pollute the water.

Is it safe to grab a brittle star? he has all those things that look like barbs on him.

Thanks
Josh
 
If they are still alive, I would hold tight and see if they pull through.

Even if they die, they can benefit the scavengers in the tank.

Do you have live rocks? If so, you probably have bristle worms that smell an upcoming meal.

Hope everything pulls through.

Best of luck,

Roy
 
Thanks. I guess I'll just leave them alone then.

Could they be starving? Should I relocate the turbo snail to a patch of algae? He never found any.

Thanks
Josh
 
You can try to move the Turbo if you like; but, don't place him where he might fall over. He may be too weak to turn himself over.

Best of luck,

Roy
 
It looks like you have alot of unproccessed ditritis on your sandbed, I don't know if that's just the color of your sand. I'd need a better picture. But it looks like you need to clean up the top layer of your sandbed a bit.
 
I'm surprised that to this point noone has asked you how you acclimated the inverts. So I will.

How did you acclimate your new inverts?
 
Last edited:
Your alk looks awful low. 125 to 200 ppm is the recommended range. Also you didnt mention calcium. Are you testing for that ?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6510426#post6510426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fmellish


Is it safe to grab a brittle star? he has all those things that look like barbs on him.

Thanks
Josh
Click to expand...

those barb looking things on the star are not as bad as they may seem they may feel funny at first but really they are safe to touch, they just use them to get a better grab of their meal.
 
TDS
MY RO/DI water tests at 0 TDS PPM from the output of my RO/DI system.

After adding salt and live rock and live sand, the TDS is what it is. But none of those disolved solids are from the tap, (if that'w what you're wondering).

Acclimation
See pics on my www site, (red house), and scroll down a few days. They were float acclimated for an hour although none of them looked very active in their bags. I added about 1/2" cup of tank water to their bags every 15 minutes. Then when the bags were about to sink I removed them and poured the mixed water into the sink, and the critters into the tank. I didn't want to get the LFS water into my tank.

Alk This is my first reef tank, so I'll need help with the chemistry. Since I was so preoocupied with measuring my cycle, I've only been testing for the params stated at the top of this thread.

Calcium I am not testing for calcium yet.

The LFS said the brittle star would eat meaty leftovers on ground./ There is a big piece of cocktail shrimp right next to him but he doesn't want it. He hasn't moved in a few days. The movement I do see in his tentacles may be from my powerheads, I ca'nt tell.

The snail in the photo moved about 5 inches since the photo. He is on the rock. My snails seem to move about 5 inches a day. I just thought they were faster than that.

Thanks
JOsh
 
On the chemistry side of things, I recommend, when you have some time, go to the Reef Chemistry Forum here an RC. There are many articles written by Dr Randy Holmes-Farley that will point you in the right direction. Good luck :)
 
When you touch the brittle star it doesn't move? Try picking it up and smelling it. You will know if it is dead. Many of my snails don't move much, nassarius snails are one that come to mind as a "fast" snail.

Are you using a refractometer to test salinity? The hydrometers can be off significantly. Sorry about misreading the TDS portion, I missed it.
 
I am using a calibrated refractometer. All measures are scientific and accurate.

i have not tried to touch the starfish, I have been afriad he would sting me and try to eat me.

Now that I know I can handle him I'll pick him up when I get home and examine him. honestly, he looked dead when ths LFS grabbed and bagged him. When I was done acclimating him and I dropped him into the tank, he did scurry from the top of a rock to the bottom, so he was clearly somewhat alive. He has just been retracting further and further into the rock. If he's alive when I get home I'll try to feed him again. Although it's a pain to retrieve these cocktail shrimp from the tank that don'[t get eaten. It's a tall tank.

Thanks
Josh
 
i find it suspicious that you have a dead cocktail shrimp in your tank and 0 nitrates and nitrites. I would guess you would have to have at least a trace. That doesn't even take into consideration it sounds like you have other stuff dead. Sure your testing right?
 
You might wanna take a sample of water to you LFS to test, maybe your test are bad....I have had several bad experiences with expired tests....
 
My kits are Salifert kits brand new from Marine Depot.

My params are 0. And I have half of a rotting cocktail shirmp in my tank. Should I take the cocktail shrimp out? The LFS said to direct feed the star every 2 days. It ate half of the shrimp I put in there , but the other half just sits next to it. I was hoping that he would eventually grab the other half too. But maybe its just too old now.

I suppose I should take out the old rotting half and try to direct feed again, (its been a few days), but with a fresher shrimp, and only half of one.

My tank has good biological filtration from live rock and supporting bacteria. 140 gallons water volume with lots of rock and fully cycled. I don't think half a dead shrimp even phases the ecological system.

I could have my LFS test though just to be sure I suppose.

Josh
 
So it sounds like your snails have made it afterall. Good.

Regarding the brittle star, how big is it?

Do you have live rocks in thank? If so, have you seen any bristle worms lurking about? In my tanks, that's always a sign that something has died.

If the brittle star doesn't make it, plan on testing and tweaking Alk and Calc before you add your next critter. As always, go slow.

Best of luck,

Roy
 
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