Shells Breaking Down

[ReefGirl77]

Hi there,

We have a 40 gallon reef tank comprised of LPS and SPS corals, along with inverts, nems, and fish. We are noticing that empty shells (like empty snail shells, empty crab shells)are breaking down VERY quickly. This seems like it would be abnormal and cause for concern. Any idea what would cause this? Water parameters are as follows:.

Ph: 8.2
Nitrate: 3 (had spike in Nitrates a few weeks ago, but have since corrected)
Calcium: 500
Alkalinity: 7.3
SG: 1.025

Any suggestions or if you can point us to a thread where this has already been discussed that would be great. Thanks!

 

[bertoni]

Do you mean molts from crabs? Those should break down quite rapidly. What type of snail shells are these? There might be enough organics in the matrix for them to disappear fairly quickly.

 

[ReefGirl77]

Thank you for the response. I mean shells, like empty snail shells. Shells not molts.

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[Timfish]

Endolithic alga, sponges and fungii will dissolve any carbonate substrate. Some of the variables are local or surface boundry layer pH, species present, available nutrients, denisty of the substrate (ratio of calcite to arraganite).