What happened to all my critters???

[daveverdo]

My tank is up for about five years and it is pretty lifeless on a small scale. The fish and corals I have are doing well but not much else. When first set up I had tons of pods, worms, brittle stars, ... When I looked with a flashlight after lights out it was a wonderland of activity.

Now, nothing.

I still have some Asterina stars, a few chitons, and some tube worms but that is it.

Do any of you "recharge" your tanks? If so, how?

Dave

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Borneman used to say the diversity in the tank apexes at about a year.

 

[SushiGirl]

Ipsf.com sells packages with pods & stuff in them. Garf.org used to, don't know if they still do or not.

 

[GratefulReef]

I have had my reef for over a year, and it was a up and running setup for 3-4 years before that...I have more critters now than I can ever remember seeing in the tank before(it was a close friends and I would see it at least once a week) pods, chitons, snails, brittle stars, crinoids etc. You can however reseed your populations and its not a bad idea.

 

[Flanders]

Did you used to feed the tank more?

 

[magdelan]

I don't think that there is a life expectancy (max life) for your "critters". Unless you have altered something in your regiment, your system should only fluctuate with the quantity in there. When I had my 180g up, it was teaming with life. If it had ever become void, I would try to figure out what I am doing differently.

 

[tent boy]

I used to add phytoplankton to my tank every few weeks or so. I haven't done it recently though. Not really sure if that was doing anything.

 

[tmz]

Phyto will encourage more pods and filter feeders.

 

[dreaminmel]

Dave, What larger critters do you have in there?