A couple of questions Please give as much feedback as you can.

miamisaltwater

miamisaltwater

New Member
Snails were all dead except 2 and I found my sifter star dead aswell...Pulled out all the dead.......Tested My water again and Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, ALK and Ammonia were perfect.....Tested Salinity 2 times both times read 1.021..............went to my LFS and took a water sample just to get a second opinion..........all levels were perfect but Salinity read 1.024 on their tester.........so which one is right? Any Way of knowing for sure........bought 5 gal of salt water which he said was at 1.026 so if i added it (according to my 1.021 reading) should bring me up to about 1.023........what to do?
I bought myself 20 blue legged hermit crabs (guy thew in an extra 5) so i now have 25 hermits.....hopefully they can clean up a little........
also my LFS said that My tangs black ich looking spots were infact a form of ich common In hawaii species? They suggested that I feed my Powder Brown Tang some romain lettuce as well as the red and green dry algy (sorry I know i didnt spell that right). Said the romain lettuce has nutritional values (to include water) which keep the fish hidrated, healthy and keep his metabolisim up.
What do you all say?
I am attaching a picture of a star fish which I can't Identify......can someone help?
Also anyone In miami that could inform me on "the best" LFS or what have you.
Thanks
MiamiSaltWater
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Do you ever see pods in your tank?
Explain your filtration methods? Include substrate.
The only way you are going to find out the proper salinity is with the use of a refractometer. They are much more accurate than plastic or glass hydrometers.
Can't identify your starfish.
If all your water seems perfect the perhaps your snails and sand starfish died due to starvation. Looking at that starfish I would expect him to go next, he looks thin.
Is your rock producing any algeas at all?
 
miamisaltwater

miamisaltwater

New Member
PODS?
Filtration System is A wetdry looking device...the water comes from the tank down through some bio balls and then into a section that has mud and a certain kind of plant....then it drops into another section of the wetdry where i have 2 pumps one small one pumping the water through an 8 watt uv light and back down and then the other larger pump pumps the water back into the tank.
What is substrate
How much is a refractometer and where can i get a good deal on one?
That Star was bought today and all the other stars in the store looked the same size.....they told me they are small but will grow.
I have 2 Pieces of live rock and about 8 pieces of rock which was live rock about 8 months ago in my other tank but i took down the tank and the rock sat in my yard for 8 months....I washed the rocks (with water only) and let them dry over night and the next day in the good ol Miami sun. Then I put them in my tank with the 2 live rock.
The glas of my tank gets algeas on it but not alot......and it does not look like any of the rocks do.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Pods are the little critters that live in live rock and in the substrate in the bottom of your tank like sand, or crushed coral.
I now feel more strongly that the snails died due to starvation, a sand sifting star will eat the pods like, amphipods, isopods, copepods and all the other little fellas that will assist in making a happy healthy sandbed. Same with the crushed coral, if there are no pods then all you have is some algea to feed off of, not much food then they starve.
I do not believe that your system is mature enough nor does it have enough live rock to sustain your starfish, but I could be wrong there. However from all that I have learned from Ophuria she would recommend a larger, mature system with lots more live rock to graze off of.
You might have to do a web search on aquarium refractometers and shop around. I got a good ATC = automatic temp. control refractometer for less than $50.
Thomas
 
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