How come I am having problem keeping any invertebrates to survive

[paul anonymous]

i havent bought another invert in the last couple months. The last invert i bought was a sandshifting starfish. I didnt realized it until i had set him in my DT. I found out that one the tip of his "hands" were cut off. Assuming it was from the lack of care from the LFS i bought him from. Anyway, my sandshifting star is doing alot better. He is growing back what he had lost and starting to looking more like a regular starfish rather than a demented starfish. lol I've been trying to do some research on figuring out why in the past all my inverts had all died off slowly over time(within a month). i had about 4 or 5 emerald crabs, a horse shoe crab, red/blue/brown hermit crabs, and a few variety of snails in my 55g reef. Everything in my tank are looking really good and healthy(fish/corals). i just like to know for future reference because i am planning to buy more cleaner inverts real soon. Beside the starfish i have 4 turbo snails and coral band shrimp(currently) which i think i blame for killing my peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp after i had added him a few months ago. anyways my water condition is good to near perfect. i check my water condition from head to toe at least maybe once a week and the regular daily checkup. I dont know if anyone out there went through the same thing i went through where all inverts just died one by one within a month. I do understand inverts dont live long But the thing is i didnt have them in my DT for too long before i noticed them struggling and dying off. I noticed like my hermit crab at the time were always hiding in their shell and noticing that they seem like they were struggling to walk. its a good percentage that the shell they were in was getting to small but that cant be the cause for each one of them. I would hate to waste more money just for a month of invert. lol Any advice or warnings out there from anyone who had the same experienced with inverts i'd like to hear from you. And like i said my water perimeter were all tested and approved in ideal levels. im clueless what may had caused all of my janitors to retired so early without a two week noticed by me! lol
HApPy Reefing!
I speak Whale!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Welcome to the forums.
Post your specific water parameters. Not just say they are good. Also, let us know your setup. How big is your tank, equipment used, filtration implemented. What is your temp and salinity? Comprehensive stock list? Fish? What test kits are you using? Have you dosed your tank with any medications? How old is your tank?
Lets get some more information before we speculate.

 

[flower]

Sorry to hear about your compatability issues...here is a book you should get, it will save you money.

A page, so you can see what info it offers

 

[paul anonymous]

Thank You flower for Not asking for a my water parimeters, as for the horrible event was in the past and will never know exactly what may had help affected the death of inverts. In this case, I was just trying to get some thoughts and idea in what may had caused the lost of my past inverts. (assuming lack of water condition at the time, who knows exactly) As current status, all invertebrates are all doing excellent and very much active as expected. Thank you once again for the suggestion of the book I will look into it.

 

[paul anonymous]

I understand you are needing my FULL tank 411 IN DETAILS and exact measurements, etc. etc. BUT NO THANKS. No OFFENSE Snake! i do not know or remember my water parimeters at the when the whole thing was going on. i was just only looking for an educated guess of suggestions outside the box. Current status of invertebrates are doing well and All marine life are no threat to one another from their background history and from my first view of it. I make sure of it. I appreciate your time. Happy Reefing!

 

[snakeblitz33]

No offense taken, paul. And no offense but you did ask for help and i was trying to do so. Because of your grammer i didnt know that you had overcome the problem a while back and were wanting speculation. However, speculation is just that. Without knowing more about your system or methods none of us can really give you a definitive answer. Again, no offense.

 

[saxman]

FWIW, once established, most inverts are quite long-lived. We have some snails and hermits that we have no idea how old they are, but we've had them for years.
Your CBS did likely kill and eat your other shrimp, as it's what they tend to do in captivity (I kept a big ol' cranky specimen for over 8 years). Oddly enuff, if the peps are established, and can hide, they are somewhat safe if the CBS gets enuff to eat. I've had the CBS side by side with half a dozen peps, all "cleaning" my hand, which was pretty weird, given the CBS's tendency to eat them.
To be honest, after a good visual inspection/shell scrubbing, I seem to have the best luck with simply tossing snails, shrimp, hermits into the DT as opposed to going with a long acclimation, this is especially true if anything has been bagged more than an hour, as once you pop that bag open, the pH climbs and whatever ammonia is in the bag becomes more toxic.
Like Seth and you have mentioned, it's hard to give you more than personal experiences and educated guesses.