Quote:
Originally Posted by
Flower http:///t/396496/invertebrates-keep-dying#post_3532844
Hi,
Rock...alive with little critters, or dead and dry (base rock), it doesn't matter. As long as you have enough to have an adequate amount of good bacteria growth, so how much rock do you have in there? Now to try and answer your question....
What type of, and what brand of test kit are you using? A 60g tank needs the surface water to move, and I always used 2 power heads. One should be pointed toward the surface, unless you have a spray bar on the canister filter. Did you originally fill the tank with mixed salt and RO (reverse osmosis) or tap water? What water do you use to do top offs with?
I have a serious hard time believing a 6 month old, fish only system with reef inverts, has not a detectable trace of nitrates. UNLESS, you got the seahare to feed on an outbreak of hair algae...if you have hair algae, then your nitrate test will give you a false negative...because the hair algae, just like any macroalgae, feeds on the nitrates...and phosphates, which if it's high enough will kill all sensitive inverts, such as urchins, CC stars and sea hares. If you don't have high nitrates and phosphates, hair algae can't live.
If you don't have enough hair algae, the seahare will starve, if the seahare is very young, and you don't have enough red turf algae, it will starve. If you don't have enough of regular algae, the urchin will starve. You know when an urchin is starving, all it's spines fall off. If the CC star is exposed to changing conditions, they break apart and die, right before your eyes. That change can be ... Not acclimated long enough, exposed to air too long, temperature swings, high phosphates, nitrates above 40 and last but not least, how it was captured and treated at the pet store you purchased it from. Oh and I almost forgot...exposed to electrical current, my sea star died and broke apart like that, after my heater broke and shocked the tank...but then every invert died, even the snails and hermits.
I am not being mean, I'm honestly just curious....if you have been running a tank for 6 months, how do you not know what SG is?
OK.. I know I need more base rock in the tank than I currently have. Some of the decorations are fake (plastic) rock but have lots of hiding places. I assume I should replace them with real rock.
I do have a spray bar on the canister than moves the surface water but I have just purchased an addiotnal powerhead to add more movement. I have the basic saltwater test kit that tests for PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates using the drops (sorry - not at home and don't remember the name). The nitrates may have been detecatble, but were very low - definately below 40. I use tap water for filling and topping off (though I add clorine remover to the water).
I'm not sure what type of algae I have. There is green algae that grows on the glass, but I don't think it is hair alaea. And I have a lot of red algae along the back wall (I assume this is red turf).
Based on your descriptions it seems like the urchin starved and the CC star was exposed to something. If it was not acclimated long enough, would it still survive for almost two weeks before it died?
As to your last statement, I know what Specific Gravity is, just had a brain fart when I saw sg...
