snails dead

[yank30265]

my tank has been set up since around March; I got rid of the cyano; have green hair algae on rock(not to much and it looks nice); most of my parameters are fine except for phosphates seem to b in between 1.0 and 2.0 ppm. tank is 125 fluval 405 tiny protein skimmer lots of sand and rock. hermit crabs blue and red leg running all around since i got rid of my hawkfish. snails die when they hit the water; i float them for a few hours with holes in the bag and they die when they hit the water; I have a lawn mower blenny in there doing quite well(might need another ); salt is alittle high on hdryrometer .026 .027 maybe even .028 with evap. I top off my tank with tap water that has a low ph so i add sodium bicarbonate to the water im adding first is this a bad habit? I got more questions but lets start w/ this; oh yea there is activated carbon and ceramic balls in fluval; gonna retest now. a shrimp died within 24 hrs of going in tank; i never had a problem with shrimp;

 

[yank30265]

I was wrong about the phospates; they read .5 ppm; nitrates were in between 10 and 20 ppm; and ph was 8.2 maybe 8.4; the rest of the tests were fine; whats killing my snails(and my one shrimp); im going to change the filter; media; i was going to put carbon in one tray and try chemi pure in another tray; any ideas on how good the chemi pure is? lFS guy is been trying to sell it to me for 2 months but I can find it cheaper on line

 

[mikecurrin]

I had the same thing happen to me, bought snails online and within a week all died, he (person online I bought from) shipped mine with out any water in the package. I would like to say that they told me due to nitrates is what would cause it.

 

[luvmyreef]

Originally Posted by yank30265
http:///forum/post/3149479
my tank has been set up since around March; I got rid of the cyano; have green hair algae on rock(not to much and it looks nice); most of my parameters are fine except for phosphates seem to b in between 1.0 and 2.0 ppm. tank is 125 fluval 405 tiny protein skimmer lots of sand and rock. hermit crabs blue and red leg running all around since i got rid of my hawkfish. snails die when they hit the water; i float them for a few hours with holes in the bag and they die when they hit the water; I have a lawn mower blenny in there doing quite well(might need another ); salt is alittle high on hdryrometer .026 .027 maybe even .028 with evap. I top off my tank with tap water that has a low ph so i add sodium bicarbonate to the water im adding first is this a bad habit? I got more questions but lets start w/ this; oh yea there is activated carbon and ceramic balls in fluval; gonna retest now. a shrimp died within 24 hrs of going in tank; i never had a problem with shrimp;
Snails or inverts do not tolerate swings/changes in water parameters, snails can die when they experience this, especially salinity changes. They need acclimated slowly....

 

[ophiura]

It is very like a specific gravity issue and acclimation, and I suggest a drip acclimation - what you do is not a good plan.
What is your pH and alkalinity? Have you ever tested for copper? Do you have any brass fittings?

 

[btldreef]

I really think that your salt level is too high and that you're not acclimating properly. Inverts are very intolerant to rapid water changes and really need/should be drip acclimated.
As to the ChemiPure. I have used ChemiPure Elite in all of my tanks and absolutely swear by it. IMO, it is by far the best carbon media out there and the elite also has an added benefit of helping keep phosphates down. If you do decide to use it, I do recommend changing it ever 60 days, not 90 as the packaging recommends.

 

[yank30265]

My ph is 8.2-8.4 hard too pinpoint on colr chart; alkalinity tested right where it should be according to the api instruction booklet. my hydrometer reads .027+ then with evap it gets higher. I want to bring it down to .024 .025. lfs runs his alittle lower .021-.023; i think i need to be dripping them in in stead of floating the bag with holes in it. my crabs are fine; but i want to bring down the salinity; i think that would be my first step. thanks ill keep u posted

 

[ophiura]

do not bring down the salinity too quickly...and 1.021 or so is highly stressful or fatal to inverts (do you think your LFS has their invert tanks that low? that could be part of the problem). Anyway, definitely not that low. 1.025 is good.

 

[btldreef]

My LFS keeps ALL their tanks at 1.022 and that's what I keep my tank at as well and still drip acclimate.