Invert and Coral Problom

[gump3842k]

In my tank polyops, nsnails, and coral wont live in my tank, they all die very quickly. However all fish and shrimp are living fine. My guy at my LFS said he thought it was some type of metal in my water. We tested it for copper and found zero copper in the water...is there anything else it could be? My ammonia and nitrite are zero. My nitrate's are 5 and my ph is 8.2 It's a 35 gallon hexagon tank with a powerquad 96 lighting system.

 

[nutrak]

what is the salinity? if its too high or low that could be it. also, is there sufficient alg. buildup? thats the primary source of food for your snails and corals. how many watts per gallon do you have and also what kind of corals do you have?
other areas to explore are:
how many snails did you have to begin with? are you sure they arent in the rocks?
if you have shrimp...do you have a substantial number? they eat overturned snails you know
keep us posted and good luck!

 

[flamron]

I would rule out the metal for sure because most shrimp are intolerant to metal, just like coral and snails. You might want to check your calcium and alkalinity levels. HTH

 

[gump3842k]

my salinty is 1.023..... its a 128 watts in a 35 gallon tank..also my snails arent under rocks, i put them on rocks and as soon as they get in my tnak they never come out there shells

 

[nutrak]

how long have you let them adjust? sometimes it takes a day for them to come out. i know it seems likea long time, but its the truth. also, try turning out the lights.

 

[gump3842k]

ok maybe the snails will eventually come out but how come poylops wont live in my tank, its just very frustrating for me now... Thanks for any help guys its truly aprreciated

 

[jamal-188]

How do you go about acclimating your new animals? Snails are very sensitive and IMO should be drip acclimated.

 

[gump3842k]

well i put the bag in the water for 30 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of water every 10 minutes until i have put 2 cups of water in the bag. Then i check the PH to make sure its the same in bag and tank, then i release in tank

 

[brndfrb]

You need to do a drip acclimation. Much easier. Whever i get a new coral or anything. I float the bag for at least 30 min. Then i i put them in a bucket a drip them for about and hour. Some times more. sometimes lesss.

 

[gump3842k]

How exactly do you perform drip acclimation?

 

[Brisc0]

Drip acclimation is different for everyone. Generally you put the organism in a container of some sort, or if you can keep the bags from sinking, leave them in the bags. You then setup some plastic airline tubing to the bag and start a siphon that drips 1 - 3 drops per second into the bag until you have tripled or more the water that it shipped with. Once thats done you get the temps in line if you couldn't keep it stable during acclimation and settle your organism into the system.