Snails and abalone dying off

[Fabe]

Any reason why my 3 turbo snails, 5 sea snails and abalone would all of sudden die within a 24 hour period? All the fish(4 damsels, 3 tangs, clownfish, goby) are ok and the water levels are in the normals. salt reading from the hydrometer is 1.023 and ph is about 8.1. Any ideas?

 

[Hara]

need more info.
Have you done recent water changes? Are these new additions to the tank? What are the nitrate/nitrite readings? Have there been any temperature fluctuations recently?
Inverts are more sensitive to changes than fish are.

 

[Fabe]

it has been 2 weeks since last water change(25% change) Nitrite and ammonium are very weak almost 0 and nitrate is also at a minimum. before the water change everything was ok, all fish and inverts are at least 2 months old except for the abalone which is 3 weeks old. Temp has been help steady at 78 day(with chiller) and 78 night(with heater) I have two thermometers(in tank and in sump and never vary for more than .5 degrees.) heater is in-tank. I'll see if i can get the exact numbers, but from the salt water test kit it seems ok. Also LFS tested and everything was in the norms.

 

[vega]

test the copper content.

 

[Biggen]

Nitrite and ammonium are very weak almost 0

Is this tank not cycled yet? These levels should't be ALMOST 0, they should BE zero before attempting to add any livestock, especially inverts. This could have been a factor if you are showing levels of these two chemicals.

Temp has been help steady at 78 day(with chiller) and 78 night(with heater)

Just curious as to why you run your tank this cool. Most people run their tanks around 82F-84F. Mine stays between 83F-84F.

Like Vega suggested, copper will kill inverts with ease. Have you ever dosed any kind of copper medication in the tank? Most Ich medicines are copper based.

 

[Fabe]

As far as temperature goes, the recommendation from LFS and www.liveaquaria.com for the coral and livestock I have is 72-78 degrees. As far as Nitrite/Ammo, I only said almost due to the test kit I am using. The LFS confirmed that the water was very suitable to add livestock(tank has been cycled 5 months now). The issue does appear to be copper(Atzlan had me check). The check/one-way valve used was a brass fixture. Atzlan direct to one of the many helpful posts here on aquarium advice that brass does add copper to the water. Thanks for everyone's help, this issue is resolved.

 

[fishman]

I have something to ask reg the post by biggen.....
Fabe wrote that the ammonia level and nitrate level were "almost 0".....I am of the beleif that you will have surges of all levels at one time or another..correct me if I am wrong...otherwise why would you have to do water changes or add chemicals if levels didnt surge??
In my case my tank was cycled but then when I added a couple of fish, I had the normal "slight spike" in ammonia. It was less than 0.25 and probably closer to 0. Same with nitrates. Anytime you add fish, no matter how long your tank has been cycled, you will have a surge of sorts.....or call it uptick for a lack of better words...just my experience...

 

[Biggen]

Fabe wrote that the ammonia level and nitrate level were "almost 0".....I am of the beleif that you will have surges of all levels at one time or another..correct me if I am wrong...otherwise why would you have to do water changes or add chemicals if levels didnt surge??

Ammonia and nitrite levels should be undetectable to test kits in a cycled aquarium. There is always probably a very small portion of these two chemicals in the water column, but they are so small that they are, for all intense purposes, zero.

Water changes are done for many reasons. These include lowering the nitrate level in the tank, replacing lost salt due to skimming and creep, replacing trace elements and vitamins, replacing ALK and CA that was utilized, etc... However, water changes should never need to be done to remove ammonia and nitrite unless the tank is in the process of cycling.

In my case my tank was cycled but then when I added a couple of fish, I had the normal "slight spike" in ammonia. It was less than 0.25 and probably closer to 0. Same with nitrates. Anytime you add fish, no matter how long your tank has been cycled, you will have a surge of sorts.....or call it uptick for a lack of better words...just my experience...

You are correct. Anytime the bio-load is increased in the tank (i.e. adding fish), the biological filter has to "catch up" to the increased demands. This typically happens fairly quickly, as the bacteria needed are already present. You just need more of them. After the reproduce enough, they will "catch up" to the increased demands and ammonia and nitrite will again fall to zero.

 

[fishman]

agreed....I see what you referring to now. Sorry I didnt know where you were coming from on the 0 all the time once the tank has cycled. I understand what your saying now. Sorry for the miscommunication.
I recently added 3 fish to a newly cycled tank and before the addition I had all 0's. Since that time I have just a hint of ammonia and nitrates but almost undetectable.
Thanks