Woke up to dead CUC!!!!

[Sniperhank]

I woke up this morning to find all of my snails upside down at the bottom of my tank. My cleaner shrimp is laying on his side on his last legs. Clowns are sticking to the bottom of the tank and not coming out of their hiding places. Just tested my water, results are as follows:

Temp - 80
Ph - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - 0

I am battling a minor Ich problem. Using Microbe-lift Herbtana. Obviously copper free, reef safe. Had recent additions on Monday, the peppermint, cleaner shrimps, kenya tree, and a hatian condy. None of these should cause such an issue? My 2 hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp don't seem to notice a change.

 

[carey]

How long has your tank been up and cycled? That herbtana will most likely do nothing, it can't actually kill the ich infestation, might help get some ich off the fish but not out of the tank. :-(

 

[Sniperhank]

On my second month of setup. Cycled for one month. I know it will not kill the ich, working with dips in an attempt to help my clowns. Got the ich from LR I got from petco...really upset about it. Ever since the addition it seems nothing will survive in my tank. But 20 snails came in on the LR from petco and they were all dead this morn along with my cleaner shrimp.

 

[carey]

How did you cycle? It's just odd to see 0 nitrates in a new tank is why i ask.

How did you acclimate your new purchases?

I'm kinda at a loss as snails and hermits are usually VERY hardy and it takes alot for them to just die off....

Also concerned about the condy, they really have no place in a newly setup tank. I speak from experience too. lol I got one like the 2nd month in too but ended up returning it about 2 months later. they get huge and can eat fish so I was like, "I'm out" lol back it went with no credit even just wanted it out of my tank/

 

[Sniperhank]

Cycled via 50lbs LR and shrimp.

My new guys were acclimated via temp acclimation and adding some of my main tank's water to their bag over maybe an hour/hour half.

As for the condy, I'm aware of their problems...but right now it won't matter if nothing else will live in my tank. I really want a bubble tip...but I look at the fact I spent 200 bucks on my tank this week and the only things left standing are the condy and my kenya tree.

 

[carey]

I know it can be discouraging, I had a plague take out 6 of my fish in less than a week and lost a few hundred $$. :-(

I'm really at a loss to why you had deaths, the only other thought I have is if there is copper in your tank somehow...not sure if your tank is new or used so thats they only thing I can come up with. maybe your lfs can test for copper if you dont have the test kit?

If it was me I would do a water change and recheck the parameters. Water changes can never hurt really so thats always a good first step.

How big is your tank anyways? Just curious...

Buck up though, dont get discouraged it happens and it's just a matter of finding out the why so you can address any issue.

 

[Sniperhank]

36 gal. I just did a 10% water change on Sunday! Copper is the only test kit that I do not have, but how would I have copper when I used pre-mixed salt water and distilled?

 

[carey]

Copper can leech into rocks and the actual tank itself. If you got the tank used the previous owner could have dosed with copper....But if it's a new tank you got then I'm once again at a loss...Thats the only thing other than high parameters that could cause your livestock to die off so quickly in my opinion anyways...

Hopefully some one else may come along with another suggestion..

Wish i could have been of more help. But I'd still check out the copper idea. if you got your rock at petco theres no telling if the rock was exposed to copper....

 

[Sniperhank]

Yeah...all week I have been throwing my anti-petco voice out across this board in my posts. Even had a guy from petco back me up lol.

But yeah, I was so proud of how well things were going

 

[carey]

I was absolutely devastated when I lost my 6 fish to an unknown reason and considered giving all my tanks up as I had not had a single death up to that point and everything else had gone so well. Just dig your heels in and try to find the solution. Or at least get by the issue and move forward. There so many things in saltwater that are glorious but theres also the dark side...lol

See if you can get to petco ot another lfs with a sample and see about the copper.

One other thing though, did your snail shells have any holes through them? I accidentally got a conus snail and he literally killed my entire cuc and he would pierce the snails shells and kill them. Unlikely but still a possibility considering where you got your rock...

 

[Sniperhank]

No, I actually only had one snail with a shell and he was a margarita snail...who is also dead. I have another lfs, if you can call 40 miles away local, that I'm using again. They supported my freshwater tanks for 10 years and I bought my dog from them too. The kenya I have is out of one of the worker's home tanks.

 

[Sniperhank]

Wait, if the copper came out of the fiji LR...wouldn't it now be in my caribbean lr?

 

[carey]

copper can leech out of rock an into other rock, yes. Thats why I think you should test for copper so you can rule that out or so you can find the solution.

 

[ccCapt]

What's your salinity and what do you use to check it?

 

[austinsdad]

I'm confused. Not hard to confuse me though. You said all your snails died. Then, you said you only have one snail with a shell. The rest didn't have shells?? Did I miss something?

 

[mr_X]

i really do not think you got ich from live rock. when did you add the rock, before or after the fish?

 

[Sniperhank]

Try to cover it all, on my phone at work.

I had roughly 20 snails that hitchhiked in on a piece of fiji live rock I got from petco. One that had a shell was a margarita snail, the others were shellless. Their name starts with an s...I can never remember it.

My salinity was at 1:025 this morning.

I added the live rock after I did the clowns. There were no signs of ich until after. Possible came off a hitchhiking snail? Maybe some sand in the crevices? It had nice maro algae growth on it, its why I picked it.

 

[Sniperhank]

Oh, I can not recall the name of my tests, but they are liquid tests, not strips. I don't believe this is where the error is, done multiple tests with same outcome, double checked instructions...and I have always done well with this stuff and chemistry

 

[mr_X]

the ich came from the stress of adding the rock, not the rock. the ich was already present on the clowns.

 

[Sniperhank]

...You know, I've been so stressed out from this and work I should have known that. But that is besides the point, they still came from petco. I need to go hug my lfs for being good to me and stop paying out to the man. lol