Hi. Recently, I set up a saltwater tank. I got the conditions right, then added two small pieces of live rock, two hermit crabs, and three large pieces of lacerock. For three days, everything seemed to be going fine, both hermit crabs were still there, and I had discovered a "Pod" of some sort that had climbed out of the live rock.
Then I went of a two week vacation.
When I got back, the most noticable things were the brown algae of the nitrate cycle starting(its seems to have happened very rapidly and strongly),and the live rocks flourishing with anenomes and tons of smaller "Pods" covirning one of them.
When I went looking for my hermits crabs, I could not find them. I found both of their empty shells, and no signs that they had moved into any of the other shells around the tank. My sister then spotted one hermit crab, out of its shell, struggling on the ground, with all of its legs and claws eaten off.
Also as we looked, we saw what looked to be a small bristle worm dissapearing into the live rock. I am wondering if that could be what killed my crabs.
I did my research, and found that small bristle worms are only scavengers that do not harm other tank life. So far, I have not seen anything else other than the bristle worm, the "Pods", and the anenomes.
For the record, I have a regular 29 gallon tank, and all conditions were the same from when I started the tank, not even the nitrates showed any change. my salinity was a little high, but still in the safe zone, and my temperature was around 82 degrees, which I have now turned down the heater.
Any thoughts would be helpfull.
Thanks.
Then I went of a two week vacation.
When I got back, the most noticable things were the brown algae of the nitrate cycle starting(its seems to have happened very rapidly and strongly),and the live rocks flourishing with anenomes and tons of smaller "Pods" covirning one of them.
When I went looking for my hermits crabs, I could not find them. I found both of their empty shells, and no signs that they had moved into any of the other shells around the tank. My sister then spotted one hermit crab, out of its shell, struggling on the ground, with all of its legs and claws eaten off.
Also as we looked, we saw what looked to be a small bristle worm dissapearing into the live rock. I am wondering if that could be what killed my crabs.
I did my research, and found that small bristle worms are only scavengers that do not harm other tank life. So far, I have not seen anything else other than the bristle worm, the "Pods", and the anenomes.
For the record, I have a regular 29 gallon tank, and all conditions were the same from when I started the tank, not even the nitrates showed any change. my salinity was a little high, but still in the safe zone, and my temperature was around 82 degrees, which I have now turned down the heater.
Any thoughts would be helpfull.
Thanks.