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help please!


kawtipin

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ok so I have started a new tank. I have been out of the hobbie for 7 years. and i had a tank for about 3-4 years that done well. So here is my question. I have started the tank it cycled. i have put fish in they seem happy eat well are doing fine ect. goby and clown. but every time I try to introduce a snail they die. I have bought about 10 so far they have all died longest one lived was one day. crabs seem good. I got ha hammer head coral died as well. I do not want to keep loosing livestock and really want to start stocking with some corals but what gives.? I took my local salt water aquarium store guy a sample of my water for him to test / look at and he said looks great? I do not understand. I have a cadlights 18g mini. w skimmer and I just in the last week put some cheato in the sump w light. help please. and thank you

my last water test

high ph. 8.6

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate 0

water temp 79

salinity 1.26

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Snails and corals can be surprisingly difficult to acclimate to the tank. Try the drip acclimation method and see if that helps.

Perhaps there is copper getting into the water? Look for any copper fittings in your tank plumbing. Use RO/DI water to eliminate the possibility of copper coming from the house plumbing.

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Cencalfishguy56

That's really strange I have never had a problem acclimating snails and I just float em, only thing I drip is fish but my LFS has the same ph and salinity as me so I just float em for the most part

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yes I dripped the last snails and did the same with the hammer head coral. Is there a test for the copper? It is all Ro/di water.

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Cencalfishguy56

yes I dripped the last snails and did the same with the hammer head coral. Is there a test for the copper? It is all Ro/di water.

Yea they are you can get them off amazon for dirt cheap get the api as you just want to know if there is any trace

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SpankythePyro

anyone spraying any type of chemicals or air fresheners near the tank?

 

I've always temp acclimated my snails and then just dumped them in.

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copper test came in this morning. and it is 0 so that's not it. that's good. so I did some more reading and looking I have a intank media basket coming and I am go to remove the foam inserts that came with the tank. and I will put in From top to bottom filter floss purigen and chem pure elite and let that filter for a week or so before I Try again. I did another water test today everything looks good. just crossing my fingers lol.

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I'm with Spanky on both points - snails are hardy. Temp acclimate and throw them in - even reefcleaners says not to do more (though they have reasons regarding shipping).

 

I would look for environmental factors that tests aren't going to show - cleaning chemicals, air fresheners, other aerosols, double check your temp, etc... this is not a normal problem, so the normal solutions probably won't show much. More carbon should help as a general answer, though. Good luck!

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Also maybe check for stray voltage? If I recall correctly inverts and corals might be more susceptible.

 

Given your fish are just fine I'm trying to think of things that would impact inverts and corals more than fish... Are you noticing any pH swings through the day/night? Maybe try testing at different times.

 

How are you topping off and how frequently? I've observed that snails aren't very good with fluctuations in salinity...

 

Are the fish showing any strange symptoms at all? Usually a toxin in the water will affect them also, usually making them seem skiddish like darting around, or bumping into things, or depending on what the toxin is it could cause the fish to not eat or to act lethargic.

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Yes they type of snails could be part of it. Margarita snails are known to not do well since they need colder water. Also you can over acclimate both inverts and corals. I honestly do not acclimate corals other than temp anymore unless it is a super sensitive piece. I have over 60 pieces in my DT and have not lost one with this method. They are hardier than you might think. Acclimating for too long can cause ph swings in the bag/container as well as ammonia build up. The ammonia is more a concern with acclimating fish.

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Yes they type of snails could be part of it. Margarita snails are known to not do well since they need colder water. Also you can over acclimate both inverts and corals. I honestly do not acclimate corals other than temp anymore unless it is a super sensitive piece. I have over 60 pieces in my DT and have not lost one with this method. They are hardier than you might think. Acclimating for too long can cause ph swings in the bag/container as well as ammonia build up. The ammonia is more a concern with acclimating fish.

 

I think the best argument against dripping corals is dipping.. if a coral can survive a bath in insect killer or iodine, then a little parameter swing from one tank to another isn't going to kill it. Temperature is certainly important, though.

 

Short version: I agree with everything you said.

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I usually temp acclimate then put a little coral dip in the bag, let that sit for 10 minutes and throw those babies in!! haha

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reefernanoman

Snails and corals can be surprisingly difficult to acclimate to the tank. Try the drip acclimation method and see if that helps.Perhaps there is copper getting into the water? Look for any copper fittings in your tank plumbing. Use RO/DI water to eliminate the possibility of copper coming from the house plumbing.

All I do with my corals is float them in their bag for 20 minutes(when bought from LFS) and dump them right into my tank. I have had no issues with my method. I'm only careful with BTA'S, shrimp and snails (drip acclimation for an hour at least)

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You test for copper?

yes I did 0 copper

 

Tank is new I would say almost 2 months.

I will make sure that my wife does not spray any chemicals in the general area.

Thanks everyone for your help too..

 

Also maybe check for stray voltage?

 

Given your fish are just fine I'm trying to think of things that would impact inverts and corals more than fish... Are you noticing any pH swings through the day/night? Maybe try testing at different times.

 

How are you topping off and how frequently? I've observed that snails aren't very good with fluctuations in salinity.

I will check for stray voltage. and I will test for ph swings.

I have autoaqua ato so it stays dead on.

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ok so i took my volt meter and put it in the tank and found 16 volts ac going thu the tank??????? ok so i freaked out. and called my brother he has a tank doing good at his house went over to test his 24 volts ac. but everything is living and corals look great snails great ect. so I dont know. again???? I have a return sump pump skimmer heater tunze nano pump and I unplugged all and and 0 volts but as I plug them back in one at a time they all give a little voltage ?? I dont know im at a loss

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ok sorry did some reading that's all normal apparently. wheeeww. But my tank did take on a lot of brown alge over the weekend so maybe I am just finishing my first cycle?

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