chichimom79's 10 Gallon

[Dana42078]

That sucks! Live and learn! Change that WC schedule.

 

[chichimom79]

Thanks Dana :) Just did a WC on Fri. Have no idea what caused the spike unless it was the emerald crab dying. I got the body out as soon as I saw it. Same with the shrimp.

 

[Dana42078]

Weird. I don't think either would cause a spike like that. We're u sure it wasn't just a molt? I've pulled a few molts that I thought were a dead emerald but they weren't. How often are your WC's?

 

[FishyReef]

Are you sure the shrimp wasn't a molt? Nitrates of 15 are high, but I'm not sure they are high enough to kill of the shrimp that quickly. Could you have had a temp spike or salinity change?

 

[Kelz88]

Thats a bummer chichi :( I was pretty bummed when mine got killed too, he was always ready to clean my hands or steal coral food from me lol.

Hopefully its just molts!

 

[chichimom79]

I am averaging two water changes per week. I test for nitrates about four times a week. I am not sure that the emerald is dead but I haven't seen him since finding the "body". He was tiny so he could be in hiding. The shrimp I believe to be dead. He never hid out after a molt and there was definitely flesh inside the recovered body. After doing the water change, nitrate is still reading 15. Im going to take a sample to my LFS for double checking results.
Just took some pics after doing the water change. The coral and fish all seems pretty happy.

 

[chichimom79]

 

[little_fish]

Im sorry to hear this Chichi, but those elevated nitrates do create conditions that soft corals and LPS corals thrive in because of the high amount of food in the water column for them.

 

[Prototype220]

Sorry to hear about your cleaner :(. You know I lost mine inthe boil. Now I have the fire shrimp and he is A LOT more timid. Btw tank looks great!!

 

[chichimom79]

Thanks everyone! I'll be doing daily water changes until I am back near 0 nitrates. I hope the worst is over.

 

[chichimom79]

Did another water 20% water change today. Nitrates reading 0 on one API and 5 on another API. I have a Salifert nitrate test kit on order. I hope it's better than this API!!
But at least I am back to an acceptable level.

 

[Dana42078]

Good job getting the numbers back down. You will like the salifert test kit better.

 

[chichimom79]

Just tested for stray voltage. Found nothing, the needle didn't move. :dunno:

 

[fastrd400]

Copied from your contest thread

Well, that in itself is a bit of good news at least. So back to guessing. I guess the trates could have done them in, but like mentioned before, they really were not through the roof high. I wonder if you might have some sort of predator in there that you are not aware of? Are you finding the bodies in the mornings.

 

[chichimom79]

Yes, both found in the morning. I would suspect my clownfish but they seemed to like the shrimp.

 

[fastrd400]

I'd wait a bit after the tank lights go out, then start looking around for a "Much Bigger" crab or shrimp. Are you hearing any "popping" noises at all?

 

[chichimom79]

No popping, and I would hear it because this tank is right next to my bed.

 

[fastrd400]

At night, look for one of these guys
Crab Hitch Hikers

 

[chichimom79]

Keep in mind, I have had this shrimp for two months. I watch my tank a lot at night. I am 90% sure that it isn't a predator unless it's my fish.

 

[ZyberGoby]

Vary cool Link