got my reef keeper in yesterday

[mach1ray]

got my shipment in. about 25% of the tiny snails were out of their shells and dead. Not sure if this is common. I added a few turbos (quite large for my taste) and a brittle star along with an urchn. I understand the urchin loves to eat at red turf algae.

My concern is the turbos (who also like to eat red turf algae) all congregated into a cave and have not come upt since yesterday. Thing is the star was in there first and now all I see is tentacles sticking out the sides of the turbo snails. I could barely see its body. The sea urchin has move less than an inch from where it landed yesterday.

Is this cause for concern?
:question:

 

[FishyReef]

How did you acclimate them? And where did you get them from?

 

[d2mini]

Ya +1, and what does this have to do with a ReefKeeper? :lol:

 

[FishyReef]

+1 Dennis!

Guessing its a typo and he meant reef cleaners?

Mach, a ReefKeeper is a device that allows you to control multiple devices like lights and pumps, and monitor things like temp and salinity - don't worry, we'll get you straightened out with your acronyms and such! :)

 

[Cathic]

If it came from Reefcleaners here are the exact instructions (as sent to me by John)

Acclimation (All Animals)-

1. Float the bag in your tank to get the snail used to the temperature in your aquarium.

2. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Add contents to tank. Discard Water and Paper towels if any.

Important: Snails may go through shock during shipping, and be closed when they arrive. You should give them plenty of time to come out of their shells and move around before deciding they didn't make the trip. Ceriths may go dormant for up to 3 days.

You may find this to be different than the acclimation procedure you are used to carrying out. The reason we now ask our customers to use this procedure is because our snails and crabs live intertidally, and can handle drastic swings in ph/salinity without a problem. However, what they can't handle is toxic levels of ammonia. During the shipping process, ammonia levels in the shipping bags build, while the ph level goes down. As the ph goes down the toxicity of ammonia also goes down. However, when your tank water with normal ph is introduced to the shipping bags, and the ph rises, so does the toxicity of the ammonia, and you will be poisoning the livestock. Please don't do this. Any other method of acclimation voids the Alive Arrival Guarantee.

John is a great guy, I'm more than certain if anything is wrong he will have it fixed with no problems, quickly. I assume you mean to say reefcleaners as well.

 

[dixiegirl21191]

You should drip acclimate all inverts regardless of what any directions say. Takes a little extra time but you would probably have had a higher survival rate.

 

[Cathic]

I trust John and would never stray from what he says involving his livestock. I'm not saying I don't drip acclimate my livestock from an LFS a different store etc. But if John says to acclimate what he sends a certain way, you should most certainly follow it.

EDIT: I might add that Cleanup Crews and Macro algae are all he deals in. He is not an online retailer for all aquarium needs such as fish etc. He knows his stuff and the last paragraph at least gives an explanation of why to NOT drip acclimate. Just saying.

 

[dixiegirl21191]

Ok well something obviously went wrong. Just trying to help, not have someone jump down my throat for trying to help someone.

 

[Cathic]

I wasn't meaning to jump down your throat on it, and I agree with your drip acclimate (i use it). I just wanted it explained that his directions are not some copy paste directions and are specifically for his livestock.

I'm sorry if it came off as rude, I did not mean it too.

 

[mach1ray]

Thanks for the correction on the subject. Didnt know there was such a device. In a sense, they are keeping my tank..... Yes? I got my crew from reefcleaners.org. Here is the make up of the crew:

http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.p...ategory_id=20&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34 still wondering if I should've gotten a bigger crew.

As for aclimating, I followed the shipper's instructions to the letter. He said not to do a slow drip.Something to do with the PH increasing the amonia and making the water toxic.

I was to allow bags to sit in the tank for 15 minutes so temperature matches that of the tank, then empty out water from the bag into a bucket, remove the critters and place them in the tank. He added the very small snails may take up to 3 days to start moving around?

The star is still hiding in the cave beneath the large snails. Sea urchin still sitting in the same exact spot I saw him in yesterday ( I do see the little tentacles moving now). I'll try and post pics 1st chance I get.

 

[d2mini]

Got mine from John today. Nerites are moving around, fuzzy chitons are just chillin. Ceriths are moving around. I'd let it go and see what happens over the next few days.
And John ALWAYS sends extras. Some are just bound to die in shipping.

 

[cvcdrk]

I usually don't bother slow acclimating snails either. I just temperature acclimate them and throw them in the water. I'm sure it's a shock for them but I haven't lost one yet during acclimation (one narcissus snail died on me a few weeks ago but with 20+ snails in the tank, it's likely one is going to die occasionally).

:-)

 

[mach1ray]

Hey D2, about the fuzzy chitons, how big are they and once the red turf algae is gone, will they die from starvation?

 

[Cathic]

You wont see the star much, the urchin is mainly a night mover as well. He will rarely move when the lights are on. Mine will sometimes, but usually i find him foraging in the night light. The star is sensitive to light, and will know when it is exposed to it, that is how he stays hidden. They dont have much "vision" to my knowledge other than this. He should however readily take some shrimp or krill from your hand with a tentacle though.

 

[mach1ray]

thanks for the input Cathic. I am really appreciating this site and its members!

 

[d2mini]

Hey D2, about the fuzzy chitons, how big are they and once the red turf algae is gone, will they die from starvation?

Honestly, i haven't had the best of luck with the chitons in the past, but i keep trying. lol
They are only about an 1" to 1-1/4" long. Still not much (if any) movement from them. But they do move super freakin slow. If they are on a rock they will stay in the same exact spot until that spot of the rock is stripped clean.

 

[mach1ray]

I heard they are excellent in removing red turf algae and want to get one, but, concerned of it starving to death afterwards.