Hi I'm John

[EDSONY]

I'm new to your site and to the hobby. Set up 75 gallon tank Saturday before Christmas and has been doing very well until recently. Started with live rock, a variety of snails and hermit crabs. Later I added Tomato Clowns. I have been doing great job of testing water quality. My pet store suggested I raise p.h. from 7.8 to approximately 8.3. It was suggested to use Marine Buffer by Seachem. The p.h. would still bounce back to 7.8 until I kept adding buffer according to instructions for several weeks until the p.h. leveled to between 8.2 to 8.4. The Clown Fish have always done fine and still are. However, all snails and hermit crabs have died as well as several new batches of snails and hermit crabs ever since. I was told to stop using the buffer which I have not used for weeks. All water quality test including salinity appear to be optimum. What does anyone out there think what is happening and what should i do?

:frustrat:

 

[ErinCahir]

Have you tested for copper or stray voltage?

 

[EDSONY]

No. I am in the process of looking up more involved testing kits and equipment. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site..glad to have you aboard.

 

[rems]

Hello and welcome! Ph should be between 7.8-8.4 so as long as the 7.8 is stable it should be ok.... I have learned LFS like to just sell their products and make $$. I would try and use as little chemicals in the tank as possible

 

[wontonflip]

Welcome to the site!

How did you acclimate the snails/crabs? They're very sensitive to changes. Plus it's possible, the lfs probably sold you bad batches of inverts. It happens. Next time you get more, try to drip acclimate them for a couple of hours if you didn't do that already.

Also, FYI, PH fluctuates from lights on to lights off -- PH will go up in the daytime, and goes down when lights turn off. So if you test PH, you should test at the same time each day. But yeah, a ph of 7.8 is fine. The employee was probably just trying to find an explanation for your inverts' deaths. Trying to sound smart ;) Some people run a refugium, with the lights running opposite the main tank so PH stays stable. But it's not necessary.

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forums :wave:

 

[EDSONY]

No. I am in the process of looking up more involved testing kits and equipment. Thanks for your suggestion.

I obtained a copper test kit, tested for copper, and found no trace of copper.

 

[EDSONY]

Hello and welcome to the site..glad to have you aboard.[Sorry for taking so long to respond. I have been involved with work issues at my public utility. I look forward to chating with you!]

 

[EDSONY]

Welcome to the site!

How did you acclimate the snails/crabs? They're very sensitive to changes. Plus it's possible, the lfs probably sold you bad batches of inverts. It happens. Next time you get more, try to drip acclimate them for a couple of hours if you didn't do that already.

Also, FYI, PH fluctuates from lights on to lights off -- PH will go up in the daytime, and goes down when lights turn off. So if you test PH, you should test at the same time each day. But yeah, a ph of 7.8 is fine. The employee was probably just trying to find an explanation for your inverts' deaths. Trying to sound smart ;) Some people run a refugium, with the lights running opposite the main tank so PH stays stable. But it's not necessary.[/Thanks for the advice. Yes, I have been acclimating the snails/crabs as you were suggesting. I just bought a new batch of snails today - and they are not doing well as the ones before!!!!]

 

[reefnoob]

Maybe you can try buying from a different store. You can try this store: Reef Cleaners| Clean up Crews and Macroalgae - ReefCleaners.org | Custom Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae The owner is a really great guy, and his name is John too! LOL. The prices are really good and I've never had any problems with him.

 

[MitchReef]

Maybe you can try buying from a different store. You can try this store: Reef Cleaners| Clean up Crews and Macroalgae - ReefCleaners.org | Custom Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae The owner is a really great guy, and his name is John too! LOL. The prices are really good and I've never had any problems with him.

+1 for ReefCleaners...their stuff is always great and they send lots more than you order...also John, the owner is great to deal with...