To dig or not to dig?

[tankedchemist]

Hey everybody... my large fire shrimp has died of unknown causes, despite the fact that he was eating fine this morning and has been doing fine since I got him last week.:frustrat: Unfortunately, his body is lodged beneath a ledge of a fairly substantial rock in my tank.... so my question is, would it do more harm to my system to leave the corpse there, or to remove the rock (and stir up all the sand around it, since the rock is resting on glass) and take the corpse out?

 

[cthegame]

if you have cleaning crew, i wouldnt worry about it.

 

[tankedchemist]

ok... even in a small tank, like mine? I don't want ammonia spikes to kill all the rest of my livestock off :( my CUC is now 2 turbos, 2 nass snails, 2-3 hermits (haven't seen one of the buggers in a while now...) is that enough to deal with it?

 

[ccCapt]

How big is large?
Are you sure it's not a molt?

 

[JBReef]

I'd leave the corps, like cc said, it could b a molt.

But I would make it a point to get a few more hermits and it may clear up your glass a bit to grab a few more snails.

some LFS will give you a 12 for 10$ deal and you can split it 6 and 6.

I just like having all the small movement in my tank IMO.

 

[wontonflip]

So many times these crabs and shrimp have fooled me with their molting and body-part dropping! Only to see its owner pop up 2-3 days later.

 

[Smitty]

I'd say leave it in...even if it's the actual shrimp...stirring the sand could cause more problems... just add a few more crabs and/or snails.

 

[yote]

The bristle worms will take care of the body.Sometimes shrimp and crabs might have trouble molting and die.
But it could also just be a molt.The shed exoskeleton will look identical to the owner.

 

[Rcpilot]

1 dead shrimp in a 29g tank with a full cleaning crew?

Don't worry about it.

 

[tankedchemist]

How big is large?
Are you sure it's not a molt?

he was fat... about 2.5" long, biggest darn fire shrimp I've ever seen. And I'm sorta certain it wasn't a molt... I fed his favorite food tonight and he didn't appear like usual, sooo... I'm thinking he died. My crabs molt all the time, but haven't had a shrimp molt (that I know of, at least).

And about adding more hermits/snails, JB.... how many is too many? I don't want more dead guys on my hands, if I can avoid it. I've only got a 29g so I don't wanna overdo it.

 

[dcantucson]

I would say you could add 4-6 more snails and 4-5 more hermits, without any problem. You may need to feed them a bit more or they could starve.

As for the shrimp...I vote leave it!

 

[daugherty]

does it look clear or does it look like it has meat in the shell

 

[JBReef]

With only 4 snails and 3 hermits in a 29 I wouldn't see any harm in adding a 6 and 6 package depending on your feeding schedual (sp).

I'm only running a 20 and I have about 7 snails and maby 12/14 hermits but I feed my fish plenty cause I love watching them all move around and it's fun to watch them fight with my serpant star.

(I'm running an under ground hermit ring)

 

[Rcpilot]

I completely disagree with adding a larger cleaning crew so you can overfeed your tank. Thats nitrates and hair algae just waiting to happen.

I have a 30g tank. I started out with about 30 snails and 20 hermits. Because thats what everybody told me to do. I fed my fish a lot and watched my cleaning crew scurry around eating bits of food that fell to the bottom. I just loved it. Watching all my little critters eat and be happy made me feel good inside.:bounce:

WRONG ATTITUDE!!!!!

I battled outbreaks of algae the entire time. A constant struggle to manually remove hair algae, change water and chase my own tail.

In the last couple months, I've changed my way of thinking completely. I've started rinsing all my food in RO water to flush out anything thats not a chunk of meat. The "dust" that comes in a frozen cube of food will not feed your fish. They are smart enough to go after the chunks of food, rather than swim around chasing the little cloud of dust and inhaling that to eat. I only put in one tiny drop of food at a time. My fish will eat ALL that in about 30 seconds. If they come back to the surface, I will give them just one more drop of thawed food. Thats it!! Nothing falls to the bottom of the tank. Nothing floats away to be sucked in the overflow and sent to my refugium.

In the last month I've managed to starve 3 or 4 snails and about 8 hermits. Thats exactly what I want. I've never seen any of the snails do much more than cruise around on the glass. Astrea snails are herbivores. They don't eat scraps of meaty chunks. They don't eat anything but algae that grows on the glass. Hermits are picky eaters. If there is meaty food to eat, they will eat it and not touch the hair algae. I want my tank to be FREE of excess nutrients and food. I want my tank to not have enough leftover waste and food to rot and turn into nitrates (fuel for algae). My mission is to starve my entire cleaning crew except for just a few snails and maybe one hermit.

You don't need a large cleaning crew unless you plan to overfeed your tank all the time.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[dcantucson]

Rc-Although I agree with not over feeding your livestock, I don't know if I agree with everything your saying. You may be taking things to a bit of an extreme. I hope some others with more experience will chime in here. I don't agree with starving your animals. If that is the intent then why put them in your aquarium in the first place? I think sometimes we all go to extremes when we think things are working but sometimes what works short term is not best long term. To me it sounds like even your fish are not getting enough food. Just 2 drops? Do you feed them every hour? On the other hand it sounds like your tank is sparkling! My tank is certainly not and it drives me crazy. I have way too much detritus and that DOES lead to problems. I am conflicted! :frustrat::shock::?

 

[Rcpilot]

Rc-Although I agree with not over feeding your livestock, I don't know if I agree with everything your saying. You may be taking things to a bit of an extreme. I hope some others with more experience will chime in here. I don't agree with starving your animals. If that is the intent then why put them in your aquarium in the first place? I think sometimes we all go to extremes when we think things are working but sometimes what works short term is not best long term. To me it sounds like even your fish are not getting enough food. Just 2 drops? Do you feed them every hour? On the other hand it sounds like your tank is sparkling! My tank is certainly not and it drives me crazy. I have way too much detritus and that DOES lead to problems. I am conflicted! :frustrat::shock::?

Clarification:
Only 1 very small clown fish in the 30g tank. And only 1 small 6-line in the 10g frag tank. I was going to put the 6-line back in the 30g tank, but he tried to kill Nemo once before, so I'm hesitant to return him. Nemo has gotten aggressive enough to nip at my hands and fingers when I put them in the tank, so maybe he will hold his own against the wrasse? Not really ready to try it again.......... that wrasse (Striper) is a mean A-hole and he's got more teeth than nemo. Nemo is about 2" long and so is Striper.

I am trying to lower the levels of excess nutrients in the tank. I don't even WANT a cleaning crew. IMHO a cleaning crew is there to eat up left over food and waste that falls to the bottom. I don't want any food falling to the bottom, so I'm only feeding my fish as much as they will eat in 30 seconds.

My tank is NOT sparkling. Not even close. But I'm working HARD to get there.

I'm not trying to starve my fish. Just trying to lower my excess nutrient levels in the tank to the point where I only need a bare bones cleaning crew. I'm completely against the idea that you need 1 snail per gallon and 1 crab per 2g of tank. Thats what I was told when I started this adventure and it seamed to work. But I soon had algae problems. The hermits don't eat algae like I was told they would. The snails don't eat hair algae either. The snails sorta keep the front glass clean, but not enough to really be of any benefit. I still have to scrub the glass weekly.

I'm NOT an expert. I'm just trying something and hoping it will work in my situation. I'm beginning to realize most of my algae problems in the past were plain and simple...... too much food and waste in the tank. As I have reduced food and therefor waste in the tank, it has started to look significantly better. It's still not anything I want to take pictures of and brag about. I have a long ways to go.

 

[dcantucson]

I hear ya. I guess I have to agree with you on the snails and crabs thing. My snails don't even keep the glass clean at all. They knock stuff off and over too if I don't glue them down (not the snails, the corals). I don't know what the heck the crabs do except fight with one another. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Rcpilot]

All my hermits do is steal food from the LPS corals that I spot feed once a week. And fight with each other over shells. Doesn't seam to matter that the tank is LITTERED with perfectly good empty shells from snails they have killed and also shells I have specifically bought for them to move into when they outgrow their current shells. They are content to fight with each other and kill each other over shells. :frustrat:

Stupid crabs are evil. I caught 4 hermits ganging up on a 1.5" astrea snail last month. They were taking chunks out of his foot, basically eating him alive. I rescued the snail and put him up on the glass where the crabs couldn't get at him, but who knows what went on after the lights went out that night.....

Seriously when the last 3 red leg hermits die, I'm not replacing them. Good riddens!!

Tried to catch the stupid emerald crab in my 10g frag last night. Missed him. He crawled up inside a hole and got anchored too good for me to pull him out. He's turned into a lazy A-hole that hangs around upside down on my frag racks and waits for meaty bits of food to come his way each morning when I feed the 6-line. I don't think he's eaten a bit of algae since I caught him attacking a nassarius snail and butchering a bristle worm last month. He got a taste of flesh and has turned into a carnivore. Won't even touch the algae anymore. :frustrat:

Crabs are evil!!!

 

[dcantucson]

LOL
Rc you're too funny! Just take them out and make mini crab salad!

 

[daugherty]

the only crabs that i have had trouble with are the red legged ones and they get bif. i have a bunch of blue legged ones that that dont cause any harm but they stay small unlike the red leg ones.