ShanePike
Community Member
Two months ago, I added twenty ceriths and a strawberry conch. Seven weeks ago, I added six mini nassarius.
Only two or three of the mini nassarius made it more than a few days. I think only one made it past the three-week mark (maybe not even that far).
The ceriths and conch did phenomenal, though — until recently.
I realized last week that I was seeing fewer and fewer ceriths out and about. One day I only saw two. Wednesday morning there were none.
About two weeks prior, I had turned off the white channels on my lights to try to starve out the hair algae that was becoming so prevalent. Thursday afternoon I wondered if maybe that had killed algae growth so much that the ceriths and conch didn't have anything to eat, so I turned them back on.
Immediately three ceriths rose from the sand. Within an hour, there were a total of nine. I also noticed several of my stomatellas moving around, which I had not noticed before.
Since then, I've seen 12 of the ceriths come out in the afternoon pretty regularly. (Not sure where the other 7 are, or if it's just some random mix of 12 out of the 19 still in there.) The conch still never appeared, though.
So yesterday I went looking for him — and found him. He didn't smell dead, so I set him on top of the sand. Almost immediately his eyes popped out and he sat there like he was trying to get his bearings. Then he probed around with his snout for three minutes or so before burying himself again.
My two clowns and three pavo damsels seem to be doing great, and I have a pincushion urchin who works almost nonstop. I also have an array of zoas that are thriving. It's just the ceriths and conch that seem to be affected (and the ceriths as much since I turned the whites back on).
The tank is a three-month-old 57g Fiji Cube. Here are my parameters:
Any ideas?
Only two or three of the mini nassarius made it more than a few days. I think only one made it past the three-week mark (maybe not even that far).
The ceriths and conch did phenomenal, though — until recently.
I realized last week that I was seeing fewer and fewer ceriths out and about. One day I only saw two. Wednesday morning there were none.
About two weeks prior, I had turned off the white channels on my lights to try to starve out the hair algae that was becoming so prevalent. Thursday afternoon I wondered if maybe that had killed algae growth so much that the ceriths and conch didn't have anything to eat, so I turned them back on.
Immediately three ceriths rose from the sand. Within an hour, there were a total of nine. I also noticed several of my stomatellas moving around, which I had not noticed before.
Since then, I've seen 12 of the ceriths come out in the afternoon pretty regularly. (Not sure where the other 7 are, or if it's just some random mix of 12 out of the 19 still in there.) The conch still never appeared, though.
So yesterday I went looking for him — and found him. He didn't smell dead, so I set him on top of the sand. Almost immediately his eyes popped out and he sat there like he was trying to get his bearings. Then he probed around with his snout for three minutes or so before burying himself again.
My two clowns and three pavo damsels seem to be doing great, and I have a pincushion urchin who works almost nonstop. I also have an array of zoas that are thriving. It's just the ceriths and conch that seem to be affected (and the ceriths as much since I turned the whites back on).
The tank is a three-month-old 57g Fiji Cube. Here are my parameters:
- Salt: AquaForest Sea Salt
- Salinity: 34ppt / 1.0256
- Temp - DT: IM Helio heater set to 78° with temp probe in the DT away from the 1st heater in the DT.
- Temp - Sump: Apex temp probe in the sump reports an average of 78.5°, with a low of 78.4° and a high of 78.9°. The probe sits near the 2nd heater in the sump.
- pH: cycles from ~7.5 to ~7.9 over a 24-hour period if the Apex is correct
- Nitrate: Been measuring 0 for over a month but I have a ton of hair algae (Sera test kit)
- Phosphate: Measured 0.03 on Oct 2, 0.9 on Oct 11. I've since cut back to feeding one a day. (Hanna ULR Phosporous test kit)
- Other Params: Haven't started measuring anything else yet
Any ideas?
