puttycat
Reefing newb
Wow that's pretty sad, I hate to see that.( not that you did that on purpose) How did you get so many of them? I have one and never see it
Kalk Disaster
- Thread starter Bifferwine
- Start date
Oscarsdad608
Reef enthusiast
I think the kalk settled into their holes to kill them. The shrimp were not trapped in it.
VAreef
Reefing newb
Holy cow thats alot of brittle stars. Man your having a time I feel for ya.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
You know, that makes sense. Thanks. I'm really hoping that the hurting corals will turn around. It seems all I can do now is wait. I'm making more water today, so I'll do another water change tomorrow. Nothing much else I can do, I guess. I've got my fingers crossed for my critters. I feel horrible about what's happened.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
I have a lot more than those guys -- I can still see a lot of them in the rocks alive. I'm not sure how I got so many. My rocks are literally filled with them.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Update: The corals seem to be receding more and more. I can see a lot of their skeletons now. I'm doing another water change tonight. Not much else I can do.
PRC
Stop Quoting Me!
Jeez, is everything dying? That's horrible. Why can't somebody invent some sort of F UP reverser...Just dump it in and you get a do over.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
There are very few things in my tank that don't look to be affected at this point. The zoanthids all seem to be fine. But that's about it. All of the LPS and even the mushrooms are getting smaller and smaller every day.
parrotchute
DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
I don't understand why they're reacting so harshly! Mine have mostly recovered since my week of 1.035 salinity problem....
Could there be another cause....? Just seems like really bad luck Biff.....:frustrat:
I really hope things pull through, especially after all the new stuff you got....
Could there be another cause....? Just seems like really bad luck Biff.....:frustrat:
I really hope things pull through, especially after all the new stuff you got....
Bifferwine
I am a girl
pH spiking to 8.8 and then down to 7.2 within an hour is pretty rough on them... Worse than a spike in salinity, IMO.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
I just did a 30% water change on the 10 and the 90. I have my first fatality -- my purple chalice that was the size of my hand. I'd post before and after pics, but I'm to depressed.
I did find my cleaner shrimp in my sump though -- alive. Amazing, considering how many pumps I have in there. He was clinging to the bottom for dear life. I put him back in the tank and he was a bit dazed, but seems to be recovering. He was probably jumping ship. Like, "Get me the eff out of this hellhole!"
I did find my cleaner shrimp in my sump though -- alive. Amazing, considering how many pumps I have in there. He was clinging to the bottom for dear life. I put him back in the tank and he was a bit dazed, but seems to be recovering. He was probably jumping ship. Like, "Get me the eff out of this hellhole!"
Last edited:
dcantucson
Reef pro
:death: :death: :death: Sorry Biff. I understand your depression. :death: :death: :death:
Last edited:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
I don't know what to do... I'm in total shock. Every day they look worse and worse. They won't open. They won't feed. They keep receding. I really really love the animals in my tank, and I don't know what to do. NDB says, "Maybe some will survive. That's all we can do is hope that some will survive." But they look worse every time I look at them. I'm so discouraged right now.
OmegaOmega
Reefing newb
Biff something like this happened to me, but not with kalk. I had setup a super high salinity drip from a 5gal drip jug I got from marine-depot for water top-off.
I put a knot/kink in the line to control it down to what I wanted to help slowly raise salinity and by three hours my RKE alarm went off. When I watched the drip directly it would drip normally, but every now and then it would 'spurt' (for lack of a better term) like it was a toilet flushing or something then go back to drip and do it again; I don't know if it was the way the line was, the gravity/pressure from the jug or what...
I'm wondering if the knot in your line did something similar?
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
If some are still alive at this point I would not assume all is lost.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Well, two more fatalities today. My two large brittle starfish. You know, the ones that were catching and eating fish. I think they were responsible for the deaths of my blue damsel (my first fish ever, he was SO OLD!!) and Mandy the Mandarin. I came to this conclusion after I saw one of them reach out from under the rock, grab a chromis that swam by, and drag the chromis underneath the rock, with its arm wrapped around the struggling fish. The chromis broke free and swam off, but NDB and I were both like, "DAMN!!!" NDB has been wanting to catch the two stars since he saw that happen, but they have been pretty tricky, since they both live beneath the lowest, largest load-bearing rock in the tank.
So I guess that solves that problem.
OmegaOmega
Reefing newb
Not to sound naive - but starfish can reach out and quickly grab fish? I thought they were docile/slow moving, let alone I didn't even think fish entered their diet...
dcantucson
Reef pro
Brittle Starfish can be very quick!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Brittle stars have been known to become fish predators when they get large enough. I had my two brittle stars for 5+ years now, and they are HUGE. I always wanted to believe the best about them, that they were harmless detritovers. But then NDB and I saw it happen with our own eyes.
The green brittle stars are especially aggressive towards fish -- they are commonly called "green death stars" because of it.
The green brittle stars are especially aggressive towards fish -- they are commonly called "green death stars" because of it.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
But my disastrous pH spikes and drops are quicker!! :D
