Bad Advice From Lfs Seems To Be Killing My Inverts!

[eschaton]

So, this weekend I noticed I had hydra in my tank. I was a bit worried they might sting and hurt something in the tank, or if not just take over the substrate and make it so that no fish could hang out down there. So I told the LFS guy, who seems pretty knowlegeable. He gave me a pill to dissolve into the tank. I asked him if it would hurt anything else in the tank, and he said no.

Monday I dropped it in. At work I read that in fact the two most common anti-hydra medicines are highly deadly to inverts. I was worried sick. Got home, and everyone seemed fine, though the hydra were dead. Did a 20% water change just to be safe, and thought things were fine.

Noticed yesterday my snails were barely moving. Seemed weird, but didn't give it much thought.

When I woke up this morning, I saw that.

1. One of my ghost shrimp was keeled over dead (couldn't find the other one.
2. Two of my nerites were alive, but on their backs and only slightly moving. Another was still on the glass but had barely moved.
3. Besides moving his siphon, my Apple Snail hadn't done crap all night
4. My freshwater clam had closed up.

So, after fishing out the dead shrimp, I grabbed the snails I could see and the clam, and put them in my other tank (worried about the bio-load, but this is an emergency). The apple snail quickly recovered and started trawling off somewhere or the other, though the nerites weren't very responsive. There's still two nerites, a trumpet snail, some pest snails, and another shrimp in the other tank, but I couldn't see them and didn't have time before work.

Is there anything I can do now? I assume massive water change. I also assume I'd be in the right to go to the LFS and ask him to replace everything he's likely killed in my tank due to bad advice (found out the hydras weren't a big issue anyway).

 

[Miss Wiggle]

did you tell the lfs you had inverts in the tank?

if so then yeah you've got a case, if not then it's dubious.

was it a copper based treatment?

a good way to get rid of hydra is to make your water a bit brackish (so long as your fish are all tolerant of those conditions)

 

[eschaton]

did you tell the lfs you had inverts in the tank?

if so then yeah you've got a case, if not then it's dubious.

was it a copper based treatment?

a good way to get rid of hydra is to make your water a bit brackish (so long as your fish are all tolerant of those conditions)

I didn't ask outright, but I'm in the store on a weekly/biweekly basis, he's sold me shrimp and other inverts before, and I enquired at this visit about an attractive, bluish-white ramshorn snail he had in one of the plant tanks.

 

[eschaton]

To add to my former reply: He didn't tell me what was in the med, so I have no idea if it had copper. It was a white powder though, and from what I understand, most copper meds are bluish or greenish.

When I got home the problem wasn't as bad as I thought. The three nerites and the clam took to the new tank just fine. Oddly, the apple snail is again clinging to the glass in the new tank and not moving much, but we'll see if he jets around any tonight.

Rescued a malaysian trumpet who was kinda addled looking, plunked him in the other tank, seems to be doing fine. Breifly saw the other ghost shrimp, and while she's moving slow, she's also still alive. Still can't find my other two nerites, but I think one might be in the glass way, way in the back (have a planted tank)

The weirdest thing is the freaking pest ramshorn snails appear to be doing just fine. The tank didn't have too many, but the ones I can see are cruising along just fine after another big water change (and vaccing the gravel where most of the white stuff was.

Anyway, I'm hoping in another week I'll be able to move the Apple Snail and the clam back where they belong. I can handle the loss of one shrimp, but I'm attached to both those guys.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

good luck and i hope your fish and inverts all survive.

but i don't think that cos you we're admiring an invert the fish store guy should assume you have them in your tank, nor should you assume he rememberes selling you then, or even if he does how does he know you don't have more than 1 tank and the inverst are in one you aren't treating.

lesson to be learnt here, if your asking about suitability, tell someone every bit of info about your tank you have. if you keep anything like inverts or scaleless fish which are often sensitive to medications you should always point it out.

even with some of my friends i can't remember everything they keep (heck can't even remember what i keep some of the time) remember the fish shop guy will have shed loads of customers, he might remember a few thing's he's sold you or that he knows you have, particularly if you have anything a bit 'special' but he's hardly gonna know everything in everyone's tanks.