Samb's 5G Fluval Chi Reef

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Would love any tips from experienced saltwater keepers etc. I am very very new at this and stumbling my way through.
 
There is the "biggest saltwater store in Alabama" an hours drive away that I am hoping to check out this Saturday.. exciting news indeed..
 
A bit of a frustrating day.. my rocks are getting Dust Algae I believe, so I'm lowering the light cycle by a couple hours. 
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^^ lovely green stuff. I actually dont mind the amount there now, but don't want more of it.
 
And.. unfortunately I think I've had a casualty in the Clean up Crew.
 
Late last night I found Astrid upside down. I flipped him with my net and left him on the sand bed. When I came back from classes today he was in the same spot.. so I am presuming dead..
rip.gif
Petco doesn't take salt water animals back so I have the shell in a cup with some salt water (just in case I'm wrong? not sure if snails ever stay stationary for 18 hours). Since I have the shell I figure I might as well put it back in the tank, but not sure if I need to clean out any "organic matter" and not sure how to do so.. any advice appreciated. I've also realized I am pretty much stuck with this peppermint shrimp whether I like it or not (don't know anyone close with a salt water tank..), though he might be making the journey with me to the nearest saltwater store in a few weeks.
 
Here's poor Astrid:
 
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Any thoughts on why he might have died? I haven't seen any hitchhikers but I'm wondering if I have a crab. I'm not currently feeding this tank anything, though I might have to start feeding the shrimp something or other if I want him to survive..
 
I also noticed these white moving dots on my glass, kind of hard to take a picture of, here's my best shot:
 
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And here's my best try at a video..
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2nuX446y3s
 
Hard to tell from the pic but the white things could be copepods which are a good thing to have
 
Lillefishy said:
Hard to tell from the pic but the white things could be copepods which are a good thing to have
 
:D I was hoping so, someone else had suggested that they might be copepods to me as well earlier. Awesome news! 
 
The large black and white snail looks to be a Citarium pica. Be warned, they eat a lot! In such a small tank one of those will likely need target feeding after a while. They also don't like high temperatures; IME they have always seemed more sensitive in that department than other similar CUC species like Turbo fluctuosa. If the tank is running over 78F then I would change species.
 
 
 
Might have to take the peppermint shrimp back though, I understand they can be a bit brutal to keep with some stony corals.
 
Missed this earlier, sorry. If you haven't already taken it back and the problem is picking at things, daily feeding with meaty foods or carnivore pellets like sinking shrimp pellets should remedy it. Most of the bad behavior they're accused of is the result of being kept in a state of desperation. They fight pest anemones more rapidly as such, but the unpredictability factor is also much higher. 
 
On the other hand, if the problem is that is is going stompity stomp stomp all over something...that is harder to change, particularly in a small environment. 
 
 
 
Any thoughts on why he might have died?
 
 
 
Any number of reasons for a snail death not long after purchase...sometimes very hard to diagnose. Some common ones:
- Sickly/stressed to begin with (how does the store keep its sw tanks? All in tip-top shape or...?)
- Shipping mishaps that do damage before the snail even gets to the store; sometimes the problems aren't obvious on new arrivals
- Too fast acclimation (skimmed through again but missed it if that was mentioned anywhere)
- Already old on collection (they are wild caught...no telling on age usually)
- Too high temp for the species (coldware species show up sometimes)
- Param swings associated with new tanks
- Became dinner for something
 
For the last one...I would not suspect a crab first necessarily, although they can be culprits. Often they aren't though and many get the blame unnecessarily even when present. There are many things that will eat a snail besides true crabs, such as hermit crabs (although again this is usually a sign something is off...hermits not being provided for correctly, etc.) and a small army of worms that can ride in as hitchhikers: Eunicid, Oenone fulgida, Polyclad flatworms, and even the odd species in the mostly safe family of Amphinomidae. 
 
What Donya said, I started my tank with turbo snails presumably from mexico, and colder waters.  Needless to say, between that and lack of food they eventually died after my diatom cycle ended.  Now i keep astreas and ceriths, the only 2 snails I feel need to be in a reef!!!

Not sure why you had issues with yours, you could be right about a crab.  Every one i originally purchased is still alive and kicking!  It does look to be an extremely large and possibly very old specimen.
 
The Chi continues on! It's growing and has a lot more corals now and EVEN a dreaded Mandarin Goby.. Who's been alive for.. 4-5 months now? In my tank. 
 
Pics to come later, just reorganized and waiting for everything to clear up.
 
Here is a pretty sub par picture:
 
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Need to work out how to deal with all the blue!
 
Stocking is now:
 
1 Mandarin Goby
1 Banded Coral Shrimp
1 Red Sea Star
2-3 Blue Legged Hermits
1 Black Margarita Snail
1 Cerith Snail
 
Kenya Trees
Trumpet Coral
Green Star Polyp
Xenia 
Dragon Eye Zoanthids
Asst. Zoanthids
Asst. Palys
Asst. Mushrooms
Potato Chip Coral (real name unknown?)
Whisker (Duncan) coral
Purple Gorgonian
Green Leather
 
Water cleared up today and everything was peeking it's heads out, so here's an album.
 
Picked up a feather duster today! Pictures to follow.
 
Just read through this thread, i'm literally drooling aha, the tanks amazing,
 
All in all how much do you think this has cost you so far?
 
It looks like you hooked up your DIY LED to the Coralife setup? Is that correct, I'm assuming you replaced the Blue Light connection.
Regardless, I'm curious to more details on your lighting setup, because it looks amazing!
 

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