Peppermint Shrimp and Emerald Crab Died

[Jakers88]

I have a JBJ Nano 24g, tank is one month old added a cleanup crew from reefcleaners.org and also picked up two small peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab from the LFS. I added them on Aug 29th and the two peppermint shrimp and emerald crab died sometime on the 3rd. So about 5 days after adding to the tank. My wife came home to a nassarius eating a half dead/almost dead peppermint shrimp and found a carcass from the other shrimp. Then this morning (4th) I woke up to do my weekly water change and the tank was SUPER cloudy and I found the emerald crab carcass. I've tested the water levels with the test kits that I have and all appear normal except for alk which seems way low, but increased after my water change. I can't think of any reason why they died unless it was lack of food. I have plenty of GHA in the tank and was under the impression from my LFS that they would be fine with eating that (after the deaths I realized that might not be the case). After my water change I dropped some thawed Mysis in the tank and the hermits and snails went CRAZY over eating it, it was like they were sharks smelling blood, all of them came running to that part of the tank to gobble it all up. They ate half a cube or so in about 15min.

I'm thinking the poor things died of starvation because all of my other levels appear normal. The shrimp bodies were no where to be found (I'm assuming the snails/hermits devoured them, and the crabs body was still clinging on a rock)

(Phos, Calc and Mag tests have been ordered). I use an RODI for salt and top offs, and my TDS after the RODI is 0.

I'm 99% sure they are NOT molts, none of the creatures are to be found and I was blasting water all over the place trying to remove diatoms and see if I could get them out of hiding if they were alive.

I'm going to do another 15% water change tomorrow to help with water cloudiness from the deaths as well as to get my Alk back up. I also ordered Red Sea Pro test kit as a bundle for Alk, Mag and Calc (was cheaper to get the bundle than to order Mag and Calc separately, plus this way I can compare my Hanna). I also ordered a Tunze ATO Nano to keep salinity more stable and will dose with BRS Kalkwasser once I get my tank needs figured out.

Tank Info:
JBJ 24g w/ a JBJ 28g Hood (105W Compact Fluorescent)
First chamber - Filter floss
Second chamber - Media basket with SeaChem in first spot, filter floss in second spot, Chemipure elite in third spot
Third Chamber - Rock rubble and MJ 1200 return pump
Lights on a 12hr schedule
Also have a Koralia 600 in the tank for additional flow
30-40lbs of live rock
2" Sand band
Weekly water changes of 4gal (15%)
Red Sea Coral Pro Salt
API Test kit for Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia and pH. Hanna checker for Alk, Refractometer for SG.

Here are my levels

Before adding CUC on Aug 29th
Temp: 78.6F
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.025
pH: 8
Alk: 7.2dKH

Friday Sept 1st
Temp: 81.1
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.025
pH: 8.4
Alk: 5.926dKH

Saturday 3rd
(Tested the water after getting home from work, AFTER the shrimp/crab had died but not having the carcasses removed)
Temp: (Not tested)
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0 (Definitely less than 5, way closer to the 0 color chart)
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.026
pH: 8.4
Alk: 4.137dKH

Sunday 4th
(Tested after waking up, water was massively cloudy, had not found crab carcass yet)
Temp: 79.9
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0 (Definitely less than 5, way closer to the 0 color chart)
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.026
pH: 8.4
Alk: 3.969dKH


Sunday 4th
(After water change and carcass removal)
Temp: 80.1
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0 (Definitely less than 5, way closer to the 0 color chart)
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.025
pH: 8.4
Alk: 5.423dKH

[Tripod1404]

They wont die due to starvation in couple of days, it will take months for them to die from starvation.

You have huge alkalinity swings for a tank that has no coral to consume alk. You should look into that. Swings that big would easily kill anything. I suspect you might have low Ca or Mg that causes precipitation and therefore cloudiness and swings in alk. I dont think two crustacean carcasses would cause water cloudiness. Or you might be overfeeding while the bio filter is not ready to handle that much (causing bacteria bloom).

Also what brand of tests are you using?

[Jakers88]

Originally Posted by Tripod1404

They wont die due to starvation in couple of days, it will take months for them to die from starvation.

You have huge alkalinity swings for a tank that has no coral to consume alk. You should look into that. Swings that big would easily kill anything. I suspect you might have low Ca or Mg that causes precipitation and therefore cloudiness and swings in alk. I dont think two crustacean carcasses would cause water cloudiness. Or you might be overfeeding while the bio filter is not ready to handle that much (causing bacteria bloom).

Also what brand of tests are you using?

Test kit is API for all except the Alk which is a Hanna checker. The LFS did talk me into getting two heads of frogspawn as well which is why I think my Alk is dropping. I was told that it wouldn't really take up a bioload and that it would be okay. I have NOT fed the tank at all, since the tank is only a month old I do not have any fish to feed so the CUC has just been going around sifting sand eating algae and such. My Ca and Mg test kits from Red Sea will be in at the end of the week.