Think I figured out why my tank was crashing...

[Son Of Skyline]

Just got home and what did I find in my tank? One of my 2 long lost margarita snails! But WAIT...snails don't have legs!!! One of my scarlet hermits decided to raid the snail for its shell even though the shell he was in is the same size. I'm guessing the rotting carcass wasn't eaten by the crabs and fouled the tank. Makes sense to me now too, as the dissapearance of these animals coincided with the crashing of the tank :mad: Hopefully the worst is over and things will get better.

[Jeff]

I wouldn't assume that. In almost every circumstance when a snail is killed, crabs or others (bristle worms etc) will devour the carcass WELL before it rots.

You'd be surprised what the cleanup crew can accomplish.

[Aquattro]

Also, I've never had a scarlet hermit kill a snail. Blue legged sure, but not scarlets. It probably found the shell unoccupied.

[Son Of Skyline]

Hmmm...Maybe I'm wrong. One thing though...I don't use a skimmer. Couldn't the remains of the snail foul the tank if I don't have a skimmer to remove the junk?

[Aquattro]

If the remains weren't eaten (unlikely), it could foul the tank (depending on the size). You need to change your sig to "I need a used skimmer" tongue.gif

[Son Of Skyline]

Originally posted by Reef_Raf:
If the remains weren't eaten (unlikely), it could foul the tank (depending on the size). You need to change your sig to "I need a used skimmer" tongue.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Heheh...Thanks for the info. I'm working on the skimmer thing as we speak smile.gif

I just heard that the diversity of life on your LR goes down when you skim the water. Wouldn't skimming remove the DT's phytoplankton that I feed my corals, making it pointless to do so?

[Aquattro]

Mason, that's a question just dying to be answered. I was just doing some reading this morning on over-skimming. A lot of conflicting opinions out there. I can't make sense of them all ;)
I use a skimmer that's way too big for my tank and I have tons of critters in my tank. I have worms, mysis shrimp, the usual assortment of amphipods/copepods and things I can't identify. Microsocpic examination of my skimmate doesn't show much in the way of critters, so I assume they stay in the tank.
Will a skimmer remove some of the DTs? Certainly. But the cost of 0.5 ml loss of DTs to the skimmer isn't worth the accumulation of dissolved proteins that the skimmer removes. Having a skimmer also promotes better light penetration by removing suspended particles.
Having said that, after a recent move and resultant increase in dissolved organics, my corals have never looked better. This is suspected to be temporary, but shows that the corals do like something that is normally skimmed out.
A fellow hobbyist in Victoria has run skimmerless for a long time, however, he now finds he has an algae problem that is getting out of control. He feels now that a skimmer is required. (*Mike, call me about your skimmer).
In the long run, I would personally use a skimmer and buy/feed extra phytoplankton. Worrying about a skimmer removing it doesn't justify not having a skimmer. Remember, this is just my opinion and what I have found works for me.