I spent the whole day looking for the cucumbers but couldn't see them anywhere, they had disappeared into my rockwork. But this evening, one of them came out, and it didn't look good. Half it's body was shriveled up and very dark, and shortly thereafter it began ejecting its inner organs. Looked like it was just opening up at the end. At which point I removed it from the tank. I really have to read up on holothrin. I'm guessing some has been released into my tank (the other cucumber must be dying as well, wherever it is). How long does this poison stay in the tank and what effect will it have on my clean up crew, corals, etc. I know it can be toxic to fish but what about other inverts? Anyhow, got some research to do.
Are you all in agreement about my skimmer? Does it really take days/weeks before it starts producing gunk, or should I have skimmate by now (after 24hrs).
I'm uncomfortable with all the debris in my tank so I'm mixing water right now for a 20% water change. For the heck of it I tested the water and here are my parameters:
ph 8.3
temp 80F
SG 1.026
NH4 non-detectable
NH3 non-detectable
NO2 0.05
NO3 20? ...
I am using Elos test kits. I had a hard time reading the NO3... just wasn't sure. It says to look through the vial from above, while the vial is placed on the white field next to the color card... when I do that, it looks to me to be about 20. But when I hold it up against the card and look through the solution, it's such a light pink... it matches a reading of 10. I'm guessing that doesn't matter and the color that matters is the color you see when you're looking straight down into the vial when the vial is placed on the surface, right? Duh, that's what they say so that must be it. I was just taken back by how light the color was in the vial when I held it up to look at it, and how much darker it is when I view it the other way (from the top when it's placed on a surface). Anyhow. Either way my nitrates are high.
When should the ammonia spike.. in about 3 days? Do you all think it's a good idea for me to do a 20% water change tomorrow? There is debris (die-off) on the bottom of the tank that I want to syphon out. Thanks.
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