salinity change kills xenia and clam

[tdfox]

Salinity Change Kills Xenia and Clam
Thats what my blog title for the day would be if I had one.

And it is just a theory...

Here is the story you tell me what you think.
Second time around for this. Twillard is kind enough to provide me with some Xenia. I love it! 1st time around it dies within 24 hours. Yes I took lots of time aclimating it. My snails 3 shrimp and leather also die. Test the water like crazy (me and one of the great people at Blue Sierra) can't find out the prob eveything tests great. see this post http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17294

3 months and many water changes later, snails living again, I do the same thing. This time I also killed a very nice clam. I am very sad that I keep doing this. I look back on this and the only thing I can think is I may have had a salinity swing. But only a small swing like maybe a few points going from 35 to 32 and back to 35 all within a hour or so.
Now here is the thing some of the mushrooms lived and other things but not the clam or xenia. What gives is it me the saline swing or something else? is his chem way different than mine (how would that be possible? don't know just searching for an answer)
Thanks
Travis

 

[DonW]

Salinity Change Kills Xenia and Clam
Thats what my blog title for the day would be if I had one.

And it is just a theory...

Here is the story you tell me what you think.
Second time around for this. Twillard is kind enough to provide me with some Xenia. I love it! 1st time around it dies within 24 hours. Yes I took lots of time aclimating it. My snails 3 shrimp and leather also die. Test the water like crazy (me and one of the great people at Blue Sierra) can't find out the prob eveything tests great. see this post http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17294

3 months and many water changes later, snails living again, I do the same thing. This time I also killed a very nice clam. I am very sad that I keep doing this. I look back on this and the only thing I can think is I may have had a salinity swing. But only a small swing like maybe a few points going from 35 to 32 and back to 35 all within a hour or so.
Now here is the thing some of the mushrooms lived and other things but not the clam or xenia. What gives is it me the saline swing or something else? is his chem way different than mine (how would that be possible? don't know just searching for an answer)
Thanks
Travis

When you quickly swing salinity like that you swing more than than just salinity. Your swinging ph and alk also. A quick ph drop will cause death quickly as will a alk swing.
How is it that you had such a swing from 35 to 32 and back in a hour?

Don

 

[tike]

Travis....

could you give us more info on youe tank?? Size, how long it's been set-up, water params: cal, alk, sal, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, lighting.

That will help us evaluate the problem better

regards
willie

 

[tdfox]

info

man you guys are fast!

90 gal with Huge Auqa C skimmer with a huge sump for I am sure around 110-115 total cap. for lights now I have 6 PCs (I had MHs but had faulty bulbs recently that are being replaced I live nowhere near a good LFS) a bunch of live rock only 4 smallish fish.
Tank has been set up for about 8 months
My tests have all been either neg or well within parameters.

"How is it that you had such a swing from 35 to 32 and back in a hour?"

Well that is the thing, I was acclimating in a small 20gal QT.
I was taking water from my big tank and slowly adding it to the 20, I think in all of my water shuffle I may have added some RO water to the tank thus changing my chem. I checked my salinity and it was down. So I did the "take some water out add some higher saline water in" to get it back to balanced.

To show my stupidity/lack of thought I did not think about the ph and alk swing. That only makes sense! I would have to think now that the combo of the three was just to much for the animals.
I really feel like crap about this.
Thanks
For your help!
Travis

 

[DonW]

I would stress to much about it as long as you learn from the mistakes. Ive killed WAY more coral than I care to admit.

Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

killed WAY more coral than I care to admit.

Don

Don Corleone gives his corals "offers they can't refuse" (oyster mush)

 

[DonW]

Don Corleone gives his corals "offers they can't refuse" (oyster mush)

Your going for the RF comedian of the month club.

Don

 

[4251cpd]

Salinity Change Kills Xenia and Clam
Thats what my blog title for the day would be if I had one.

And it is just a theory...

Here is the story you tell me what you think.
Second time around for this. Twillard is kind enough to provide me with some Xenia. I love it! 1st time around it dies within 24 hours. Yes I took lots of time aclimating it. My snails 3 shrimp and leather also die. Test the water like crazy (me and one of the great people at Blue Sierra) can't find out the prob eveything tests great. see this post http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17294

3 months and many water changes later, snails living again, I do the same thing. This time I also killed a very nice clam. I am very sad that I keep doing this. I look back on this and the only thing I can think is I may have had a salinity swing. But only a small swing like maybe a few points going from 35 to 32 and back to 35 all within a hour or so.
Now here is the thing some of the mushrooms lived and other things but not the clam or xenia. What gives is it me the saline swing or something else? is his chem way different than mine (how would that be possible? don't know just searching for an answer)
Thanks
Travis

I really wish I could do this to my xenia, they are like crabgrass.

 

[morgan]

hmmm i have swung salinty from evaparation and had no water to replace then replcaed heaps of water to pull a salinty level down i know ur not sposed to do that but i did with no adverse side affects althought at the time i know i didnt have any xeina in the tank and they are very sensetive

this gives us all sumthing to think about
and yes ive lost nice corals too and its like a kick in the teeth
but u have to live and learn and dons right if u dont make mistakes u dont learn things for better or for worse

 

[staticx]

Well maybe I am reading this wrong but are you keeping your salinity at 1.035 cause it should be at 1.025 so to me your salinity is way way off

 

[Krish]

I think when he says "35", he means 35ppt not 1.035 as 35ppt is about 1.026.

 

[tdfox]

I think when he says "35", he means 35ppt not 1.035 as 35ppt is about 1.026.

"You are correct sir" that is the 35pp=1.026
Thanks
Travis

 

[lynn53]

I had a huge fluxation yesterday on my tank...due to my pinpoint salinity tester malfuctioning. I've always kept my tanks about 1.024 to 25 . I don't normally test very often anymore (tank is 5 yrs old) but it's freezing outside here and I needed something to do ..so I brought out the old test kit and went at it. My salinity registered in at 1.020..so I re calibrated the monitor and tested again. I was shocked and started addding 2 cups of salt disolved in a couple gallons of water repeating it about 4 times. After a couple hours the salinity had only gone up to 1.022...so I kept at it. Then I got thinking about the possiblityof equipment malfunction and had my girlfriend bring her's over....and it was 1.032!!! Of course I had to lower it back down over the course of the evening and I haven't lost anything yet. I have so much trouble with equipment failure and test kits ready incorrectly that sometimes I really wonder why I test at all. Looking at the corals and tanks should have told me that everything was fine...but instead I tend to believe the tests more often then not and then something like this happens.
All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't have some expensive fish in hypo!
cheers
Lynn
www.picturetrail.com/chicki57

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Salinity tests are the pits. I used to have two different float in the box style testers that both showed a vastly different read. Bought a refractometer and it showed to be the same as one, but both were actually off. Only figured it out by noticing that the salinity was reading too high on everyone else's tanks. Just calibrating it to RO failed to fix the problem. Got a new refractometer and it tests spot on against RO and a saline reagent. Got a used Fosters brand that also reads exactly like my new one. Finally have a means of testing that I trust. Threw out the bad flat and now have 2 working refractometers and one accurate float. Never assume your salinimeter is correct unless all livestock is thriving. Even then, verify by cross checking.

 

[DonW]

FWIW you can check your refract with pinpoint 53ms fluid. Most of them read a little off if you use rodi water. I wouldnt stress to much about salinity if you can keep it fairly steady without any quick changes. Slow ups and downs will not hurt anything.

Don