Murder most foul........
Discussion
Hmmm goings on in the fish tank last night. I don't know who started it, but this morning I came down to find one leg had been bitten off my brittle star, and my Chalk Goby was lying dead in the corner with the hermit crab happily munching on his tail.
Not sure who started on who, I reckon the Goby started on the starfish, then got the worse of it when the starfish retaliated. Wife is blaming the starfish and wants him sent down the porcelain highway. I reckon it was self defence and I've never seen it attacking anyone else. The Goby on the other hand did try to eat a lot of things he shouldn't.
Oh well better get another fish!
Not sure who started on who, I reckon the Goby started on the starfish, then got the worse of it when the starfish retaliated. Wife is blaming the starfish and wants him sent down the porcelain highway. I reckon it was self defence and I've never seen it attacking anyone else. The Goby on the other hand did try to eat a lot of things he shouldn't.
Oh well better get another fish!
Jasandjules said:
Have you checked the water readings? The loss of a fish can cause an ammonia spike which could have adversely affected the star fish
I'll check, although to point out, everyone was happy last night when I turned out the lights, so the Goby had only been dead in the water for a few hours. I have been battling a diatom bloom so plenty of water changes, from a reputable local supplier of filtered red sea water. I had seen the Goby nipping at the starfish sometimes, which made me think a fight had happened.
Ah, you are using pre-prepared RO? Do you check the parameters (especially SG) before adding?
If not, it may be a minor deviation in the SG has caused a major problem for your starfish (you will be aware they can not tolerate rapid changes in salinty) that the Goby has then attacked it. Starfish like him won't defend themselves as such.
If not, it may be a minor deviation in the SG has caused a major problem for your starfish (you will be aware they can not tolerate rapid changes in salinty) that the Goby has then attacked it. Starfish like him won't defend themselves as such.
Jasandjules said:
Ah, you are using pre-prepared RO? Do you check the parameters (especially SG) before adding?
If not, it may be a minor deviation in the SG has caused a major problem for your starfish (you will be aware they can not tolerate rapid changes in salinty) that the Goby has then attacked it. Starfish like him won't defend themselves as such.
That's the thing, it's strange isn't it, sometimes the Blue Legged hermit has a go at him too, the starfish is about 8in across, you'd think it would kill the hermit crab, but not a bit of it. One slight concern I have is that for a few weeks I've reduced the feeding to help combat the diatoms, hope it's not that everyone was getting hungry and that has caused it?If not, it may be a minor deviation in the SG has caused a major problem for your starfish (you will be aware they can not tolerate rapid changes in salinty) that the Goby has then attacked it. Starfish like him won't defend themselves as such.
Timmy40 said:
That's the thing, it's strange isn't it, sometimes the Blue Legged hermit has a go at him too, the starfish is about 8in across, you'd think it would kill the hermit crab, but not a bit of it. One slight concern I have is that for a few weeks I've reduced the feeding to help combat the diatoms, hope it's not that everyone was getting hungry and that has caused it?
Hermits and Gobies will just nip at stars if they are in their "territory". I trust you have a fairly large tank so he can get away?Reduced feeding will mean more scavenging by the hermits. Do you have any IO snails? What are the water parameters?
Jasandjules said:
Timmy40 said:
That's the thing, it's strange isn't it, sometimes the Blue Legged hermit has a go at him too, the starfish is about 8in across, you'd think it would kill the hermit crab, but not a bit of it. One slight concern I have is that for a few weeks I've reduced the feeding to help combat the diatoms, hope it's not that everyone was getting hungry and that has caused it?
Hermits and Gobies will just nip at stars if they are in their "territory". I trust you have a fairly large tank so he can get away?Reduced feeding will mean more scavenging by the hermits. Do you have any IO snails? What are the water parameters?
Timmy40 said:
Yes there's plenty of room, and live rocks for hiding places. Snails are fine. I've ordered a test kit and skimmer.
Good stuff. If you can post up the results we can take it from there. I take it you also have good water movement? Oh, and what lights are you running? Is the tank sitting in direct sunlight at all?Jasandjules said:
Timmy40 said:
Yes there's plenty of room, and live rocks for hiding places. Snails are fine. I've ordered a test kit and skimmer.
Good stuff. If you can post up the results we can take it from there. I take it you also have good water movement? Oh, and what lights are you running? Is the tank sitting in direct sunlight at all?Will post test results when the kit arrives.
Timmy40 said:
I've got two pumps on the go as I thought perhaps there wasn't enough flow, so I think that's OK, but yes, it does get some direct sunlight. Lightwise I've got a combo of a 'daylight' flourescant tube and blue & white LED strips. Maybe too much light? But then I'm not getting problems with green algae?
Will post test results when the kit arrives.
Which pumps? What is the ratio of tank volume to powerheads?Will post test results when the kit arrives.
Direct sunlight will be the killer though.
So my test kit came and as far as I can tell everything is bang on, PH between 8.2-8.4, low/no Nitrates, same for Ammonia, salinity correct. The diatom bloom does seem to be dying down. My current tactic is to hoover the stuff off the tank floor with the siphon I use for water changes. Doing that I only remove about 3 litres of water, but loads of the brown stuff and then just top the tank back up.
I have applied for permission from the strife to relocate the fish tank. Once I get that I'm going to move away from the window it's next to.
I have applied for permission from the strife to relocate the fish tank. Once I get that I'm going to move away from the window it's next to.
S11Steve said:
Had ours near a window when we first moved house - the first sunny day the tank went brown, temperature nudged across thirty, and we went into survival mode! Frozen bottles of RO, water change and relocate tank in a space of a few hours. Everything had a sulk, but survived.
Jesus. I think with ours it's also a very light room it's in, most of the walls are windows ( as it were ), we have a darker cooler room I can move it too, shame though as the room it's in is where the kids tend to hang out and they absolutely love the tank, it's very educational for them, and had proven to be very effective at soothing/calming down mid tantrum children ( not to mention adults.... I often resort to looking at/ fiddling with the tank when the wife is off on one! ). Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff