Cadavers, shells, skeletons, take it or leave it.

[Basile]

Taking out a shrimp skeleton out of the tank, suddenly realised that many of my cerith snails shells where empty.

Bit annoyed really, i took them out as well, and wondering if others do the same, if its better to leave them there, for any reason at all, or like me i like to know that if its there its alive.....

The same goes for the shrimp skeleton should i leave it there to be food for critters or is it good maintenance to take it out.

In my refugium i like to keep it mostly orderly , but leave the little bits there, just in case disaster, and your main shrub dies or becomes prey to what ever , you still have , small bits to pick up with. Learned that one very quickly and saved me from ordering again.

I should point out that my tank is a no hermith zone, they've clean me out too many times of snails and then kill each other out. So i only have snails, urchins, conch, serpent star, starfish, and other cleaners that don't prey on one another. Emeral crab are the only ones i have. And never seen them attack any of my snails.


So whats your take on this?


I write big for my iphone friends



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[reefer gladness]

IMO remove dead snail shells, get enough of them and they become nitrate traps. I remove shrimp sheds if they're easy to get to, otherwise they tend to disappear over time.

 

[sacktheqb65]

what about empty hermit crab shells? I actually like having extra on the sand... something to looks at... and I know the OP doesnt have hermits, but it relates. Should we only have a few extra hermit shells or doe those not matter just the dead snail shells???

 

[Snid]

I think it is an aesthetic thing mostly. I would think it is no more of a Nitrate trap than any hole you have in Live Rock that is unreachable. I guess if the dead snail is still there, then yank it as it is just rotting, but odds are something has eaten it by the time you get to it. Plus, the shell could serve as additional hiding grounds for pods perhaps. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Snid]

P.S. - I write small because my Android kicks Iphone arse! :tongue:

 

[lzrlvr]

you just might not have the nutrients in tank or the right type of food to keep them alive.

 

[Ratpack]

With no hermits, I would remove the extra shells as already mentioned for a cleaner look. I leave mine in the tank since I have a few hermits in hopes that they will use them instead of killing a snail for their shell.

 

[Snid]

you just might not have the nutrients in tank or the right type of food to keep them alive.

That's exactly why I don't like the idea that some of our community's preferred sources for CUCs base their numbers of the CUC without considering everything from the maturity level of the tank, what else might be in it, and what problems the tank is having (and when are those problems happening)?

So many places will say you need x amount of snails to battle GHA, but maybe the tank is only 3 months old and needs to have a phase where it simply has GHA as part of its maturing process. I have a much smaller CUC than is recommended for my tank by most sites and members here, yet all my GHA and other Algae problems are going away naturally as the tank matures (It's a fairly new tank at just under 5 months old), my water parameters always test perfect, my water is crystal clear, my fish are strong and healthy, and I've only lost 1 member of my tank's community, an Emerald Crab. I'd rather have just the right amount of a CUC needed to get my tank where it needs to be gradually than blast away at something for nearly instant results only to have a CUC that dies off because they won the battle and have nothing left to eat.

 

[sacktheqb65]

I agree, Snid. I was fairly amazed at the number of CUC recommended for my 65 gallon tank. I very quickly decided that was too many and went with a much smaller crew. I ended up going with a crew probably about 20% the size they recommended and my hair algae is going away and I am noticing less detritus everyday. I dont understand adding 60 snails to start a tank ang thinking its going to produce enough for them to clean. Even the 12 I have are doing more than their share!

 

[Basile]

you just might not have the nutrients in tank or the right type of food to keep them alive.

No thats not it; first i have about 12 babylonian snails in my 150G for detritus thats it. Type of food, cerith snails eat algae mostly (algae; Diatoms Stringy Growth
Diatom Coating) being their favorite, and i have enough of algae when i dont clean my glass for a few days which i do to give my inverts something to munch on. As for nutrience i run a high nutrient tank for a mainly softy tank and plenty of food for my CUC. I did my research, before hand.

I don't know where you got the idea i had a problem with dying inverts, in my OP i just ask what people do with their shells and other debris. These shell i showed is over an 8 month period, not a very huge tally, for that span. Multiple spawning in that time will and has replenished the stock. My experience with crabs and hermits is from my former tank and lots of reading on hermits social behaviors. They're little ****s!!

 

[Snid]

I don't know where you got the idea i had a problem with dying inverts

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I got the general idea from your very first statement...

Taking out a shrimp skeleton out of the tank, suddenly realised that many of my cerith snails shells where empty.

That does sort of imply that it happened recently and in great numbers.

 

[Basile]

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I got the general idea from your very first statement...



That does sort of imply that it happened recently and in great numbers.

No its the first time i take out shells and noticed that some where empty really, some where under the sand and had been moved by the moving anemone who was on the move. That's what i like about some, you post about something and instantly they think you have a problem with your husbandry. They don't ask , they assume.

 

[Snid]

Heh... Take no offense. Nobody was accusing you of anything. The statement made it sound like there was a lot of death suddenly by how it was worded. No assumptions were made about anything, the words made it sound that way. Anytime there is a lot of death, the first thing to consider is that something went wrong and try to help solve it. Every person that chimed in was doing so in an effort to help you, not accuse you.

 

[Basile]

Heh... Take no offense. Nobody was accusing you of anything. The statement made it sound like there was a lot of death suddenly by how it was worded. No assumptions were made about anything, the words made it sound that way. Anytime there is a lot of death, the first thing to consider is that something went wrong and try to help solve it. Every person that chimed in was doing so in an effort to help you, not accuse you.

Sorry i guess i jumped the gun. lol A bit on the negative side lately.

 

[Snid]

No worries, Matey! Just didn't wan you to think you were under any attack.