I need the advice of the experts. I am wondering if my Blood Shrimp died of "Natural Causes" or poor husbandry. First off the Tank:
29Gal
Inhabitants:
1 Yellow Tang (I know, a foolish move, but I have a 180 gallon on order)
2 PJ Cardinals
1 Red open Brain
1 Galaxia
1 Gorgonia
1 Xenia
2 giant cup mushrooms
1 long tentacle Elegance
1 4-inch sponge
1 Yellow Toadstool
1 Emerald crab
1 Mexican Turbo Snail
4 Turbo Snails
9 assorted hermit crabs
1 purple Maxima Clam
1 Reticulated Serpent Star
Live Rock / Sand Bed:
45 Lbs of live Rock
3-4 inch Argonite SB
Other Filtration:
Protien Skimmer (Rated for 100 Gal, so should be ok)
Water Parameters
Temp = 79 Deg. (Constant since tank setup, not a degree of fluctuation)
SG = 1.024 (Constant)
pH = 8.2 (Constant)
Alk = 3.2 (the only fluctuation was one month ago, it dipped to 2.2 I slowly raised it to 3.2)
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate 0-10 (My test kit comes with a fast and an accurate test. The Fast gives a reading of 10, while the accurate gives a reading of 0)
Calcium = 550 (This seems very high to me. It hovered around 350 for months, I started trying to raise it when I got my Clam. In the last week it has gone from 400 to 550)
Could this calcium spike have caused my shrimps demise? everything else seems very happy. I haven't heard of toxic levels of calcium, but if this is the case, do I just let it naturally drop back to my target range of 400-450? Or is it more likely that he died of natural causes. I am always cautious of asking this kind of question, as there is not always a reason, sonetimes things just die. He was my favorite inhabitant, as he would clean my hand every time I put it in the tank. I would like to know if I am doing something wrong, so I don't needlessly kill another shrimp out of ignorance. As always, thank you for all of your help.
29Gal
Inhabitants:
1 Yellow Tang (I know, a foolish move, but I have a 180 gallon on order)
2 PJ Cardinals
1 Red open Brain
1 Galaxia
1 Gorgonia
1 Xenia
2 giant cup mushrooms
1 long tentacle Elegance
1 4-inch sponge
1 Yellow Toadstool
1 Emerald crab
1 Mexican Turbo Snail
4 Turbo Snails
9 assorted hermit crabs
1 purple Maxima Clam
1 Reticulated Serpent Star
Live Rock / Sand Bed:
45 Lbs of live Rock
3-4 inch Argonite SB
Other Filtration:
Protien Skimmer (Rated for 100 Gal, so should be ok)
Water Parameters
Temp = 79 Deg. (Constant since tank setup, not a degree of fluctuation)
SG = 1.024 (Constant)
pH = 8.2 (Constant)
Alk = 3.2 (the only fluctuation was one month ago, it dipped to 2.2 I slowly raised it to 3.2)
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate 0-10 (My test kit comes with a fast and an accurate test. The Fast gives a reading of 10, while the accurate gives a reading of 0)
Calcium = 550 (This seems very high to me. It hovered around 350 for months, I started trying to raise it when I got my Clam. In the last week it has gone from 400 to 550)
Could this calcium spike have caused my shrimps demise? everything else seems very happy. I haven't heard of toxic levels of calcium, but if this is the case, do I just let it naturally drop back to my target range of 400-450? Or is it more likely that he died of natural causes. I am always cautious of asking this kind of question, as there is not always a reason, sonetimes things just die. He was my favorite inhabitant, as he would clean my hand every time I put it in the tank. I would like to know if I am doing something wrong, so I don't needlessly kill another shrimp out of ignorance. As always, thank you for all of your help.
