Help! Mollusks and Crustations Keep Dying

[rhouse24]

Hello Friends,
It's been a long time since I posted. My tank has been on autopilot for the past four years (thank you Apex). However, the past few years I've had a difficult time keeping snails and shrimp alive. In fact, most die within 24 hours of putting them in my tank. My system is a 110g SPS tank supported by a 120g basement sump. I would guesstimate that 50-75% of the above parish or disappear within the first week. Some inverts have lived for years in the system (pincushion urchin, a few cerinth snails, and a cleaner shrimp) while others almost seem to be poisoned. Turbo snails are the worst, within 2 days they are falling off the glass on their backs unable to flip back over and eventually die. I have a quite a bit of algae that would be a perfect job for some turbos or a seahare but a dozen turbos and 2 seahares later I am left clueless

Acclimation:
I do live an hour away from the nearest pet store but take great effort to insulate the bags and religiously drip acclimate for an hour before adding to the system. The strange part is that in the same batch of snails or shrimp, half will live and half will die, pretty consistently.

Theories:
Dinoflagellates (I don't see any brown slime)
Trace metals
Acclimation shock???

Current Parameters:
SG 1.026
Cu 0ppm
Ca 510ppm
Alk 11.5dkh
PO4 .31ppm
NO3 50ppm
Mg 900ppm

I am at my wits end with my inability to establish a clean up crew; with nothing to help keep the algae in-check, I am considering taking all the live rock/sand out and starting again. I appreciate any advice you can share.

[MizTanks]

What fish do you have?
Not saying this is related but your Mg is lower than what is recommended. Ca is higher than what is recommended. Your NO3 is very high as is your PO4.

[rhouse24]

What fish do you have?
Not saying this is related but your Mg is lower than what is recommended. Ca is higher than what is recommended. Your NO3 is very high as is your PO4.

Regal Angel (a couple times he has nipped at flipped over snails)
3 Fairy Wrasses
Pair of Clowns
Royal Gramma
Blenny
1 Anthia

I am definitely lax on my water changes.

[that Reef Guy]

I read somewhere that Snails can die from too much Algae (Overeating? - Maybe their shells do not grow fast enough to keep up with the growth of the snail itself? - that is my best guess at that Theory).

Your mag is very low and I read somewhere that that can be the problem.

Lastly you could have something that came in the Live Rock that eats them (Crab or Large Worm).

Check at Night when these hitchhikers come out to see if you notice any that should not be there that you did not buy.

I have never had the wrasses that you do but some wrasses do eat snails and shrimp.

[rhouse24]

Your mag is very low and I read somewhere that that can be the problem.

Hmm, The last few years the only Mg I've dosed has been Tech-M (for bryopsis).

[Sir Patrick]

I would search for nocturnal invert eaters, if I were having these issues.

[jimsflies]

I agree with @Sir Patrick. There are large flat worms that eat snails. I found one in my tank several years back. It was nearly perfectly camouflaged and was about 3-inches long.

Here is a photo of what they look like:

[TylerS]

You could try a triton test to see if there are any trace metals you're missing.

Triton Labs ICP-OES Water Test- Full Panel Test Packet - TRITON - GOODS

[that Reef Guy]

You could try a triton test to see if there are any trace metals you're missing.

Triton Labs ICP-OES Water Test- Full Panel Test Packet - TRITON - GOODS

A Great Idea.

They Test for 32 Things I Believe.

[TylerS]

Just ignore any high lithium readings if you do a triton test. It's a common result and people with high lithium aren't having trouble with their tanks. (They have their own sponsor forum at reef2reef).