We've had some recent fish tank issues which is mildly confusing as we haven't added or removed anything from the system in over 6 months. First we noticed our torch coral didn't look to happy, which is very unusual as it's a relatively hardy coral that has previously flourished in our tank. The next day, it was dead and all that was left was the skeleton. Hmmmm?
Then, we noticed that all of our snails were mysteriously missing. We chalked this up to the obnoxious hermits we have in our tank. This isn't the first time our snails have all gone missing, and every other time it turned out the stupid hermits had decimated the population. We had tried to get as many hermits out as possible, but apparently failed.
And, now....we suddenly have a creepy dark green/black algae all over the sand and rocks. We're assuming the algae feeds off of light because it's usually all gone in the morning (after the lights have been off all night) and reappears in the afternoon.
When you add it all up, it seems we may have a problem. Torch coral death + all snails gone + algae explosion. But, when you break it down, it doesn't make sense. Snails are extremely hardy, and anything non-predator related that would kill our snails and torch coral would have long ago affected our fish as well as our more sensitive corals. But, the fish and other corals are just fine.
So where does that leave us? We decided to go purchase some new snails to help with the algae (and replenish the tank) and well as some new light bulbs. We began to wonder if maybe the alkalinity in our tank was off and maybe that was what was affecting the snails. But, after a chem check of all of the important saltwater levels...they all check out as ideal and/or acceptable. Hmmmm?
Well, fingers crossed that the snails and new light bulbs help cause man, our tank looks ugly right now.
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