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Distressed Abalone 11/20/06 Hello, <Hi
there> First let me start by expressing my thanks for your wonderful
site. Since I received my first aquarium a year ago I have spent many
hours lingering over the articles when researching the many questions I
have had. I have always found the site informative and have usually
found my answers here or on one of the many sites references by you.
That said I'm currently not having a lot of luck finding much
information on Abalones. <We don't have much... and as far as
I'm aware, there isn't much written re Haliotid captive
husbandry... at other than the aquaculture level> My initial
research gave me the basic requirements for these interesting creatures
and it appeared that my tank would be a good fit as a home. I went to
the LFS I have used for a year now and they were helpful in giving my
proper acclimation instructions for the two, 1.5 inch tank raised
individuals we selected. <Mmm, do you happen to know the species you
have? Almost all cultured are cold-water... Haliotis rufescens, H.
gigantea (from the U.S. west coast and Japan respectively) or a
di-hybrid cross twixt these two large species... for the food trade...
Not tropical> The water parameters in the store were close to my
own. Salinity of 1.024 <Would carefully keep this consistent (by
pre-mixing new water, make-up/top-off daily) and 1.025 spg> temp 78
degrees PH off by .1 between the two systems. <Mmm... need to know,
monitor alkalinity and biomineral content as well> On arriving home
I slowly acclimated these fellows for about 4 hours once placed in the
tank one immediately gripped onto the glass and started slowly
exploring, the other did not want to grip anything so was carefully
placed upright on one of the rocks and the tank lights remained off for
the night. This morning the fellow who didn't want to grip started
demonstrated some odd behaviour (well I think it's odd for an
abalone but I'm really not sure). He keeps flipping over on his
back and waving his whole body around, I would almost think he's
trying to detach from his shell. We carefully flipped him
back over several time, placing him in different areas of the tank and
within an hour he's back on his back and waving around. When
he's not waving he just lies there, on his back, looking dead.
We've tried placing him on the glass and he'll start to grip
for a for a short time and then he let's go. Right now we're
just leaving him be and making sure no one else starts harassing him
(like the shrimp and hermits) but is there anything else I should be
doing for him? The water parameters all look good, no detectable
ammonia, nitrite or nitrates, PH is 8.3. I look forward to any advice
you can provide. Thank you Sharon <... reads like you have
introduced cool-water animals into a tropical setting (very common)...
They won't live here for long if so. Please do find out the species
you have purchased (from the dealer... it will be recorded on their
manifest, or they can contact their supplier re), and get back to me.
Bob Fenner> Abalone, sys. fdg. I read your article on WetWebMedia on abalone, and have a few questions for you if you don't mind answering them. <I'll try> -I bought mine at the market, and it doesn't look like its doing so good. It won't stick onto anything, it really doesn't move, but I know that its alive because I see very little movement if I take it out of the water or touch it. What do you think is wrong? <Might be on its way out... these Archaeogastropoda die slowly... It should attach itself on its own... Is this a tropical species? Do you have it in a "normal" temperature range?... It might have gotten jabbed well enough to "leak" osmotically... Many other possibilities. Is this a coldwater species? Not suitable for tropical waters if so.> -are they safe for reef systems? <Yes... about as "safe" as anything.> Yours truly, Paul PS I heard they eat coralline algae. <Not really... mostly "leafy" greens, red and brown algae... Depends on species to some extent... take a look through the Net using the common name, the family (Haliotidae) and the words "culture", "husbandry"... Bob Fenner> Re: abalone It died this morning. I think it might have been
punctured when taken out of the taken. How hardy are they to water
conditions? <Hmm, "not very"... most take a beating in the
process/es of culture, shipping, re-shipping... to the
"end-user"... and die consequently in a short period of time
in/on arrival... Many people are unaware of their simpler biology
(they're macrophagous herbivores... don't eat encrusting
Rhodophytes/Red Algae, are mostly cool water species...). Pays to
investigate before purchasing any livestock... unfortunately
there's just too much to know, relate for any given "vendor
relationship" to provide sufficient help... Be chatting, Bob
Fenner> Dead abalone? 8/25/05 Hi, <Hello> I think my abalone
might have died. He is not sticking to anything,
I keep placing him back on a rock, <No need> but every
morning I find him upside-down, I think snail are knocking
him off the rock. <Ah, no... can't do> I am not sure why he
died. <Most likely some aspects of water quality... temperature...
> Should I remove him from the tank? Or keep him there as part of
the food-chain? <if the system is "large enough",
well-filtered, circulated, I would leave the shell, body be...>
Thanks in advance. Christy <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/abalones.htm and the linked
FAQs above... in the hope that others experiences will aid you in
discovering yours... Bob Fenner> |
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