Dying Invertebrates

Question
I have a 210 gallon salt water aquarium.  I used to be able to keep a variety of inverts.  Because I am a novice, and was having some problems with fish, I hired the owner of the local aquarium store to clean and maintain my tank once a month.  Ever since he's been cleaning, I can only keep a few inverts alive.  I have 1 rock anemone that used to be almost 6" across and now is about 1.5".  I have 2 pencil urchins, 1 lost all its spines, but they are starting to grow back.  I have a few turbo snails that haven't died yet.  Over the past year I've lost several tarantula crabs, sally light foot crabs, dozens of blue leg crabs, 12 emerald crabs, several arrow crabs  and a variety of anemones.  Most recently he put in a 7" long tentacle anemone that lasted less than two weeks. I've asked him several times about the problems and the only answer I get is "I'm baffled".  He said he uses the same water and runs the same tests as he does at his very nice shop, and everything checks out ok.  Any suggestions?  I miss my invertebrates.

Answer
Hi Laura,

My first suggestion to you, would be for you to regularly check your water parameters for stability. If the water parameters are not stable and not within the proper levels, it will be hard to sustain saltwater reef marine life in.

Keep track of the water parameters yourself, including: nitrates, pH, salinity, calcium, and DOC's, make sure to write them down. Then compare them to the person that maintains your aquarium, and see what the results are.

For further educational information on water parameters, see this page from our web site.
http://www.ocreef.com/water_parameters

Regards,
Dave

All Experts - Editor

Orange County Reef Aquatics - Director