75 gallon saltwater tank deaths

[Fishbird]

Also, I would also check tank temperature several times a day just to make sure that your heater hasn’t failed on/the tank isn’t getting too hot. Especially in a closed system, I would be worried about heat.

 

[fishguy242]

Also, I would also check tank temperature several times a day just to make sure that your heater hasn’t failed on/the tank isn’t getting too hot. Especially in a closed system, I would be worried about heat.

also poss elec current in ,with broken heater,do you have ground probe in tank?

 

[Aggro]

He used a plastic instant ocean sea test hydrometer. I did not (unfortunately) ask what it measured. I am fast learning to document and ask more questions. He is coming back Tuesday and I will be more diligent. The fox face is still alive but looks terrible. The gody is there somewhere. Two yellowtail damsels are alive. Everything else died. It is disturbing to think the new guy did something, but again hindsight!! I have a Refractometer but still learning. The salinity looks ok. Thank you to all who have cared so much.

so I’m not well versed in saltwater but the one thing that always plays true in any scenario is common sense. Not saying you don’t have any so don’t think that. when they show up on Tuesday and they pull out there plastic hydrometer watch them make sure they’re using it correctly tapping it to get air bubbles off and things like that. Everyone has a preference on tools for the job but a lot of people in this field I would imagine would have both and being a first visit would have checked the hydrometer against a refractometer. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions n stuff. You put a lot of money into your setup and little scaley pals. I don’t want to see anymore go. Where are you located if you’re in need of a qt tank I can send you a little 14g biocube I have. And it will be yours to keep free of charge. I won’t be needing it as I’m doing a build and won’t be getting any more fish until it is done.

 

[boacvh]

Fox face in hiding. Still stressed. Why, he is in a very nice aquarium. A lot like raising teenagers! Seem to have an ammonia spike this morning. Not sure why when most fish are dead and taken out.

Not an expert either but I think the number 1 problem you have to address, before salinity, is that it looks like you have some ammonia by looking at that test, which means there is either something dead still in the tank that you can't see, or your tank has lost the ability to process that ammonia. Just to be on safe side (tests can be wrong) I would do a water change and would buy some biospira and dose entire bottle. I would also get an ammonia alert badge, they are only $6 on Amazon. And then you can at least discard this being an ammonia problem.
Sorry for your losses

 

[najer]

I figure there are a few things that need addressing on Tuesday, don't panic, we are where we are!
Firstly get them to show you how to use your refractometer, how to calibrate it and get a good reading, if they can't do that then ditch them.
Ask them what the tds of their R O water is? If they can't answer those then ditch them.
Find a good lfs (local fish shop) and get them to test your water and explain what has been going on.
How is the fox face and have you noticed any difference with the bubbler on, my fox face is referred too as fff, first word is freaky!

 

[Joyce R]

sorry ,to overwhelm w questions..how is he curently breathing??

not well

 

[fishguy242]

have you increased oxygen by air stone top water movement,added carbon in any way?

 

[Joyce R]

Also, I would also check tank temperature several times a day just to make sure that your heater hasn’t failed on/the tank isn’t getting too hot. Especially in a closed system, I would be worried about heat.

Ok

 

[Mmun]

Ok

Make sure ph is correct. May have to add marine buffer

 

[Joyce R]

Make sure ph is correct. May have to add marine buffer

TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL CARING PEOPLE. Came home from dinner to find damsel dead. Now only have gody, foxface (shock) and two pj cardinals. The entire tank has basically crashed. So in summary did the yellow eye tang with the swollen lips infect everything or did the new maintenance guys do something...but it does not show up in testing. QUESTION: What do we do now? Do we wait until all are deal and then what? Drain and toss out and sell. How do we know what to do? How do you start over? How do you correct such a terrible thing? If disease how to get out of the rocks, substrate ? Really?

 

[Fishbird]

You can definitely come back from this if you want! I would watch the BRS (Bulk Reef Supply) 5 minute reef tank videos. Here’s the first in the series but they walk you through all the steps to set up a tank and then show you what the tanks look like after four months.

Hard is why it’s cool! Setup a saltwater aquarium you can be proud of.

You found the beginning of something cool, the 5 Minute Guide to Saltwater Aquariums is our mission to provide new saltwater aquarium owners with the information they need to set up and maintain reef tanks that they can be proud of. Saltwater reefs are captivating and once

www.bulkreefsupply.com

You could put your remaining fish in a QT tank and run your 75 gallon tank fallow for 76 days (look at the thread called “fallow periods” at the top of this forum).

If you pull your remaining fish into a QT tank you’ll have to decide whether you’re going to observe or medicate. It sounds like there aren’t visible symptoms so I might just observe fish. Others might medicate and hope they covered all the bases.

The biggest thing with a QT tank would be ammonia. You can add a bottle of bio-spira or something similar and have a sponge filter in the tank. This will help but you’ll have to monitor ammonia closely (use a Seachem ammonia alert badge) and be prepared to do frequent large water changes. This means having saltwater mixed up on hand.

If your current fish all die then you could still run your tank fallow for 76 days. During this time you could have invertebrates including beginner corals.

If you decide to stay with the tank, I would do a lot of reading up on choosing fish. You want to consider not just the bioload that the fish will create, but it’s swimming needs (is it a goby that hops around and perched a lot? Is it a dwarf angel that swims constantly and needs lots of space?), it’s food needs (is it a wrasse or mandarin that needs to be able to find a constant source of pods on the rocks? Territory size and niche (if you have multiple bottom dwellers they’re all going to be competing for space and that may lead to aggression and stress) etc. LiveAquaria has recommended minimum tank sizes for their fish. With a 75 gallon you have a lot of options but it sounds like this time around you had a *very* large number of fish for the tank. More fish=more competition for resources=more stress and less ability to fight off diseases. I think you can do this if you want to! It does sound like you’d be better off learning how to do the maintenance on your own. Probably cheaper, too!

 

[fishguy242]

so sorry to hear,it is up to you what you want to do,at this point cannot answer that,oxygen,carbon too help fish,i'm not giving up ..following, more replys guys

 

[fishguy242]

@Joyce R ,not insulting ,keep in mind guys they are 75 yrs old,waterchanges 5 gal buckets out of question in my opinion
please correct me if i am wrong joyce

 

[fishguy242]

@Big G @Crabs McJones ..thoughts suggestions,thanks @NowGlazeIT please read through

 

[Joyce R]

You can definitely come back from this if you want! I would watch the BRS (Bulk Reef Supply) 5 minute reef tank videos. Here’s the first in the series but they walk you through all the steps to set up a tank and then show you what the tanks look like after four months.

Hard is why it’s cool! Setup a saltwater aquarium you can be proud of.

You found the beginning of something cool, the 5 Minute Guide to Saltwater Aquariums is our mission to provide new saltwater aquarium owners with the information they need to set up and maintain reef tanks that they can be proud of. Saltwater reefs are captivating and once

www.bulkreefsupply.com

You could put your remaining fish in a QT tank and run your 75 gallon tank fallow for 76 days (look at the thread called “fallow periods” at the top of this forum).

If you pull your remaining fish into a QT tank you’ll have to decide whether you’re going to observe or medicate. It sounds like there aren’t visible symptoms so I might just observe fish. Others might medicate and hope they covered all the bases.

The biggest thing with a QT tank would be ammonia. You can add a bottle of bio-spira or something similar and have a sponge filter in the tank. This will help but you’ll have to monitor ammonia closely (use a Seachem ammonia alert badge) and be prepared to do frequent large water changes. This means having saltwater mixed up on hand.

If your current fish all die then you could still run your tank fallow for 76 days. During this time you could have invertebrates including beginner corals.

If you decide to stay with the tank, I would do a lot of reading up on choosing fish. You want to consider not just the bioload that the fish will create, but it’s swimming needs (is it a goby that hops around and perched a lot? Is it a dwarf angel that swims constantly and needs lots of space?), it’s food needs (is it a wrasse or mandarin that needs to be able to find a constant source of pods on the rocks? Territory size and niche (if you have multiple bottom dwellers they’re all going to be competing for space and that may lead to aggression and stress) etc. LiveAquaria has recommended minimum tank sizes for their fish. With a 75 gallon you have a lot of options but it sounds like this time around you had a *very* large number of fish for the tank. More fish=more competition for resources=more stress and less ability to fight off diseases. I think you can do this if you want to! It does sound like you’d be better off learning how to do the maintenance on your own. Probably cheaper, too!

Thank you. I have not look this morning. Have to have coffee first.

 

[Joyce R]

Thank you. I have not look this morning. Have to have coffee first.

This is my morning find: foxface, gody, two pj cardinals in tank. BUT look at one of my sweet pj cardinals.

 

[Fishbird]

Sure! I suggested that video series because in two or three hours it gives a lot of information that is helpful background info.

If you can’t do water changes yourself (or if there are any other particular tasks that you or anybody can’t do) I still think there is a way for you to have a tank, if you want it!

You are obviously interested and capable of testing (don’t worry about feeling like a beginner. We all were or are.)

If you decide to continue having a tank maybe you could post another thread asking for questions to ask a maintenance person and we could all make suggestions for questions you should ask a candidate (and give our own suggestions of what kinds of answers you’d want to hear before hiring the person). Also, maybe you could hire somebody specifically to do water changes, but you could do the mixing of the water and handle testing. That way you’d know what was going on with your tank at any given time.

Finally, I know everybody talks about hauling 5 gallon buckets and how annoying it is. My tank is small (29 gal) but I don’t ever haul a five gallon bucket that’s full. When I do water changes I empty out two or three gallons into a bucket and empty this in my toilet. I mix saltwater in a 20 gallon brute can and I carry it from the brute can to my tank in gallon jugs. I can certainly see it being tedious to carry a jug for seven trips but really what I’m saying is that maybe we could also all brainstorm ways to make maintenance easier/doable for you, if you can’t find a reliable person.

 

[fishguy242]

i eye gone? or covered? ..what state are you in?

 

[Joyce R]

Sure! I suggested that video series because in two or three hours it gives a lot of information that is helpful background info.

If you can’t do water changes yourself (or if there are any other particular tasks that you or anybody can’t do) I still think there is a way for you to have a tank, if you want it!

You are obviously interested and capable of testing (don’t worry about feeling like a beginner. We all were or are.)

If you decide to continue having a tank maybe you could post another thread asking for questions to ask a maintenance person and we could all make suggestions for questions you should ask a candidate (and give our own suggestions of what kinds of answers you’d want to hear before hiring the person). Also, maybe you could hire somebody specifically to do water changes, but you could do the mixing of the water and handle testing. That way you’d know what was going on with your tank at any given time.

Finally, I know everybody talks about hauling 5 gallon buckets and how annoying it is. My tank is small (29 gal) but I don’t ever haul a five gallon bucket that’s full. When I do water changes I empty out two or three gallons into a bucket and empty this in my toilet. I mix saltwater in a 20 gallon brute can and I carry it from the brute can to my tank in gallon jugs. I can certainly see it being tedious to carry a jug for seven trips but really what I’m saying is that maybe we could also all brainstorm ways to make maintenance easier/doable for you, if you can’t find a reliable person.

Thank you.

It seems I should remove the remaining fish and let this tank sit for 76 days. If I remove them to a qt tank, I have to buy one and “establish it.” (Cycle?). If that is so, what do I do with the fish in the meantime or do I use the water from the big tank.

 

[Joyce R]

What would be involved in converting to freshwater?