All but one fish and a few corals dead

[Kal]

I appreciate all of the responses. I have ordered a 50 GPD RO unit that connects to a sink, so that will be taken out of the equation. Unfortunately, I didn't see that was a debatable subject until after I ordered it.

The tank is now empty of all fish except for my Fire Shrimp. The water has cleared and the corals are all looking much better. The algae issue has also improved. I will keep this tank empty of fish for the next month, just letting the shrimp and corals do their thing.

When something like this happens, does it kill coraline algae? Is my live rock now dead?

 

[ZaneTer]

@Kal
The unit you ordered is a very good choice. There is nothing wrong with using RODI or distilled. I am certain that you will be very happy with your purchase. You might also need a booster pump to increase feed pressure.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

@Kal
The unit you ordered is a very good choice. There is nothing wrong with using RODI or distilled. I am certain that you will be very happy with your purchase. You might also need a booster pump to increase feed pressure.

Very good point. Due to my water pressure I added a booster to my system. It makes a huge difference in the speed of the production water as well in decrease of waste water ratio

 

[EmptyWallet]

I don't think the distilled water was your problem, it was probably overloading the system (bio load was greater than bio filter creating ammonia spikes) + the dosing of phytoplankton (= cloudy water). That said you definitely want to use RODI water going forward. I can't recall if you tested your ammonia levels, but in any event a month without fish in your system won't kill the bacteria in your live rock. There is a lot of debate about needing to feed bacteria every day or two vs they go dormant and survive indefinitely until ammonia triggers them to 'awake' and start repopulating again. In my recent experience, I had a 1 month gap between dosing ammonium chloride and it still 'cycled' the ammonia/nitrite to nitrate in the first 24hrs. Instead of leaving the tank empty for a month, then adding all the fish back, why not test for ammonia daily and add a single fish back in every few days to gradually build up both the bio load (the fish and waste being produced) and bio filter (the bacteria that converts ammo-nitrite-nitrate). Seachem Ammonia Alert people say is great (I've never used one) and if you want to splurge get a Seneye monitor that reads ph/ammonia every 30m and even SMS's you as soon as it starts to rise. I found that really helpful starting out, when acclimating and QT'ing fish etc. Once your tank is stable it doesn't add much value apart from being a PAR meter so I don't suggest it's a good option if you want to keep costs down...

 

[Krzydmnd]

I appreciate all of the responses. I have ordered a 50 GPD RO unit that connects to a sink, so that will be taken out of the equation. Unfortunately, I didn't see that was a debatable subject until after I ordered it.

The tank is now empty of all fish except for my Fire Shrimp. The water has cleared and the corals are all looking much better. The algae issue has also improved. I will keep this tank empty of fish for the next month, just letting the shrimp and corals do their thing.

When something like this happens, does it kill coraline algae? Is my live rock now dead?

Is it a RO/DI or just RO? that's important. Also may want to treat that filtered water with Prime if your local water supplier used chloramine.

 

[EmptyWallet]

Oh and Coralline algae is pretty tough. It's survival depends more on great water quality - low/no nitrate phosphate, proper calcium/alk/mag. For now I would just worry about the fish and stabilising your tank and the basic parameters - ammonia, ph, nitrite (just to see if your tank is cycled, nitrites aren't toxic to saltwater fish), nitrate, phosphate...

 

[EmptyWallet]

* "nitrites aren't toxic to saltwater fish", unless at very high levels like in the hundreds of ppm

 

[Kevin D]

Your alkalinity is too high. Slowly lower it to around 8 or 9. Do a small water change and bring your nitites down too. Keep an eye on ammonia with the die off. I think the algae issue is due to the age of your tank, and the die off. The cloudy water is probably bacteria from the die off. You probably have a mini cycle going on now.