All Corals closing, everything is exceedingly unhappy. Possible foreign substance?!

[Reffetsevla]

Tank established 1/1/22

Been fighting PO4 lately, struggling to get it below 0.5 consistently. Other parameters are usually 1.025, Ca 420, Alk, 9, PO4: 0.5 - 0.6 (working on this), N03: 30. Did a water change, had a little extra water in after so I dipped out some with a container I have specifically for the tank. I think something may have been on it. EVERYTHING is exceedingly ticked off. I woke up today with my tank slightly cloudy, I suspect a bloom but not sure what yet, which is why I was doing a change.

Figured a 10% change wouldn't hurt, and I don't think that was it. I am afraid something got into the tank from the outside of that container. Would dried salt on the outside going directly into the DT cause this???

I'm running tests now, I'll update this as I get my results:

S.G: 1.025
Temp: 79
Ca: 400
Alk: 9
PO4: 0.47 - was 0.84 late last week. My API P04 kit was bad, read 0 nonstop so I even dosed PO4. Still 0. Got a hanna, 0.84...
NO3: 10

All fish/inverts accounted for so far. Fish do not seem affected in the least.

I just added a large bag of carbon. It's a 20g IM tank and this is the large fluval bags, 100g I think. Hoping to pull anything out that isn't supposed to be there.

Anyone see this before? Ideas what could've caused it? I'm prepping for another W/C now but I don't want to keep doing it if that's not going to help.

 

[blaxsun]

Without knowing what the container may have come into contact with, it's really hard to say. I have several tank-specific containers, pails, nets and tools which I soak in hot water and white vinegar after any acclimation, dips, etc. - then let air dry for the better part of a day before using again.

Is there anything else that you're supplementing the tank with?

 

[damsels are not mean]

The tank is still young enough that a bacterial bloom is possible I suppose. It could just be a coincidence. Without ICP it would be hard to say if there is a contaminant but unless you had something obvious on the container I really doubt that did it.

 

[Reffetsevla]

The container sits in a tupperware next to my water changing stuff. I usually rinse it off but I don't usually treat it or anything. This was just a quick "dip out a couple cups" since i topped it off too high. It shouldn't have come into contact with anything I can think of. Unless it got set on some counter top or something during a change but...I have no idea why. Things are getting way worse way faster than I can react.

I think I'm going to lose everything...I have NEVER had anything react this badly this quickly before.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Could it have been something in the air? Some people have seasonal issues that may be cause by pollen. It's about that time of year I guess.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Everything started getting exceedingly ticked right after I dipped that container. I really think something was on it. I just have no idea what. I haven't been treating with anything. Just added some Clearmax about two days ago and GFO a week ago to try and help bring the PO4 down. Doing pretty constant water changes to try and help that too. I think the PO4 is probably not being helped by my feeding, cutting that back and only pellets/etc for a bit. No frozen. Waiting on my PO3 results now.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Don't think the Duncan's are going to be surviving this.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Something I just thought of. When I went to changed the water, my mixing tank had a cable fall into it at some point. It was the little DC adapter for my ATO, super low voltage, was likely in there for 30min or so I would think. Would that being in the water for any length of time done something to it? Cause a precipitation or something? It looked clear when I pumped it in but I just thought of that.

 

[Duncan62]

Something I just thought of. When I went to changed the water, my mixing tank had a cable fall into it at some point. It was the little DC adapter for my ATO, super low voltage, was likely in there for 30min or so I would think. Would that being in the water for any length of time done something to it? Cause a precipitation or something? It looked clear when I pumped it in but I just thought of that.

Maybe. Good chance. Don't throw out anything yet.

 

[MaxTremors]

I agree that it’s likely a bacterial bloom, pretty normal to get one at the 2-3 month mark, just ensure lots of oxygenation, run a UV sterilizer if you have one, and some carbon, it should go away within a week or so.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Thanks! It's just really really odd because everything was fine up until about 2:45 PM when I did the water change. Then everything went down hill fast. This bloom or cloudiness was there from about 7:00 AM. I would've expected it to impact them earlier but this is new territory for me.

I think that cable was in the water longer than I initially thought. There was some corrosion on the tip when I pulled it out, but it's also several years old so that could've happened before. Would this behavior be something you'd see if copper or another element got in the tank? The cable live when it was in the water, wonder if it released something in the change water.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Your Duncan looks annoyed, but not dead. It's creating mucus indicating it's irritated, so at least it's still reacting to its environment. I would continue to run carbon, though it may not bind non-organic pollutants as well. I would also suggest a larger water change than 10%. While your phosphates are very high, plenty of tanks function with "above normal" phosphates. Just be careful with the GFO so it doesn’t bottom out your nutrients completely. At least the tank is smaller so it's easy to do a change like you've been doing. If you're really worried, you could try Curpisorb or some kind of resin absorbing medium like Chemipure Elite, but continue to monitor nutrients.

 

[Karen00]

If they are just closed up they're probably fine. My tank is fairly new and sometimes they all close after a water change, sometimes just a few of them or sometimes none of them close. They can also take a day to open up again. If you start to see tissue loss or melting that's a different story.

 

[Reffetsevla]

I did another 10% change since I had that started already, then broke out a bigger tank to mix up enough for about a 30% change. Cleaned it out and made sure no wires anywhere near it lol

Corals are looking *slightly* less angry, but still nowhere near where they were this morning.

 

[Reffetsevla]

If they are just closed up they're probably fine. My tank is fairly new and sometimes they all close after a water change, sometimes just a few of them or sometimes none of them close. They can also take a day to open up again. If you start to see tissue loss or melting that's a different story.

My Frogspawn looks like the underside of the flesh was receding last night, but I didn't pay enough attention from before to know for certain. This is definitely not helping anything lol

 

[Coralsdaily]

Have you witnessed anything unusual in the skimmmer? Sometimes when unknown chemicals is in the tank you see the skimmer go crazy

 

[Reffetsevla]

Have you witnessed anything unusual in the skimmmer? Sometimes when unknown chemicals is in the tank you see the skimmer go crazy

Unfortunately I am still dialing that thing in. It's been going nuts since I adjusted it earlier, although it does seem the bubble column is a touch higher than I recall. Could just still be settling from before though. Not the best gauge at the moment sadly

 

[Reffetsevla]

My clowns are extremely unhappy their duncan's aren't open. But everything is opening slightly after the change and carbon addition. I'm still making water for the 30% one, hoping to do that in a couple hours. Will likely replace all my filter padding and stuff too, not sure if it'll stay in that or not. Whatever "it" is...

 

[Karen00]

My Frogspawn looks like the underside of the flesh was receding last night, but I didn't pay enough attention from before to know for certain. This is definitely not helping anything lol

I know it can be stressful. I had my gsp close for four days. It's just starting to open up again. Thank goodness I didn't toss it. Hopefully yours are just ticked off.