All fish and inverts suffering day after UV install

[RaymondNoodles]

Yesterday I installed a new UV sterilizer and this morning all 6 fish are gasping air on the sandbed. 2 clowns, 2 flasher wrasses, flame hawk and tailspot blenny. Most of the snails were upside down and struggling. This is absolutely horrible. Ammonia is 0. Salinity hasn't changed. I'm currently making 10 gallons of saltwater, it's mixing/heating as I am typing and I plan on pulling the fish out and putting them in a QT tank. The UV is a Lifegard Aquatics 25w with a dedicated pump that I plumbed to pull water from the skimmer section and dump in the return pump section, running at 400 gph. I immediately turned off the UV this morning, that was about 1 hour ago and one of the clowns seems to be doing better since. I am thinking there must have been some chemicals in the UV or pump that got into the tank water. I wiped them both down with a wet towel before installing but didn't completely rinse them and now I am wishing I would have. I feel like I am about to have a heart attack Any other thoughts? Thanks. Tank is 5 months old and 57 gallons.

 

[Fishgeek88]

Purely coincidental imo

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

On new Equipment, I don’t just rinse it, I run a Strong, Warm Dawn Dish Soap Solution through it. Rinse with warm tap water, then Rinse with RO/DI. There will not be a Dawn Residue left behind, with this method. They use Dawn to Clean Sea Turtles, Waterfowl, Marina Mammals, and some Mollusks.

 

[pandaparties]

Possible a contamination (take out the UV and clean it better) but I would check nitrates/phosphates as well, while they don't typically bother fish a big swing might upset them. Possible that there was a dieoff of algae and other organic matter in the water column

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yesterday I installed a new UV sterilizer and this morning all 6 fish are gasping air on the sandbed. 2 clowns, 2 flasher wrasses, flame hawk and tailspot blenny. Most of the snails were upside down and struggling. This is absolutely horrible. Ammonia is 0. Salinity hasn't changed. I'm currently making 10 gallons of saltwater, it's mixing/heating as I am typing and I plan on pulling the fish out and putting them in a QT tank. The UV is a Lifegard Aquatics 25w with a dedicated pump that I plumbed to pull water from the skimmer section and dump in the return pump section, running at 400 gph. I immediately turned off the UV this morning, that was about 1 hour ago and one of the clowns seems to be doing better since. I am thinking there must have been some chemicals in the UV or pump that got into the tank water. I wiped them both down with a wet towel before installing but didn't completely rinse them and now I am wishing I would have. I feel like I am about to have a heart attack Any other thoughts? Thanks. Tank is 5 months old and 57 gallons.

UV should have Zero impact on fish and oxygen but assure there is no stray voltage (you will feel a sting when finger touches water). Also assure UV seals are tight (do not overtighten) .
Reaction would be a water change and addition of air stone for oxygen.
What test kits are you testing ammonia with ?

 

[flashsmith]

How did you install it? Did you do a hard install using PVC glue or cleaner? Definitely not the UV light. Some kind of contamination for sure.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Possible a contamination (take out the UV and clean it better) but I would check nitrates/phosphates as well, while they don't typically bother fish a big swing might upset them. Possible that there was a dieoff of algae and other organic matter in the water column

I will make sure to clean the UV and pump before running them again. Nitrate and phosphate are the same today that they've been for a couple months - PO4 = .03ppm (hanna ULR) and NO3 = 5ppm (RedSea).

How did you install it? Did you do a hard install using PVC glue or cleaner? Definitely not the UV light. Some kind of contamination for sure.

Combination of both. PVC straight out of the UV, reducer, barbed fitting connected to a braided vinyl tube which goes to the pump and return section of sump. Kicking myself for not rinsing everything off thoroughly. Wonder if it was the PVC glue.

UV should have Zero impact on fish and oxygen but assure there is no stray voltage (you will feel a sting when finger touches water). Also assure UV seals are tight (do not overtighten) .
Reaction would be a water change and addition of air stone for oxygen.
What test kits are you testing ammonia with ?

I don't feel any stray voltage when I touch the water. I haven't taken apart the UV yet but I will check seals are tight and do a full inspection. Followed directions meticulously while putting it together. Working on a full water change now - about 65 gallons total system volume. It'll take all day. No booster pump on the RODI...pretty slow. Currently all fish and inverts are in a QT tank, except for my cleaner shrimp and emerald crab which I haven't been able to catch yet, but strangely enough they are acting normal. The clowns are doing much better and swimming around like normal. The hawk and blenny are so-so, upright, not breathing as hard, but not really moving much. The 2 wrasses are both on their sides breathing heavily after being in the QT tank for a couple hours. My coco worm opened up immediately in the QT tank after being very closed in the DT. Tested ammonia with RedSea and API, both showed 0. Have been using both test kits for 1.5 years so pretty familiar with them.

Doing everything I can at this point and praying I can save these fishes and inverts. Thanks for all the support.

 

[mnl119]

Have you checked your pH? Maybe the CO2 levels have gone up from some change in aeration from the UV install? This would show up as a drop in pH.

Just a guesss

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Have you checked your pH? Maybe the CO2 levels have gone up from some change in aeration from the UV install? This would show up as a drop in pH.

Just a guesss

I actually noticed an increase in PH shortly after installing the UV and turning on the pump. It jumped up to 8.3 from 8.15. Prior, the highest I've seen it on my Hydros was 8.18. Then my skimmer started acting funny - it stopped making skimmate and the top of the bubbles inside the skimmer were much lower than normal and it began throwing micro bubbles into the display. I thought perhaps the micro bubbles were irritating the fish because that's when they started acting sick so I turned the skimmer off and the micro bubbles went away. PH was a bit lower than normal first thing this morning - 7.95 as opposed normal of 8.05, but nothing crazy. I suspect the added flow in the sump from the UV pump disturbed the skimmer, causing it to stop creating skimmate. Normally the sump has a pretty low flow, to the point where I've considered adding more flow to avoid surface scum. Looking back I should have left the skimmer on and turned the UV off before going to bed. I wonder if the ph fluctuations are what caused my fish to become sick.

The fish have been in QT for about 6 hours and the clowns seem better, although still breathing heavier than normal but the other 4 fish are still struggling. I am wondering if I should do a very large water change or a 100% water change in the DT before returning the fish and inverts.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

All 6 fish made it through the night in the QT tank. I have 40 gallons of fresh saltwater ready which would be a 60% water change but I’m hesitant to do so because my nutrients are already pretty low and I’ve been battling dinos. My cleaner shrimp is in the DT and doing fine which tells me the water is likely fine. How did he survive when everyone else was on deaths ear? I’m curious what others would do. I’m leaning towards thinking the issue was oxygen/CO2 related. Regardless of the water change I think I’ll put the 2 clowns back in the DT first and wait a few hours to see how they do and then add the others.

 

[Malcontent]

On new Equipment, I don’t just rinse it, I run a Strong, Warm Dawn Dish Soap Solution through it. Rinse with warm tap water, then Rinse with RO/DI. There will not be a Dawn Residue left behind, with this method. They use Dawn to Clean Sea Turtles, Waterfowl, Marina Mammals, and some Mollusks.

How much of your new equipment comes covered with oil?

 

[averagesteve]

How much of your new equipment comes covered with oil?

Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of it comes covered with some trace amounts of lubricant or other manufacturing byproducts from the factory. I personally wouldn't use dawn, but vinegar or something else to wash brand new equipment.

 

[Tamberav]

What type of plumbing did you use?

I have the same UV and I had no issues. I didn't rinse it at all tbh.

FYI dish soap, if left over, interferes with a fishes ability to breath. I would personally use vinegar and not dish soap. I don't think they are washing fish with dawn fish soap.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Update… I figured out what happened. Stupid mistake on my part. Luckily all my fish and inverts survived!

When I added the UV pump, it increased the water level in the return chamber of the sump up above my alkalinity dosing line which dumped enough Brightwell alkalin to increase the dKH from 8 to 10. I snipped 2 inches off the dosing line to raise it up above the water level.

To further complicate matters, the hydros pinpoint pH probe was showing a falsely elevated reading due to electromagnetic interference from the UV power supply/ballast. I rerouted the pH probe cord and my pH monitor is no longer showing the false high reading (.2 higher).

Phew. It all makes sense now. I should be able to put the fish and inverts back in the display tank later today. Just for good measure I flushed out the UV sterilizer and pump/plumbing with a mixture of warm water and vinegar. Let it run for an hour last night and then re-flushed it with RODI water.

Thanks for all the help and support!

 

[Sm1nts2escape]

Update… I figured out what happened. Stupid mistake on my part. Luckily all my fish and inverts survived!

When I added the UV pump, it increased the water level in the return chamber of the sump up above my alkalinity dosing line which dumped enough Brightwell alkalin to increase the dKH from 8 to 10. I snipped 2 inches off the dosing line to raise it up above the water level.

To further complicate matters, the hydros pinpoint pH probe was showing a falsely elevated reading due to electromagnetic interference from the UV power supply/ballast. I rerouted the pH probe cord and my pH monitor is no longer showing the false high reading (.2 higher).

Phew. It all makes sense now. I should be able to put the fish and inverts back in the display tank later today. Just for good measure I flushed out the UV sterilizer and pump/plumbing with a mixture of warm water and vinegar. Let it run for an hour last night and then re-flushed it with RODI water.

Thanks for all the help and support!

Glad you made it through that. Sounds like a nightmare