All my fish are dead, heartbroken.

[Loooki]

Im so sorry for your loss.

 

[dwair]

everything normal except ammonia, putting that down to deaths

Yea I would agree, even at .3 it probably wouldn't have caused a widespread death like that. Only thing that makes sense is something got introduced to the tank, someone spilled something etc. God that really really sucks man. I know its probably hard to hear, but keep your head up, don't let it drive you out of the hobby!

 

[SMSREEF]

I’m so so sorry for your loss.

have you added any inverts recently? When was the last lime you added anything (fish, invert, coral)?

did any of you fish act weird at all yesterday?

 

[ThRoewer]

Any inverts (shrimp, crab, snail, worm, seastar, urchin,...) in the tank?

If yes, how are they doing?

What you describe so far sounds like some potent but rather selective poison like Rotenone got into the tank.

See also:

Rotenone - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An Assessment of the Effect of Rotenone on Selected Non-Target Aquatic Fauna

Rotenone, a naturally occurring ketone, is widely employed for the management of invasive fish species. The use of rotenone poses serious challenges to conservation practitioners due to its impacts on non-target organisms including amphibians and macroinvertebrates. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[windemerejack]

Yea I would agree, even at .3 it probably wouldn't have caused a widespread death like that. Only thing that makes sense is something got introduced to the tank, someone spilled something etc. God that really really sucks man. I know its probably hard to hear, but keep your head up, don't let it drive you out of the hobby!

Its not going to drive me out of the hobby, just feel totally deflated at the moment.

 

[windemerejack]

I’m so so sorry for your loss.

have you added any inverts recently? When was the last lime you added anything (fish, invert, coral)?

did any of you fish act weird at all yesterday?

all was normal yesterday and no inverts added recently, last fish was added about 2 months ago iirc.

 

[windemerejack]

Any inverts (shrimp, crab, snail, worm, seastar, urchin,...) in the tank?

If yes, how are they doing?

What you describe so far sounds like some potent but rather selective poison like Rotenone got into the tank.

See also:

Rotenone - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An Assessment of the Effect of Rotenone on Selected Non-Target Aquatic Fauna

Rotenone, a naturally occurring ketone, is widely employed for the management of invasive fish species. The use of rotenone poses serious challenges to conservation practitioners due to its impacts on non-target organisms including amphibians and macroinvertebrates. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The only possible reason I can think of is some sort of substance getting into the tank, I guess I will never know what or how.

 

[windemerejack]

What should I do regarding my corals? they are all glued to the rock but I want to bin the rock and start afresh, is there any way to save my corals if possible?

 

[ThRoewer]

Its not going to drive me out of the hobby, just feel totally deflated at the moment.

I had a 20-year-old pair of ocellaris and an over 10-year-old pair of marine bettas cooked by a stuck heater. One of the marine bettas was one I bred myself.
Losing fish you have a history with is gutwrenching.

 

[skydirt]

i would get a sample asap and have it sent out for ICP testing. That may give you a better indication of what happened or went out of whack.

 

[windemerejack]

I had a 20-year-old pair of ocellaris and an over 10-year-old pair of marine bettas cooked by a stuck heater. One of the marine bettas was one I bred myself.
Losing fish you have a history with is gutwrenching.

Like you say its hard enough to lose fish but fish that have a special significance is hard to take.

 

[Katrina71]

This is heartbreaking to read. I'm so sorry. I guess we all genuinely feel other people's losses. Please don't give up. Big hug!

 

[IKD]

Have you considered an ICP test to look for metals or other unusual concentrations of elements?
Also may want to check the calibration on the salinity reader. My refractometer once showed 1.026 But it was really 1.030 since I had not calibrated in over a year

 

[windemerejack]

Have you considered an ICP test to look for metals or other unusual concentrations of elements?
Also may want to check the calibration on the salinity reader. My refractometer once showed 1.026 But it was really 1.030 since I had not calibrated in over a year

I check my salinity with a Hanna, milwaulkee, and refractometer.
I don't think its metals, not to kill every fish overnight, plus I would have noticed my corals if there was metal in the tank.

 

[ThRoewer]

Have you considered an ICP test to look for metals or other unusual concentrations of elements?
Also may want to check the calibration on the salinity reader. My refractometer once showed 1.026 But it was really 1.030 since I had not calibrated in over a year

Metals may kill one or two fish but not likely all and not all at once. And with toxic metals corals would go down long before the fish.

As for salinity, fish can handle salinity swings and drifts quite well. I had tanks drifting up as high as 1.040 and none of the fish in the tank looked like it would bother them much.
I also had tanks intentionally at 1.016 and the fish did even better than at nominal.
And an LFS here had forgotten to turn off the RO refill of their SPS coral system over the weekend. They caught it a day later when the water in the tank was pretty much freshwater. Not one single of the fish they had in there died from the freshwater or the following ramp-up, but all the corals and inverts where toast.
Fish are not likely to die due to salinity being off.

 

[PilotOfSubmarines]

That's truly awful. I have a camera pointed at my tank at all times in the event of an issue like this (and to remotely monitor if the need arises). I look at it like cheap insurance. The event that happened to you is bad enough, not knowing what happened makes it worse...You'll be constantly worried when you start over again.

 

[IKD]

Metals may kill one or two fish but not likely all and not all at once. And with toxic metals corals would go down long before the fish.

As for salinity, fish can handle salinity swings and drifts quite well. I had tanks drifting up as high as 1.040 and none of the fish in the tank looked like it would bother them much.
I also had tanks intentionally at 1.016 and the fish did even better than at nominal.
And an LFS here had forgotten to turn off the RO refill of their SPS coral system over the weekend. They caught it a day later when the water in the tank was pretty much freshwater. Not one single of the fish they had in there died from the freshwater or the following ramp-up, but all the corals and inverts where toast.
Fish are not likely to die due to salinity being off.

If aerosols or other foreign liquid was added a sudden spike could devastate a tank. Just a suggestion to get a full water test done.

 

[shermoen]

I am so sorry to hear friend. I am praying for you.

 

[windemerejack]

If aerosols or other foreign liquid was added a sudden spike could devastate a tank. Just a suggestion to get a full water test done.

I will send one off, like you say it may or may not show something.

 

[windemerejack]

That's truly awful. I have a camera pointed at my tank at all times in the event of an issue like this (and to remotely monitor if the need arises). I look at it like cheap insurance. The event that happened to you is bad enough, not knowing what happened makes it worse...You'll be constantly worried when you start over again.

A camera will definitely be on my shopping list when I start it up again.