Everything died

[ZoWhat]

Rapid fish death usually means a quick depletion of Oxygen in the tank.

Too many reason why the Oxygen got depleted but it usually means a bacterial bloom absorbed all the O2 out too quickly

 

[DCR]

Is there any possibility that you lost power during those 3 hours? With a heavily stocked tank, oxygen can be depleted relatively fast when there is no water movement. In my experience, that it is the quickest way to wipe out a tank in a short period of time.

 

[CindyKz]

Agree with other posters, it sounds too fast to be a disease.

Everyone here has felt the sadness you're feeling now. I'm sorry you are going through this.

 

[Starkrost]

Don’t take down your tank! Give it (and yourself) some time to rest and reset. Let Mother Nature do her thing. It will all work out in the end.

 

[NashobaTek]

Could it have been the disturbed sand bed? I would stir it up and go fallow. So sorry for your loss.

 

[Algaewarrior]

Sorry for your loss. I'm going through a big fish die off due to ich. I'm with other posters that is not disease but some weird freak accident(o2 depletion sounds plausable). Best thing to do going forward is setup your QT to ensure nothing gets in your tank.

 

[jsweir]

Not salty, but last week my display 125 of African Cichlids had a filter stop and I didn't catch it until I had lost 10 nice fish. Always sucks when stuff like this happens. I feel your pain.

 

[burgundy]

A disease seemed unlikely to me since all fish went from seemingly healthy to dead in a couple of hours but I am far from an expert.
I also don't suspect disease because the one coral frag that I had that actually looked pretty healthy didnt look to good when I got back home and found the fish dead, and a fish disease I assume wouldnt effect the coral.

I keep trying to figure out what happened and I dont have any idea. I think the not knowing is what is bothering me the most. I dont have any invertebrates that can nuke a tank, and I dont have any macro algea that can go sexual.

My sand bed is around 3 inches deep and a few days ago I was cleaning a power head and when i put it back in i had it adjusted wrong and it disturbed the sand bed in one spot. But if my sand bed did have hydrogen sulfide gas in it that was released that wouldnt cause everything to quickly die a few days later...I wouldnt think. Even if that were the problem I believe it causes a decrease in pH amd mine was 8.1 when I tested it a few days ago and 8.2 when I tested it after the fish died.

3inch sand bed is kinda the no mans land of how deep you want your sand bed, you either want less then 2" or 5" +. but the hydrogen sulfide would be neutralized once it receives oxygen, your water would have oxygen so I don't think that would be the problem. personally thinking some cleaner chemical or disinfection spray. disease can be quick but not 2 hours quick.

 

[burgundy]

A disease seemed unlikely to me since all fish went from seemingly healthy to dead in a couple of hours but I am far from an expert.
I also don't suspect disease because the one coral frag that I had that actually looked pretty healthy didnt look to good when I got back home and found the fish dead, and a fish disease I assume wouldnt effect the coral.

I keep trying to figure out what happened and I dont have any idea. I think the not knowing is what is bothering me the most. I dont have any invertebrates that can nuke a tank, and I dont have any macro algea that can go sexual.

My sand bed is around 3 inches deep and a few days ago I was cleaning a power head and when i put it back in i had it adjusted wrong and it disturbed the sand bed in one spot. But if my sand bed did have hydrogen sulfide gas in it that was released that wouldnt cause everything to quickly die a few days later...I wouldnt think. Even if that were the problem I believe it causes a decrease in pH amd mine was 8.1 when I tested it a few days ago and 8.2 when I tested it after the fish died.

3inch sand bed is kinda the no mans land of how deep you want your sand bed, you either want less then 2" or 5" +. but the hydrogen sulfide would be neutralized once it receives oxygen, your water would have oxygen so I don't think that would be the problem. personally thinking some cleaner chemical or disinfection spray. disease can be quick but not 2 hours quick.

 

[Big G]

So sorry for your loss. Gut wrenching event.

Had a similar loss event to a member last year or so. Turns out the neighbor had sprayed pesticides and the prevailing wind blew towards his house and killed all of his fish. I can't remember if the pesticides were sucked in by his air conditioning/heating system or he had the windows open. None-the-less it killed every single one of his fish within a couple of hours exposure.

 

[GrandpaShark]

Holly crap, wow first off sorry for the loss of your tank, crazy. I am week 6 of my tank and seeing some of these sad posts about tanks can be scary for someone new to saltwater. Please update if you find out what happened (if possible) it would be interesting if it was electrical current. How would I prevent electrical current happening from my 45g tank? I saw someone say "grounding probe?"

 

[NashobaTek]

Air freshener sprays in the house can do it as well if it's to close to the aquarium. Ask me how I know... Sister in law.

 

[Gtinnel]

do you have any objects in the tank that are hollow where anerobic bacteria can build up?

Not that I know off, other than a fairly deep sand bed. If I'm not mistaken a deep sand bed causes anaerobic bacteria to grow cant it?.

It's just a fish"

Funny you should mention that because that is exactly what my wife said about it.

So sorry for your loss do you run the airline for your skimmer to the outside?

I do run my air intake for my skimmer outside. I live ina single family home and have a decent sized yard so I wouldnt think any of my neighbors spraying chemicals, which I've never seen them do, would cause it. I also have a tube with a filter pad and carbon where the air comes from outside, although I never knew if the carbon would actually help for air or not.

I never have a window open and the top of my tank is mostly covered with glass panels so even if someone sprayed something inside the house before I left very little of it would make it into the tank.

All of the support from you guys really means a lot.

 

[Gtinnel]

Is there any possibility that you lost power during those 3 hours?

No I have enough smart devices in my home that I instantly get several messages on my phone as I lose connection to those devices when the power goes out.

 

[adromero]

The same happened to my tank in in August. I believe mine was caused from an oxygen issue. Since then I’ve had my power heads facing the top of the water. Creating small “waves” on the surface. Now all my new additions are thriving.

 

[Tamberav]

Sounds like an oxygen issue. Be sure you have a lot of flow aggravating the surface and a battery backup for one of the powerheads in case of power loss.

 

[GrandpaShark]

Sounds like an oxygen issue. Be sure you have a lot of flow aggravating the surface and a battery backup for one of the powerheads in case of power loss.

So terrible. I have plenty of water movement. I do need to think about a small generator. Something small enough to run my tank and something for my comfort as well, lol. Thanks for the post

 

[Th3rico]

Sorry for loss that sounds devastating. Hope you find out the cause

 

[EntitledSushi]

So sorry to hear. Maybe send a water sample for an ICP test? Any chance a bottle of fish medicine or some other chemical accidentally got added?

 

[Gtinnel]

So sorry to hear. Maybe send a water sample for an ICP test? Any chance a bottle of fish medicine or some other chemical accidentally got added?

No the only thing that I keep near the tank is my nori and a bag of pellets that I feed and they're still there. If I keep too much clutter around the tank my wife complains.
I am starting to agree with the person who said it could have been a bacterial bloom using up the oxygen in the tank. The following morning the tank was a little cloudy, although it was still clear the day the fish died.
I though about looking into an ICP test although I wasnt able to scoop all of the dead fish out because they were stuck in the rockwork (including a 6" Kole tang) so I'm assuming that I probably have at least some ammonia or nitrite in the tank now, I haven't bothered to check because I'm not sure that I really care at this point. By the time I scooped the ones I could get to out the hermits were already eating them so I'm sure they'll eventually eat the remains of the others.
Interestingly my ricordea and gsp frags are looking better than they ever have, I'm guessing from the added nutrients in the water.