Everything is dead

[Yeee]

I seriously thought I was doing okay. I checked the water parameters daily and the fish seemed happy. Then yesterday I came home from work to find my two clownfish on the tank floor dead. My angelfish behind a rock, dead. My blue tang struggling near the surface, to later die in a separate hospital tank, and my yellow who was swimming around died a few hours later. I am devastated. I guess I could have posted my water parameters and asked the community what the problem was, but I was too ashamed to admit my failures. I've had freshwater fish for years, but these saltwater fish I've only had for 2 weeks. I just unplugged everything from my newly purchased 300 gallon tank and sunk my head down in my lap.

I seriously can't see how you reefers manage this kind of devastation. The concept of things dying due to your stupidity and negligence is disheartening to say the least.

Luckily my wife is very supportive and she's urging me to remember and learn from these failures, but I don't know if I can continue with saltwater.

 

[acanman]

Slow down you can't introduce that many fish in a brand new saltwater tank.. patience is key

 

[Yeee]

Slow down you can't introduce that many fish in a brand new saltwater tank.. patience is key

The tank was purchased used and those fish came with it.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I seriously thought I was doing okay. I checked the water parameters daily and the fish seemed happy. Then yesterday I came home from work to find my two clownfish on the tank floor dead. My angelfish behind a rock, dead. My blue tang struggling near the surface, to later die in a separate hospital tank, and my yellow who was swimming around died a few hours later. I am devastated. I guess I could have posted my water parameters and asked the community what the problem was, but I was too ashamed to admit my failures. I've had freshwater fish for years, but these saltwater fish I've only had for 2 weeks. I just unplugged everything from my newly purchased 300 gallon tank and sunk my head down in my lap.

I seriously can't see how you reefers manage this kind of devastation. The concept of things dying due to your stupidity and negligence is disheartening to say the least.

Luckily my wife is very supportive and she's urging me to remember and learn from these failures, but I don't know if I can continue with saltwater.

How long ago did you setup the tank?

 

[acanman]

Did you transfer the water in it? Or new water? Maybe the sand bed stirred up and caused an ammonia spike. You are using rodi water correct?

 

[Yeee]

How long ago did you setup the tank?

The tank was already established by the previous owner. I had to empty a lot of it in order to move it because it was so heavy. I kept all the water, live rock, and live sand, but I had to separate them into from the tank so it could be moved. 300 gallons plus a heavy oak stand is no joke.

 

[gbroadbridge]

The tank was already established by the previous owner. I had to empty a lot of it in order to move it because it was so heavy. I kept all the water, live rock, and live sand, but I had to separate them into from the tank so it could be moved. 300 gallons plus a heavy oak stand is no joke.

Well, the fish are dead, but you have a great tank.

Just keep it running and let it settle for a month, then test the parameters before you start adding animals.

 

[Yeee]

Did you transfer the water in it? Or new water? Maybe the sand bed stirred up and caused an ammonia spike. You are using rodi water correct?

Yes I was using RO/DI water. The sand bed and aquarium in general was under kept by the previous owner. I took it upon myself to clean the tank up. I might have stirred something up while I cleaned, but I constantly monitored the water parameters and I was within limits according to the test strips.

 

[Yeee]

Well, the fish are dead, but you have a great tank.

Just keep it running and let it settle for a month, then test the parameters before you start adding animals.

Well I guess that's the silver lining. I just hate it when things die because I don't know what the heck I am doing. The saltwater learning curve is steep and that's coming from 15 years in the freshwater world with 2 other well maintained tanks. The devastation came without a warning. The fish were happy swimming around one minute, then all dead the next.

 

[Aquavaj]

A few questions:
Did you rinse the sand before reusing?
Were the live rock transported with water? If not, how long were they out of water?

Improper handling of these can cause huge die off resulting in an ammonia spike.
Another possibility is the blue tang getting ich from stress of the move. Where there any white spots that look like grains of salt on the fish?

 

[Lasse]

I check your other thread too and the tank seems to be heavily infested by cyanobacteria. I understand that you clean everything before you add your water back and that the aquarium works well for the first 2 weeks- or?

Everything indicate an poisoning because it was a fast happening, all the fish were affected and so on. The million dollar question then becomes - of what?

I have no single idea of that - I can´t have it either because the only one that can, probably but not for sure, answer that question is you.

However - I can list the most common sources for a fast killing of salt water fish species and you, maybe by yourself and your experiences of fresh water aquariums, can figure out the most possible underlying causes for your disaster.

1) hypoxia - most common during nighttime if the oxygenation is bad and there is a high amount of corals. During daytime - in a coral aquaria - not so common because of oxygen production from the corals. Can also happen during power breakdowns.

2) Hydrogen sulphide. Most common in old tanks (or bad cleaning during a move) with a lot of organic load and/or in combination with hypoxia

3) "ammonia" spike or more correct a spike of ammonium gas (NH3). Depending on the pH in the aquarium - therefore most common during the day (lighting on) because the pH is normally higher then. Most common in totally newly started aquarium - started with everything new. Nitrite toxification can you probably role out because nitrite is normally more than hundred times lesser toxic in saltwater compared with fresh water

4) Biologically formed toxins - some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates are known for this

5) poisoning due to foreign objects entering the water. Usually various heavy metals such as copper and zinc. Can be detected with an ICP test

6) Toxic gases introduced via the skimmer or water surface. Common sources can be air freshener, scented candles, certain colors (when painting), biocides (eg insecticides) from inside or outside use) and so on

I hope this will help you to be a Sherlock Holmes in your own aquarium

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Yeee]

I check your other thread too and the tank seems to be heavily infested by cyanobacteria. I understand that you clean everything before you add your water back and that the aquarium works well for the first 2 weeks- or?

Everything indicate an poisoning because it was a fast happening, all the fish were affected and so on. The million dollar question then becomes - of what?

I have no single idea of that - I can´t have it either because the only one that can, probably but not for sure, answer that question is you.

However - I can list the most common sources for a fast killing of salt water fish species and you, maybe by yourself and your experiences of fresh water aquariums, can figure out the most possible underlying causes for your disaster.

1) hypoxia - most common during nighttime if the oxygenation is bad and there is a high amount of corals. During daytime - in a coral aquaria - not so common because of oxygen production from the corals. Can also happen during power breakdowns.

2) Hydrogen sulphide. Most common in old tanks (or bad cleaning during a move) with a lot of organic load and/or in combination with hypoxia

3) "ammonia" spike or more correct a spike of ammonium gas (NH3). Depending on the pH in the aquarium - therefore most common during the day (lighting on) because the pH is normally higher then. Most common in totally newly started aquarium - started with everything new. Nitrite toxification can you probably role out because nitrite is normally more than hundred times lesser toxic in saltwater compared with fresh water

4) Biologically formed toxins - some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates are known for this

5) poisoning due to foreign objects entering the water. Usually various heavy metals such as copper and zinc. Can be detected with an ICP test

6) Toxic gases introduced via the skimmer or water surface. Common sources can be air freshener, scented candles, certain colors (when painting), biocides (eg insecticides) from inside or outside use) and so on

I hope this will help you to be a Sherlock Holmes in your own aquarium

Sincerely Lasse

Thanks for the detailed response. Obviously I have a lot of homework moving forward. Hopefully I can restart with a clean slate. I fear this nightmare will always torment me psychologically if I do decide to continue with saltwater. Hesitantly second guessing and overthinking everything. Now I see why product lines like the Apex are so popular in the reefing, where you can monitor your water parameters in real time. It comes from paranoia, especially when you have so much money tied up in a tank with possibility of seeing it all go poof in the blink of an eye.

 

[Tonycass12]

I constantly monitored the water parameters and I was within limits according to the test strips.

This is a red flag for me. Not sure what your using to test but I dont know of any test strips that are accurate for sw. You may want to invest in some better tests

 

[Koh23]

Exactly, test strips are notoriously wrong even in freshwater, in saltwater they are uselles.....

They are sensitive to moisture, temperature, not once i bought sealed test strips from store, just to discover that colors was smudged, aparently poor production or moisture.....

Invest in time, patience, and some hobby grade test kits, salifert, aquaforest, red sea, jbl, not really matter.....

No3,po4,kh,ca and mg is mandatory....
Others are optional and not really so important, for start. Ph is good to have, but honestly i rarely test ph....

And time,time time and patience, slow approach, i have habit of introducing new fish every 2-months, to be sure that increasing bioload wont impact stability and filtration, also to avoid diseases for all population if something slips trough quarantine.....

 

[Yeee]

This is a red flag for me. Not sure what your using to test but I dont know of any test strips that are accurate for sw. You may want to invest in some better tests

I was using SJ Wave 6 strip testers. I just realized they say these testers are geared towards freshwater aquariums though. I could have been way off.

 

[Dbichler]

Yes your testing methods need to be changed but in your case parameters had nothing to do with the fish deaths. Tank transfers are rip cleans and need to be performed perfectly or this can happen. @Lasse was correct and all you can do now is a large water change test again for ammonia and start over. Introduce fish slow and you’ll be fine.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I am so sorry for the losses. Since this was a fully functioning tank that was moved, I will say that the move was not done perfectly and this can happen. It can happen to seasoned reef keepers too. When I moved from my 210g glass tank to my 210g acrylic, every fish died over the course of first month. Many corals were lost also.

In my case, the tank took longer than expected and my holding tanks were not sufficient and caused lots of stress. I also thing something got into the water to kill off the fish. I lost fish that were with me over 12 years. So, yes. I get it.

We learn, we slow down and research, we persevere.

Good luck!

 

[rja]

I’m new to reef keeping so this is very helpful for me. One thing I learned in my years of freshwater and FOWLR setups is that basically things just happen. We’re keeping fish in glass boxes here. The important thing is learning. Those fish lived most of their lives under the care of someone else. It’s hard to say how they were treated in the system before you took control. Usually people who sell off whole stocked systems let them get disheveled beforehand. Perhaps they were exposed to high NO3 water for a while before your care. Maybe the move stressed them out. Perhaps you made your own mistakes. This is a time to sit back and take things at your own pace. You’re going to learn a lot of things in the next few months. Trust me, when you see success, your tank becomes an addiction.

 

[Koty]

From freshwater to the sea it's like from earth to space. You need to step back and do a lot of reading. Then, move slowly. Regardless, this hobby is a bumpy road. These bumps may define the boundaries of available mistakes and the right direction. Books are a good start. If using the web avoid anecdotal information and stick to robust advice. I found the reef chemistry forum to e a goldmine of information.

 

[Cell]

Reusing the sand is a likely culprit.