I killed my fish!!!!!!!!

Steelerfan747 · Mar 10, 2014

I am soooooo upset. I decided to do some changes in my scape as I have been wanting to change it around and minimize it a bit. Well it seems I stirred up a bit of detritus and this evening I found my fish belly up :sad:

How much water should I replace before I start putting fish back in? Should I just do a 100% to be safe or would that just start a new cycle?

mike007 · Mar 10, 2014

I would think your filter system should clear tank in quickly. I would not do anything drastic to cause more harm.

Bradsreeeftank · Mar 10, 2014

Exact what mike said, never do a 100% water change. Your pretty much starting over doing that, like mike said leave hands out tank and let it be! rip fish );

Whys Alives · Mar 11, 2014

Doing a 100% water change isn't going to start a new cycle. It could stress certain corals, but certainly not more than toxic levels of ammonia. That is what we are talk about right? I mean you say you stirred up detritus and then you assume that must of killed your fish. Only way that would happen is it if caused an ammonia spike. In which case, you've already restarted your cycle. That's what an ammonia spike is. But honestly, I strongly doubt that as the cause of said fish fatality. Have you done an ammonia test? That might be a good place to start.

Steelerfan747 · Mar 11, 2014

Whys Alives, thanks for the information. All my levels were perfect except for my phosphates which were a little high and had caused a bit of an algal bloom. I had replaced 10g with natural ocean water 2 weeks ago and 10 more gallons on Sunday night in a 46g tank so about 50% in 2 weeks/14 days. I only use natural ocean water and have never had an issue. It had to have been an ammonia spike from the detritus as looking back on it I remember that not only did I stir up the sand by moving the rocks but I was also removed old snail shells and remember taking something out that smelled really bad. I plan on moving things / aquascape around a little bit more and I am planning on replacing my return pump and cleaning out my skimmer so I am planning on changing out an additional 10g once I am done and then take readings to see how everything is.

Bradsreeeftank · Mar 11, 2014

Whys Alives said:
Doing a 100% water change isn't going to start a new cycle. It could stress certain corals, but certainly not more than toxic levels of ammonia. That is what we are talk about right? I mean you say you stirred up detritus and then you assume that must of killed your fish. Only way that would happen is it if caused an ammonia spike. In which case, you've already restarted your cycle. That's what an ammonia spike is. But honestly, I strongly doubt that as the cause of said fish fatality. Have you done an ammonia test? That might be a good place to start.

Its impossible for it not to start a new cycle. If i bought liverock and livesand and dumped water in i cant just add fish and corals..

cparka23 · Mar 11, 2014

By any chance, did it have a rotten egg smell? How deep is your sand bed?

rworegon · Mar 11, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
Its impossible for it not to start a new cycle. If i bought liverock and livesand and dumped water in i cant just add fish and corals..

Its not the water that holds the nitrifying bacteria, its the rock and the substrate. IF you had truly live rock and truly live sand from a system that was up and running with a normal bioload and added fresh saltwater you truly could just add fish. I would go slow but you caould do it. The trouble comes when people go out and buy what is labeled as live rock and then transport it unknown distances over unknown amounts of time and things that were alive in the rock start to die, including the bacteria that processes ammonia to nitrite, to nitrate. The live sane you buy in a bag in your LFS may have had all the good stuf in it when they put it in the bag, but again, shipping, storage, display. No telling how long its been since things started dying in that sand. Its a scam to sell you water weight with your sand.

Its all about letting your biological filter balance with your bioload. Thats why we add fish to a system slowly. To let things balance.

that Reef Guy · Mar 11, 2014

Why would stirring up Sand Kill Fish.

My Sand gets stirred up Every Week when I vacuum it and I have never lost a Fish from doing that or anything else either.

Connie · Mar 11, 2014

If you go a long time without stirring up your sand bed, gasses accumulate inside of it. If you then stir it up, it will release pockets of the gas and kill anything close to it.

that Reef Guy · Mar 11, 2014

Connie said:
If you go a long time without stirring up your sand bed, gasses accumulate inside of it. If you then stir it up, it will release pockets of the gas and kill anything close to it.

Wow did not know that.

What is considered a Long Time?

So if I stirred the Sand Behind my Rocks that I cannot get to everything would Die in the Tank?

Connie · Mar 11, 2014

only if gas has accumulated and would only kill what was close to it. If you tank is big, it wouldn't affect the entire thing. I'm talking several months to years. I had it happen to a friend of mine and it was devastating. I don't think he had ever vacuumed his sand. I vacuum mine every two weeks.

cparka23 · Mar 11, 2014

cparka23 said:
By any chance, did it have a rotten egg smell? How deep is your sand bed?

Hydrogen Sulfide and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

jcollinsks · Mar 11, 2014

WHen you say natural ocean water... I hope you aren't meaning water from the ocean... if you are collecting water from the ocean, please do some research on where you collect it from, it has to be like 2 miles out or something to make sure you don't get the oils from the boats and other toxic people chemicals.