I have a frag table in my basement. I have a small vent that runs outside at just above ground level. My neighbor decided to be a good neighbor and sprayed roundup 2 on some weeds on the side of my house. Some of the product worked it's way back through the vent which is directly above my tables. Within ten days almost all corals were dead. All aquarium levels tested out perfect. Tried multiple different test kits to back up my results. No fish died, no shrimp or crabs died. However snails slowly died. The chemical in roundup is called glyphosate. It's a very nasty chemical. On land it has about a two week half life. In water it can be over 90 days. It tends to be somewhat safe for fish around ponds and lakes etc. But it seems to quickly take out corals. Not trying to scare the crap out of everyone, but be very careful not to get any herbicides near thier reef tanks by physical introduction on hands or arms. Also, the vapor from nearby spraying.
The best remedy I could find was to tear everything down, and bleach the entire system. Then start over.
Bleach will break down glyphosate.
Now as far as your tank issues, more info is needed.
Could be chemical introduction, could be an electrical leak from a pump or heater. Could be a quick temp change.
Might be a reef test kit that's not working properly?
Try to recall all of your actions, add ons, changes, new foods, or new supplements , flow changes, light changes, or any other changes to the system you have had occur recently.
When in doubt, change the water out!
Do a 30% change and maybe add some new chemical filter media like:
Chemipure Blue, Polyfilter by bio marine inc., hi grade carbon pellets. These can help to strip unwanted chems. Alpha by Aqua Vitro to pull out possible heavy metals?
Give us more info. And this may help everyone to trouble shoot your tank.
Thanks
A.Blake
iReef2.com
