my fish died

[Fishy888]

my tanks are consistently at 1.024-1.026 are u scraping excess off the top? I don't so we probably end up adding the same amount. if my mixture is too salty I can always add fresh water to the mixture until I get it right, I rather had to add more water than add more salt.

1.024 to 1.026 is the recommended range but they state that 1.5 lbs of IO to 5 gallons yields 1.022. That’s 3 cups IO or 24 oz. to 5 gallons

 

[Rmckoy]

You are correct. My old memory doesn't work so well sometime.
Interesting that it mixes that high for you. I have been using it for years and always mix 16 cups of salt to yield 27 gallons at 1.025

What we’re to happen if you were to mix 16 cups of salt to the 32 gallons of water or equal to 1/2 cup per gallon

 

[Rmckoy]

Disturbing the sand when you haven’t done it in a long time can cause an ammonia peak and quickly kill fish. Was this perhaps done in your tank ?

This would also have tell tale signs such as clouded water? Causing a bacterial bloom and decreasing oxygen

 

[Ralph823]

And find out what test kits they use

they're using two brands to test for different things, Hannah and red reef. first thing I asked, he said it could've been a hundred different things.

water hardness - a little high but nothing that will kill the fish
ammonia- good
nitrite - good
nitrate - good
PH - good
Alkalinity - good
Salinity - good

he says it could've been the crab as he's seen it happen before and that based on my description and the fact that they are common hitch hikers he thinks its an emerald which have been known to kill sleeping fish if there isn't enough food for them in the tank but that water parameters weren't the cause.

1.024 to 1.026 is the recommended range but they state that 1.5 lbs of IO to 5 gallons yields 1.022. That’s 3 cups IO or 24 oz. to 5 gallons

its probably because I don't use an exact cup that my levels are higher then, I dont go as far as a heaping cup but its not exact either

 

[Ralph823]

they're using two brands to test for different things, Hannah and red reef. first thing I asked, he said it could've been a hundred different things.

water hardness - a little high but nothing that will kill the fish
ammonia- good
nitrite - good
nitrate - good
PH - good
Alkalinity - good
Salinity - good

he says it could've been the crab as he's seen it happen before and that based on my description and the fact that they are common hitch hikers he thinks its an emerald which have been known to kill sleeping fish if there isn't enough food for them in the tank but that water parameters weren't the cause.

its probably because I don't use an exact cup that my levels are higher then, I dont go as far as a heaping cup but its not exact either

He cant tell for certain what it was tho

 

[Rmckoy]

they're using two brands to test for different things, Hannah and red reef. first thing I asked, he said it could've been a hundred different things.

water hardness - a little high but nothing that will kill the fish
ammonia- good
nitrite - good
nitrate - good
PH - good
Alkalinity - good
Salinity - good

he says it could've been the crab as he's seen it happen before and that based on my description and the fact that they are common hitch hikers he thinks its an emerald which have been known to kill sleeping fish if there isn't enough food for them in the tank but that water parameters weren't the cause.

its probably because I don't use an exact cup that my levels are higher then, I dont go as far as a heaping cup but its not exact either

Does your lfs know hardness and alkalinity are the same ? One is high and the other is good.
Can you please tell me what the difference is ?
I know for freshwater we test GH which is general hardness
If saltwater we use DKH which is degrees of
Carbonate hardness ( both testing hardness but one is freshwater , the other …. Is not

testing your own water you would get exact numbers rather than a pass or fail ( good or bad )
Again …. It’s your tank , run it as you wish .

 

[Ralph823]

Does your lfs know hardness and alkalinity are the same ? One is high and the other is good.
Can you please tell me what the difference is ?
I know for freshwater we test GH which is general hardness
If saltwater we use DKH which is degrees of
Carbonate hardness ( both testing hardness but one is freshwater , the other …. Is not

testing your own water you would get exact numbers rather than a pass or fail ( good or bad )
Again …. It’s your tank , run it as you wish .

lol my guy what do you have against LFS testing water? he has exact numbers but u think I'm gonna walk in with a note pad an write them all down? "it’s your tank , run it as you wish" you're right it is, I came on here for advice, you guys said " don't test with strips or API " I test with strips at home so i have my LFS give me more accurate tests Hannah and red reef are reliable tests are they not? it's not like they're gomna have pass or fail results

 

[Fishy888]

What we’re to happen if you were to mix 16 cups of salt to the 32 gallons of water or equal to 1/2 cup per gallon

You’d get ~1.021.

 

[Gretchacha]

So last night I did my first 10% water change on my newly cycled tank, it is a 55 gallon with 55lbs of live rock and 50lbs live sand. fish have been in for a week and I decided to do my first water change. I had three fish in the tank, two clowns and a yellow tail damsel. fish have been eating twice daily with great appetite from day one in the tank, I mixed my salt water and matched the salinity to that of the tank. I tested my water before and after the water change and the parameters were near perfect. after the water change I noticed the damsel and the one of the clowns acting strange, the damsel died with in two hours and I woke up to a dead clown this morning so naturally I tested the water again and it was still perfect. any advise or insight to what has gone wrong would be greatly appreciated. I also took some rock out going from 65lbs to 55lbs could it be stress related?

PSA - I have had saltwater tanks all my life as well as freshwater tanks and ponds this is the first time I've ever had fish die because of a water change.

PH - 7.8
Hardness - 500
Amonia - 0
Nitrates - 20
Nitrites 1
CHlorine - 0
Alkalinity - 80

I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[Idech]

This would also have tell tale signs such as clouded water? Causing a bacterial bloom and decreasing oxygen

Not when it happened to me. I was cleaning the sand with a python, so the cloudiness was sucked into it.

 

[Gretchacha]

So last night I did my first 10% water change on my newly cycled tank, it is a 55 gallon with 55lbs of live rock and 50lbs live sand. fish have been in for a week and I decided to do my first water change. I had three fish in the tank, two clowns and a yellow tail damsel. fish have been eating twice daily with great appetite from day one in the tank, I mixed my salt water and matched the salinity to that of the tank. I tested my water before and after the water change and the parameters were near perfect. after the water change I noticed the damsel and the one of the clowns acting strange, the damsel died with in two hours and I woke up to a dead clown this morning so naturally I tested the water again and it was still perfect. any advise or insight to what has gone wrong would be greatly appreciated. I also took some rock out going from 65lbs to 55lbs could it be stress related?

PSA - I have had saltwater tanks all my life as well as freshwater tanks and ponds this is the first time I've ever had fish die because of a water change.

PH - 7.8
Hardness - 500
Amonia - 0
Nitrates - 20
Nitrites 1
CHlorine - 0
Alkalinity - 80

Did you test your pH before the water change? pH change can cause deadly biological changes in any and every species, and fish are really susceptible to fast pH change. Did the water mix for 24 hrs to stabilize pH before the change?
While a 10% water change doesn’t seem like enough swing to kill the fish, it’s certainly something to be cognizant of. pH is not linear, but rather logarithmic, so small changes in measured values are large biologically. I switched from freshwater recently, too, and I have a household RO system. I let my RO water circulate in buckets with gH/kH minerals for 24 hrs to stabilize before water changes. Not only for the mineral dissolution and equilibrium, but also to equilibrate the dissovled gasses, CO2 being the one that affects pH.
In your case, there may have been something dissolved in the bottled water that killed the fish.

 

[Fishy888]

lol my guy what do you have against LFS testing water? he has exact numbers but u think I'm gonna walk in with a note pad an write them all down? "it’s your tank , run it as you wish" you're right it is, I came on here for advice, you guys said " don't test with strips or API " I test with strips at home so i have my LFS give me more accurate tests Hannah and red reef are reliable tests are they not? it's not like they're gomna have pass or fail results

It’s not that she’s against your LFS testing your water. She, like the rest of us, is trying to look out for you. Your LFS may well use accurate test kits and procedures but I guarantee they are in the 0.0001% that isn’t putting their interests before yours if that’s the case. They’re there to make sales. Just remember that. Most LFSs intentionally use inaccurate tests and give questionable advice at best.

While it’s true that not everyone on R2R is an expert, several people I very much look up to in this hobby (and many others here do too) have given you awesome advice and you’ve been fighting them the whole time. Like one of them said, your free to do what you want with your tank and I’d add that you’re free to take the advice you’ve been given and accept or reject it, Just be very wary in this day and age of ANYONE wanting to sell you something.

 

[killer2001]

It wasn't the crab. It was definitely the water change, now its up to you to figure out what went wrong. Retrace your steps. I'd implore you to walk us through your steps one by one from how you mixed the salt, to your the method of removing and adding water back. How soon after the water change was complete did you notice odd behavior? Did you physically watch the fish die? If yes, describe their actions, were they frantic? lethargic? Need more details on a minute level.

 

[Gretchacha]

Does your lfs know hardness and alkalinity are the same ? One is high and the other is good.
Can you please tell me what the difference is ?
I know for freshwater we test GH which is general hardness
If saltwater we use DKH which is degrees of
Carbonate hardness ( both testing hardness but one is freshwater , the other …. Is not

testing your own water you would get exact numbers rather than a pass or fail ( good or bad )
Again …. It’s your tank , run it as you wish .

The reason those numbers might cause issues like sudden fish death after a water change would be their affect on pH. ph can be tested directly and should be the value to match, along with salinity.

 

[exnisstech]

What we’re to happen if you were to mix 16 cups of salt to the 32 gallons of water or equal to 1/2 cup per gallon

It is too low. Its been years ago so I don't remember exactly what it was. My brute container for mixing has a float valve that stops the flow at 27 gallons. That wasn't intentional its just how it worked out when I installed the valve. I use a one cup measuring cup and count by twos (thats why I said 32 cups earlier I mix 16 cups of salt and get 27 gallons at 1. 025. I have been mixing reef crystals and instant ocean for the last year or so but the amount of salt I add hasn't changed from when I was using just IO.

 

[jimk60]

You will probably never know what killed your fish. You could send your water out for testing to see if anything shows up unusual. Where did this live rock and live sand come from. If it was mine I would dump all the water and start over when you get your RODI set up

 

[Ralph823]

It’s not that she’s against your LFS testing your water. She, like the rest of us, is trying to look out for you. Your LFS may well use accurate test kits and procedures but I guarantee they are in the 0.0001% that isn’t putting their interests before yours if that’s the case. They’re there to make sales. Just remember that. Most LFSs intentionally use inaccurate tests and give questionable advice at best.

While it’s true that not everyone on R2R is an expert, several people I very much look up to in this hobby (and many others here do too) have given you awesome advice and you’ve been fighting them the whole time. Like one of them said, your free to do what you want with your tank and I’d add that you’re free to take the advice you’ve been given and accept or reject it, Just be very wary in this day and age of ANYONE wanting to sell you something.

100% understood, my intention wasn’t to fight anyone, a dead fish is frustrating but what’s even more frustrating is trying to explain over and over again that my LFS doesn’t use api or test strips. I’m not worried about the lfs trying to sell me something or give me bad advice I’ve know the guy since before I can walk he does the water tests in front of me. I’m here trying to figure what’s going on with my fish nothing else, if I’m able to rule something out then that should be it on to the next idea but that hasn’t been the case. A forum should be about discussion I’ve listened for to every idea and have been able to rule out most of them. I’ve been to two lfs and tested my water at home in the last 24 hours all tests having the same outcome which is the water is fine so with that being put out there I would’ve appreciated more insight about other possibilities rather than saying something snarky like “it’s your tank you do what you want” to me that scream “my opinion matters above all others” and that’s not the case.

 

[Ralph823]

Did you test your pH before the water change? pH change can cause deadly biological changes in any and every species, and fish are really susceptible to fast pH change. Did the water mix for 24 hrs to stabilize pH before the change?
While a 10% water change doesn’t seem like enough swing to kill the fish, it’s certainly something to be cognizant of. pH is not linear, but rather logarithmic, so small changes in measured values are large biologically. I switched from freshwater recently, too, and I have a household RO system. I let my RO water circulate in buckets with gH/kH minerals for 24 hrs to stabilize before water changes. Not only for the mineral dissolution and equilibrium, but also to equilibrate the dissovled gasses, CO2 being the one that affects pH.
In your case, there may have been something dissolved in the bottled water that killed the fish.

I mix my water 24 hours prior and aerate the water before adding to the tank I’m not saying that the bottles don’t contain something that caused this but it’s nothing that came up on the tests.

 

[Gretchacha]

I mix my water 24 hours prior and aerate the water before adding to the tank I’m not saying that the bottles don’t contain something that caused this but it’s nothing that came up on the tests.

Hmm, it’s really a stumper….

 

[Gretchacha]

It sounds like you didn’t stir the sandbed, but hydrogen sulfide release from a sandbed is a silent killer.