Palythoa toxin?! Did this kill my clowns

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

Hello
Hope you guys can help!
I have a 12 gallon tank with live sand and dry rock that is 8 weeks old. I was advised to fish in cycle with 2 x clowns with colony added after 4 days. Everything was going so well and after 3 weeks and some testing at the coral shop, my tank had cycled after 3 weeks.
Water parameters were stable and Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Phosphate 0
Mag 1111
Cal 480
(Doing larger water changes to try and bring Mag/Cal up)
At week 5 I added a small palythoa.
Anyway, after 2 weeks of the Palythoa being placed in the sand, I attempted to move it to a place on my rock with some D&D aqua poxy putty. The palythoa fell off the rock once but I replaced it back (it did seem annoyed and ?let go for a white film)

12 hours later. Both my clowns were dead after seeming very happy in the morning. They were both wedged in the rock. Could the paly have killed? I’ve done a 40% water change, what do you think the next steps are?
I have nothing else in the tank.
Thanks guys

SeahorseKeeper · Feb 4, 2023

I’d be more concerned that maybe the putty released something that was toxic to the fish. I would do a water change and run fresh carbon.

Cyanohater · Feb 4, 2023

Gorz100 said:
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Phosphate 0
Mag 1111
Cal 480

O see you already got an idea of what killed the clowns. And I agree either the other fella. But you'll also want to bump the phosphates up just a tad. I'm talking like 0.01 or something.

olonmv · Feb 4, 2023

I have paly’s and I make them mad all the time. Fish are still kickin.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 4, 2023

As a side note on palytoxin, a professor I tangentially knew in graduate school recently died (Yoshito Kishi). His lab of students and post docs was the first to fully synthesize palytoxin, which was a monumental chemical feat at the time, taking many people many years, and was thought impossible by many others.

I did not join his research group for a variety of reasons, but at the annual meeting where he presented to new students what they might work on, he mentioned that some students had to be sent to Hawaii to collect zooanthid samples to extract some true examples of palytoxin for comparison.

He stated that he actually had a hard time convincing students to go. I assumed it was not sarcasm, and decided his lab was not for me. lol

This is the structure:

Palytoxin - American Chemical Society

American Chemical Society: Chemistry for Life.

www.acs.org

Mr. Mojo Rising · Feb 4, 2023

I agree with the putty. Putty makes our skimmers go nuts cause there is lots to pull out, but I doubt you have a skimmer on a 12 gallon tank, so whatever the putty released stayed in the tank.

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

Thank you so much for all your replies. The putty causing the issue does make a great deal of sense as it did let off a powdery substance. How do you guys attach your corals to the rock? I would rather not use the putty if it’s that dangerous to fish!
I shall put some carbon in the tank as running skimmerless! Thanks again.

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

olonmv said:
I have paly’s and I make them mad all the time. Fish are still kickin.

Interesting, maybe it is the putty then! Such a shame! Glad the Palys can stay!

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

Cyanohater said:
O see you already got an idea of what killed the clowns. And I agree either the other fella. But you'll also want to bump the phosphates up just a tad. I'm talking like 0.01 or something.

Okay cool, I’ll get onto that. do you feel the putty will have caused any issue with the nitrogen cycle at all? Basically, will it have killed any of the beneficial bacteria already created?

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

SeahorseKeeper said:
I’d be more concerned that maybe the putty released something that was toxic to the fish. I would do a water change and run fresh carbon.

Thank you, I didn’t suspect the putty as the instructions continually stated it was non-toxic to fish, however I am sure you are probably right. Water changed at 50%, will get carbon in tomorrow. At what point do you feel I could re stock with fish? Thanks again!

Gorz100 · Feb 4, 2023

LordofCinder said:
I agree with the putty. Putty makes our skimmers go nuts cause there is lots to pull out, but I doubt you have a skimmer on a 12 gallon tank, so whatever the putty released stayed in the tank.

Thank you!