Pressure Washed Live Rock

[xercesblue]

I need help figuring out what I may have done wrong. I'm going to start with what I have, the problems and what I think may have caused the issues.

75Gallon, saltwater, fish and invertebrates only. I use a wet-dry filtration system paired with a BRS GFO Reactor. I have my own RO system with good filters that I tested with my own TDS meter along with aquarium quality tests done by my local shop. Around 70 lb's of live rock. Currently almost exclusively invertebrates except for two fish, a Clown, and a watchmen Goby (The Goby has been in the tank for about 6 months). This tank is about 9 months old. I purchased the rock from Amazon, it was dead rock to start with.

(It was this stuff: ). I also do regular water changes.

When I got the rock I pressure washed it with city water unfortunately without thinking. I then soaked it in freshwater (Not from the tap) for about 2 weeks and placed it in my aquarium. I've had issues with unkillable algae since then. I have done a 4-day black-out, scrubbed it, added the BRS Reactor and stripped phosphates to near zero, and treated with various products believing it was hair algae or cyanobacteria (Pictured below). I do have signs and spots of coralline algae in random spots on the rock though.

At the same time, aside from the Goby and the Clown, every single fish I've added to this aquarium has died within hours to days of being there. I've had some last weeks but that's the longest aside from the fish mentioned above. I'd rather not say how many test fish have died over the last 6 months while I spent money on one product or another that "should" fix the problem. I have done every type of water quality test myself and by the local aquarium store, that deals with lots of saltwater tanks (Not a chain store like Petco). They showed me my results and the quality is as good or better than the water they use for their saltwater tanks.

About a month ago the algae seems to have started to die off or stop growing with no change aside from adding 3 emerald crabs (Maybe they're eating it?) however I still lost two fish I added to the tank (I added them carefully with the drip method). Is it possible that the rock entered the aquarium with bad chemicals from the pressure washing and it's leaking out? I've never used any soap or detergent in the pressure washer. Should I change out my live rock for different ones? I'll give any more information requested because I've been fighting algae and dead fish for 9 months and am about to give up on this. I'll take any suggestions or just confirmation on my suspicions but I didn't want to change out all my live rock without verifying. I apologize if I left something out. Thank you for reading this far and I hope someone can help me get this sorted!

 

[sharpimage]

I think you have 2 issues. One with the rock, 2 with a parasite on the fish.

The clown and goby probably have become resistant to whatever parasite is i your tank., Flukes or Ich or something. That would explain the new intro deaths.

Pressure washing should not have contaminated your tank.
With that small amount of stuff in the tank, I would
1. remove the fish to a quarantine tank and treat with copper.
2. remove rock and give it a bleach bath followed by a soak in RO water
3. Set it all back up.

By the time all that happens, the 3 month mark has passed and the parasite should be gone

 

[Cell]

For what it's worth, I've used the exact same rock and havent had any issues with it.

 

[xercesblue]

I think you have 2 issues. One with the rock, 2 with a parasite on the fish.

The clown and goby probably have become resistant to whatever parasite is i your tank., Flukes or Ich or something. That would explain the new intro deaths.

Pressure washing should not have contaminated your tank.
With that small amount of stuff in the tank, I would
1. remove the fish to a quarantine tank and treat with copper.
2. remove rock and give it a bleach bath followed by a soak in RO water
3. Set it all back up.

By the time all that happens, the 3 month mark has passed and the parasite should be gone

Thank you for the fast reply! I forgot to mention I left the aquarium with no fish aside from the Goby for 120 days, completely untouched. That Goby was still living there when I started but it was suggested that it was ich by the local shop. I wanted to ensure the lifecycle didn't start over so nothing was added for that 120 days at all. Is it possible the Goby was carrying it still?

 

[BeejReef]

Bad luck start. Could have happened to a lot of us.

With no corals, why not pull the rock right out for a half hour and go to town on it with peroxide and a stiff brush?
Couldn't hazard a guess regarding fish deaths, aside from a parasite like sharpimage suggests. Also a lot of apparent algae treatments. Some of the bacteria can drop O2 levels.

Do you run carbon?

 

[brandon429]

that presentation above is not related to the pressure wash whatsoever. most dry rock tanks will go through that phase if they're not hand guided. the fish loss is the simplest part, you have to fallow and quarantine for that not to occur.

 

[xercesblue]

Bad luck start. Could have happened to a lot of us.

With no corals, why not pull the rock right out for a half hour and go to town on it with peroxide and a stiff brush?
Couldn't hazard a guess regarding fish deaths, aside from a parasite like sharpimage suggests. Also a lot of apparent algae treatments. Some of the bacteria can drop O2 levels.

Do you run carbon?

I do run Carbon in the GFO reactor yes. What does the peroxide do?

 

[BeejReef]

I do run Carbon in the GFO reactor yes. What does the peroxide do?

A lot of peeps say you can kill off problem algae on rocks with the direct application of hydrogen peroxide. Some even do it in the tank. I've not tried that, but have had good results when pulling a rock right out and giving it a generous spray down. Usually let it sit for a few minutes afterward and rinse it in water change water before going back in the tank. Not sure if that's necessary or not.

 

[beaslbob]

I would use macro algae in a refugium. The refugium can just be an egg crate partition a couple of inches from the back glass with some added lights behind the tank pointing forward.

 

[sharpimage]

Thank you for the fast reply! I forgot to mention I left the aquarium with no fish aside from the Goby for 120 days, completely untouched. That Goby was still living there when I started but it was suggested that it was ich by the local shop. I wanted to ensure the lifecycle didn't start over so nothing was added for that 120 days at all. Is it possible the Goby was carrying it still?

The goby would host a parasite. It needs a fish, any fish to continue its life cycle.

 

[BeejReef]

Parasite is in the running, but I wouldn't go all in on that.
Your post says most fish die within hours to days. That's crazy fast, even for velvet. Way faster than ich.

You may have to open up a little on some of the fish you tried and how they met their end.

 

[xercesblue]

that presentation above is not related to the pressure wash whatsoever. most dry rock tanks will go through that phase if they're not hand guided. the fish loss is the simplest part, you have to fallow and quarantine for that not to occur.

They'll go through the Algae phase? That's great news if true, this is the first time I've used dead rock.

 

[brandon429]

yes its ok and expected. I would lift up the rocks out of the tank, use a knife and scrape that stuff off then rinse with saltwater outside the tank, set back. no harm to filter bacteria. if you left the rocks sitting outside for an hour and then put them back in, still no harm to filter bacteria (just to demo the range of strength options we have for cycled rocks)

you are safe to clean and guide without consequence. filter bacteria are housed inside insulating biofilms such that air emersion isn't particularly harmful, my whole reef + corals is on file being drained for half an hour just to show strength of all these systems vs bacterial weakness.

 

[xercesblue]

Parasite is in the running, but I wouldn't go all in on that.
Your post says most fish die within hours to days. That's crazy fast, even for velvet. Way faster than ich.

You may have to open up a little on some of the fish you tried and how they met their end.

So I feel stupid but I left out a potentially critical bit of info by accident. About 4-5 months ago I believe I had ich, about 2 weeks after I purchased some fish they all started showing spots and dying, aside from the Goby which was already there. I'm attaching photos on this reply as well. I let the aquarium sit for 120 days with no new additions. But from the replies, it sounds like the Goby might be a carrier. I bought a diamondback Goby two weeks ago and he was dead within hours to a day, I never saw it after adding it and several other fish have met a similar fate (add to the aquarium, I never see the fish again until it's dead).

I bought that Clown at the same time, who so far seems fine. I was under the impression that ich didn't kill so fast, so I guess there are two possibilities. Either I acclimated the new diamondback and all other fish badly (the diamondback was acclimated at the same time as the Clown), or I have some parasite that's killing faster maybe? The pictures below from 4-5 months ago, prior to the 120 period, are the only evidence I've seen of the fish being sickly. Aside from that I just see their bodies the next day or so. It sounds like I've been focusing on the live rock and not something else. Ignore the coral in the picture, after the algae issues I removed it and gave it away until it's fixed. You can see the spots on the fish.

 

[xercesblue]

Parasite is in the running, but I wouldn't go all in on that.
Your post says most fish die within hours to days. That's crazy fast, even for velvet. Way faster than ich.

You may have to open up a little on some of the fish you tried and how they met their end.

So I'm looking at Velvet and Ich, and looking at the pictures for both it could be either from what I saw on my fish from 4-5 months ago. So is it possible that the Goby is a carrier for Velvet and it never left my aquarium during the 120 day period? If I'm just not seeing the fish and it's taking a day to die then that might be the cause of my issues. During that time 4-5 months ago, the fish were definitely covered in spots. If so, I can't treat with Copper because of my invertebrates, right? I'm reading that Chloroquine phosphate might be a good treatment?

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

your tank's "gut" is way off balance, i would add beneficial bacteria and seed your tank with nice rock from an established tank, i wouldn't add any more fish until your tank looks much healthier and balanced...

Correct, you cannot treat with copper. It's best to isolate with treatment as well because copper could not only kill your inverts but throw the microbial chemistry off even further in your tank. I would nurture it with nature and some let time balance it with the above methods...

 

[xercesblue]

Tank wipeout

Over the past week, all of the fish in my office tank have passed. Last week I noticed that two of my anthias were unaccounted for. Over the last two days I have last two wrasses, the remaining anthiases and both my clowns. The inverts seem unaffected. The sole survivor is my bicolor foxface...

www.reef2reef.com

can my yellow watchman cause reinfection of velvet? - Reef Central Online Community

can my yellow watchman cause reinfection of velvet? Fish Disease Treatment

reefcentral.com

From these two forums it looks like someone had an identical experience as I did. All fish died, YWG survived and someone actually said that the Goby can re-infect. Really starting to look like Velvet to me :\

 

[BeejReef]

You want to post in the fish disease and treatment forum or check out those stickies if u are convinced of velvet. Think a hospital tank is in order, but there may ne an alternative

 

[xercesblue]

You want to post in the fish disease and treatment forum or check out those stickies if u are convinced of velvet. Think a hospital tank is in order, but there may ne an alternative

Thank you! I'm already working on building one now. It appears I've just been re-infecting myself. I'll post over there and see what they say. Thank you all for the help!

 

[Erick Armanii]

what are your parameters? Do you have sand or bare bottom?

recommendation;
purchase a small cheap hospital tank and get both fish in and dose copper. Do NOT add more fish!
Someone else suggested scrub and peroxide, I agree (or pressure wash again)
If you have sand, siphon it well
Start doing some major water changes over a few weeks 25-50%
reintroduce the rock, add some bacteria: microbacter7 or doctor Tim’s.
Lights off and let the bacterial build up. (The bacterial needs a food source so add some cut up fish or a piece of shrimp a small 1” piece is fine)
When the fish are done with the copper (about a month) introduce them into the tank and keep lights off for a while longer.

To me, it sounds like you may have rushed the tank cycle. Then when the sail fin tang was introduced with ich it all went down hill..