Sick to my stomach, lost all fish overnight

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

I know it's hard to answer questions without current conditions of the tank but I want to throw this out there. All the fish have been in the tank for 1-1/2 years plus and the tank is 5 plus years old. I have been using Prodibio products for years and have never had an issue but last night I had my wife add a standard size vial of Biodigest to the tank. The system is around 150 gallons so well within the range a single vial is good for. The vial came out of a brand new package that was sealed until last night and was purchased in the last few weeks.

Within a couple hours of adding the vial the fish started to act weird, this morning every fish was dead. I am away on business and it makes me sick knowing I lost $500-600 worth of fish over night. We don't have any small kids and I asked if she may have had anything on her hands but she never put them into the tank so it couldn't be anything else. Also all the invert and such seem to be fine so I am lost.

I have contacted Prodibio with the product and lot number to see if they may have had an issue but I have not heard back from them yet.

Anyone have any ideas??

ngvu1 · Nov 16, 2016

Wow, that is hard to swallow. Sorry to hear!

melypr1985 · Nov 16, 2016

ithk21620 said:
Within a couple hours of adding the vial the fish started to act weird

Can you describe what you mean by this exactly? What behaviors did they exhibit and if there was any difference in appearance I'd like to know that as well. I'm sorry for your losses.

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

ngvu1 said:
Wow, that is hard to swallow. Sorry to hear!

Yeah it is. A couple were not very special but I love my wrasses and a few are not easy or cheap to replace

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

melypr1985 said:
Can you describe what you mean by this exactly? What behaviors did they exhibit and if there was any difference in appearance I'd like to know that as well. I'm sorry for your losses.

She called me on FaceTime after being in bed because she was hearing splashing from the tank. The coral beauty was swimming up and down the glass really fast and splashing water at the top. A couple of the wrasses we out in the open laying on the sand bed in the corners which is weird because the lights were out and they were not in their normal "homes". The cardinals and tang seemed to be fine when I talked to her and didn't seem stressed since they were in their normal positions and the other wrasses were buried in the sand as usual.

My daughter got home from work late and sent me a pic of the coral beauty dead on the sand bed but the rest were still alive. This morning when she got up for school she checked on them for me and a bunch were dead. I didn't have her do a full inventory since she needed to get ready for school and so did my wife. When my wife got home she removed all the fish from the aquarium since they were all dead. One is still MIA but with the way the rock is it's hard to tell where it may be and it could have been a snack for the shrimp etc. during the day since it was a small flasher wrasse.

melypr1985 · Nov 16, 2016

ithk21620 said:
She called me on FaceTime after being in bed because she was hearing splashing from the tank. The coral beauty was swimming up and down the glass really fast and splashing water at the top. A couple of the wrasses we out in the open laying on the sand bed in the corners which is weird because the lights were out and they were not in their normal "homes". The cardinals and tang seemed to be fine when I talked to her and didn't seem stressed since they were in their normal positions and the other wrasses were buried in the sand as usual.

My daughter got home from work late and sent me a pic of the coral beauty dead on the sand bed but the rest were still alive. This morning when she got up for school she checked on them for me and a bunch were dead. I didn't have her do a full inventory since she needed to get ready for school and so did my wife. When my wife got home she removed all the fish from the aquarium since they were all dead. One is still MIA but with the way the rock is it's hard to tell where it may be and it could have been a snack for the shrimp etc. during the day since it was a small flasher wrasse.

besides the crazy behavior of the coral beauty, were the fish that were breathing heavy? It was only over night that this happened? Was the water cloudy at all before they died? Also, has anybody done a water test on the tank yet? PH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate ect?

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

melypr1985 said:
besides the crazy behavior of the coral beauty, were the fish that were breathing heavy? It was only over night that this happened? Was the water cloudy at all before they died? Also, has anybody done a water test on the tank yet? PH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate ect?

The two wrasses seemed to be breathing heavy that were out in the open. Water was clear as usual. My wife doesn't do any testing on the tank and what was done had been over so I didn't ask her to learn because she was very upset as it was. Some of the fish were her "babies". I just checked my apex and the PH was normal yesterday ranging from 7.9-8.07. No temp spikes or anything unusual that I can see.

melypr1985 · Nov 16, 2016

ithk21620 said:
The two wrasses seemed to be breathing heavy that were out in the open. Water was clear as usual. My wife doesn't do any testing on the tank and what was done had been over so I didn't ask her to learn because she was very upset as it was. Some of the fish were her "babies". I just checked my apex and the PH was normal yesterday ranging from 7.9-8.07. No temp spikes or anything unusual that I can see.

The heavy breathing usually indicates something is making it difficult to breathe. Could have been ammonia, a toxin, a parasite (though if nothing new had been added in the last month or so, then I would discount that), or something else I haven't thought of. We are going to need some back up here... #reefsquad

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

melypr1985 said:
The heavy breathing usually indicates something is making it difficult to breathe. Could have been ammonia, a toxin, a parasite (though if nothing new had been added in the last month or so, then I would discount that), or something else I haven't thought of. We are going to need some back up here... #reefsquad

I would have to agree to what you are saying and that is why I posted this. The only thing different was adding the biodigest which I have used many times prior. I would hate to blame the addition of it but I am lost. All the fish were hand picked from diversden during their open houses so I doubt it would be a parasite especially since nothing new has been added in a very long time.

sundog101 · Nov 16, 2016

Maybe low 02 from the increase in bacteria? Was this your first dose of biodigest?

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

sundog101 said:
Maybe low 02 from the increase in bacteria? Was this your first dose of biodigest?

No, I have been using it for years

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

sundog101 said:
Maybe low 02 from the increase in bacteria? Was this your first dose of biodigest?

It was however a brand new box and the first vial out of it, that's why I contacted them regarding the batch number and possible issues with it

sundog101 · Nov 16, 2016

Page loaded slow. Ok

NCreefguy · Nov 16, 2016

Did your wife find some girls phone number in one of your pockets while you're away on "business" ? Maybe she opened up a brand new vile of paint thinner for the tank.

Okay I'm sorry I was just trying to ease some of the pain from your loss.

I use the full line of Prodibio products myself and about 8-10 months ago out of nowhere I lost 2 clownfish and 2 Anthias one night. I checked all my tank parameters and found out I had an ammonia spike for some reason.The only thing that I was dosing was Prodibio but I'm not sure if that was what caused it. Haven't had that happen before or since then and my tank is over 10 years old. I'm not saying that ammonia is what killed yours but it took mine out pretty quick like yours.

Your batch # wasn't 01E16Y01 by any chance was it?

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

NCreefguy said:
Did your wife find some girls phone number in one of your pockets while you're away on "business" ? Maybe she opened up a brand new vile of paint thinner for the tank.

Okay I'm sorry I was just trying to ease some of the pain from your loss.

I use the full line of Prodibio products myself and about 8-10 months ago out of nowhere I lost 2 clownfish and 2 Anthias one night. I checked all my tank parameters and found out I had an ammonia spike for some reason.The only thing that I was dosing was Prodibio but I'm not sure if that was what caused it. Haven't had that happen before or since then and my tank is over 10 years old. I'm not saying that ammonia is what killed yours but it took mine out pretty quick like yours.

Your batch # wasn't 01E16Y01 by any chance was it?

Thanks for the laugh but I can guarantee that wasn't the cause. I think she is actually more upset than me regarding the fish.

I don't even have a ammonia test kit and haven't had one in years since I have not needed it in forever. Maybe I will have to pick one up and test on Friday when I get home.

My lot number was 05F15Y01 and was purchased from aqua cave a couple weeks ago.

jcdeng · Nov 16, 2016

get a triton test on your current tank water.

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

jcdeng said:
get a triton test on your current tank water.

I was thinking about that

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

Thanks for all the thoughts so far, I know it's a HUGE guessing game without parameters and I know i struggle helping others without having their parameters but I have nothing better to do while I sit here in my hotel room dwelling on what could have happened. I planned to dose the bacteria before I left but forgot so I asked my wife to. Wish I hadn't done that now because it adds another mystery to the whole puzzle. I did however ask her tonight if the sea cucumber was still alive and pooping sand lol and she said he/she is happily eating and pooping sand. I forgot about it and I have read horror stories about them but I have had mine for around 8+ years and I love their ability to clean the sand so well

Flippers4pups · Nov 16, 2016

Aside of a voltage leak, lack of o2, ammonia would be at the top of the list to kill that fast. Need to test ASAP. Tell her to take a sample of the water to your LFS and have it tested.

ithk21620 · Nov 16, 2016

Flippers4pups said:
Aside of a voltage leak, lack of o2, ammonia would be at the top of the list to kill that fast. Need to test ASAP.

Voltage leak is unlikely since the only think in the water are the heaters, all pumps are external and I use MP's. Plus I am sure my wife would have freaked out when removing the fish from the tank. I have reached into a tank with a voltage leak before lol.

Lack of 02 is also unlikely because of the skimmer and powerheads but who knows.

After what @NCreefguy said I am leaning towards ammonia but will have to test when I get home since I will have to buy a test kit.