Okay Nitrate test is running now but in all honesty i doubt it will turn up anything.
Did anyone clean near or on the tank with a cleaner that smells like fresh rain....or plug in a glade plug-in really close?.....theses occasionally rear their dirty heads by accident and wipe out tanks....just an idea
Here is what i have done in the last few days:
Friday: 10 gal water change, nothing else
Saturday: my GF did clean in the house using Pledge Multisurface Glade aerosolized cleaner...rainshower smell.....crap.....though she knows to stay far away.....
Okay Nitrates 0. pH 8.0 and Sal 1.030
Doing ten gallons of water change now. can do more than ten at a time as i have some euphyllia near the top that will suffer if the water level starts to press on their skeletons.
Going to go to petsmart down the street as soon as they open and get some carbon filters.
probably also going to have to get chemipure/phosguard etc... since i couldn't locate two of the fish....
The only other difference yesterday other than cleaning was that i fed the fish spectrum pellets for the first time in a long time. But that was midday and they ate them fine.
Some snails are looking a bit grumpy. Acanthophyllia, Euphyllia, and some of the SPS's (birdsnests...) are looking...okay....
ugh this hobby is so emotionally difficult sometimes.
I would also like to know about any cleaning, candles, air fresheners ect that may have been used around, near or in the same room as the tank. Do you have kids? Mine likes to put things in the sump because he thinks its funny (can't now that the sump is in a fish room). Had you added anything (wet) new to the tank in the last month?
no, no kids. other than dogs and wet friends. And the dogs know very well not to put weird things in the tank
Stray voltage in the tank? Is the electrical system for this tank GFCI'ed?
No stray voltages. Also, i'd think if the tank was shocked my inverts (shrimp etc...) would be toast too? I was thinking this last night too as i tried to fall asleep.
I'm sorry for your loss , I know how frustrating this can be , until you find the reason .. Ammonia?? Have you done any initial testing yourself yet ?
I don't have a reliable ammonia test kit. Mine expired recently and i need to get a new one. Nitrate is reading at 0. Has been consistently for a while. I'm starting not to trust it. It's the red sea pro nitrate test kit. Going to have to get another one to corroborate it's results.
I can't think of anything that would kill only the fish unless it was something they ingested. Corals and inverts are usually more sensitive to most everything. Does your tank have a cover? I recall someone posting here just a few days ago about one of his fish dying after eating a firefly that landed in his tank. IIRC, it was either a puffer or trigger.
This is exactly what my Girlfriend said. She said "spider" which i thought was super unlikely. Fireflys are known to be toxic to animals (as anyone who keeps lizards, chameleons, and geckos should be warned...) but i haven't ever seen any here where i live in the San Gabriel Foothills. That isn't to say there aren't other toxic critters out there. But i doubt they would have eaten it and then died later. With fireflys, it's pretty immediate. My wrasse clearly was cognizant enough to go to her sleeping cubby before going belly up.
