Sudden death?

[Antmonger]

I have a 240gal reef tank with softy’s and LPS
Alk 10-10.5 range
Ca 420-450 range
Mag 1250-1300 range
Salinity 32
Nitrates 15-20 range
Temp ranges 78.1
Radion xr30 light it has been on the same schedule for years

I started to do maintenance, as-well as needing algae removal from the glass and I noticed something strange? All the fish started to freak out almost like they were dying and started to breathe heavily!!! But the only thing I had noticed was that my ORP dropped .!!

So I immediately added prime and tossed in an air stone. It seemed to help. Has this happened to anyone before or have you seen this happen before .??

(30 mins) - valentine puffer and the maroon clown have passed but all the other fish seem to be alright.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Pics under white light?
#fishmedic

 

[Antmonger]

whites-

 

[Antmonger]

ORP

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Have you added any iron? Antioxidants or water conditioners? There’s cause and affect around every corner in this hobby.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

ORP

Aren’t those numbers good?

 

[Glenner’sreef]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have a 240gal reef tank with softy’s and LPS
Alk 10-10.5 range
Ca 420-450 range
Mag 1250-1300 range
Salinity 32
Nitrates 15-20 range
Temp ranges 78.1
Radion xr30 light it has been on the same schedule for years

I started to do maintenance, as-well as needing algae removal from the glass and I noticed something strange? All the fish started to freak out almost like they were dying and started to breathe heavily!!! But the only thing I had noticed was that my ORP dropped .!!

So I immediately added prime and tossed in an air stone. It seemed to help. Has this happened to anyone before or have you seen this happen before .??

(30 mins) - valentine puffer and the maroon clown have passed but all the other fish seem to be alright.

It may be related to the tank cleaning - if something lowered the dissolved oxygen, the ORP would drop and the fish would start gasping and could die. Maybe you opened up an anaerobic area in the tank?
Jay

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Aren’t those numbers good?

His final point shows it dropped almost to 175.

 

[Antmonger]

My ORP stays between 300 -325

 

[Glenner’sreef]

His final point shows it dropped almost to 175.

My bad, I thought that was the side wall of the chart. Thx.

 

[Antmonger]

It may be related to the tank cleaning - if something lowered the dissolved oxygen, the ORP would drop and the fish would start gasping and could die. Maybe you opened up an anaerobic area in the tank?
Ja

It may be related to the tank cleaning - if something lowered the dissolved oxygen, the ORP would drop and the fish would start gasping and could die. Maybe you opened up an anaerobic area in the tank?

so scraping algae off the glass could causing oxygen level to drop suddenly? Unless I have a strange type of algae.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

so scraping algae off the glass could causing oxygen level to drop suddenly? Unless I have a strange type of algae.

Did you move rocks around? There can be pockets of low oxygen below them. Did you add any reducing agents like dechlorinator? There are only a few things that cause a rapid drop in ORP.
Jay

 

[Antmonger]

Did you move rocks around? There can be pockets of low oxygen below them. Did you add any reducing agents like dechlorinator? There are only a few things that cause a rapid drop in ORP.
Jay

Yes I added prime air right after I notice my fish started to lay on the sand bed.

 

[Antmonger]

Did you move rocks around? There can be pockets of low oxygen below them. Did you add any reducing agents like dechlorinator? There are only a few things that cause a rapid drop in ORP.
Jay

And no I did not move any rocks around.

 

[Antmonger]

I wonder if I potentially have toxic algae….
And the OPR dropped from the Prime “dechlorinator”

 

[shootingstar_reef]

Did you wash your hands before putting in the tank? If there was residual soap, that could lead to a temporary dip in O2 levels

 

[Antmonger]

Did you wash your hands before putting in the tank? If there was residual soap, that could lead to a temporary dip in O2 levels

Did you wash your hands before putting in the tank? If there was residual soap, that could lead to a temporary dip in O2 levels

I use a MagFloat… so my never touched the water…​

 

[MnFish1]

Did you wash your hands before putting in the tank? If there was residual soap, that could lead to a temporary dip in O2 levels

My suggestion was some sort of toxin on your arms. BTW - when the algae was scraped off the glass - it also could have released something - depending on what it was.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oxygen levels and Salinity is a bit low (take up to 34-35ppt)
Nitrate moving to Upper/high range assuming theyre no higher due to false results.