Tank Crash

[ReefJCB]

Do you run a UV sterilizer? If so, what wattage and approx flow?
Maybe I missed it, but how are you monitoring PH?

I don’t run UV. I’m monitoring with my APEX, checked calibration about a month ago. There was no swing in PH according to my apex.

 

[ReefJCB]

Sounds like a ph swing issue. I’ve used several bars of epoxy in a smaller tank with no issues. It will always affect skimmer though.
do you have adequate flow? Did you make sure a heater did not malfunction .
Usually over night issues involve pH and lack of O2 in my experience.

Apex is not showing any major swing in ph. Plenty of flow with wave makers pointed at surface for agitation. Apex is not showing any major swing in temp.

 

[ReefJCB]

Should I turn off the wave makers Incase it’s a stray voltage issue until I can check? I did not clean the return so I can mostly rule that out for stray voltage, but it is possible that one of the other three is having issues.

Would the return be enough water movement for the next 4 hours?

 

[IKD]

Kind of out there, but you did a 30g water change. Did you check salinity? Any chance it wasn’t mixed with salt?

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

I doubt it was stray voltage, not saying it can't be but, I've had a couple power heads and a heater leak voltage and it be strong enough to make me jerk my hand out of the tank or get zapped by touching the salt creep and the fish and corals not show a sign of an issue.
But that's just my experience in that area.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Out of curiosity, what is your living situation? Apartment? House? Duplex? Neighborhood? Urban, suburbs, or rural?

Also out of curiosity, what kind of rock are you using? Man made (commercial/home made) ? Natural?

Do you used natural gas to heat you house? Kerosene? Or oil?

If you are taking any medications, go look up the warnings and see if they can leach from your skin. Some will do that and you not even realize it. Hand lotions? Hand sanitizers? Do your clothes ever come into contact with the water (like the sleeve of your shirt) and could it have not been rinsed well in the wash or hold fabric softener?

 

[ReefJCB]

Kind of out there, but you did a 30g water change. Did you check salinity? Any chance it wasn’t mixed with salt?

Def checked salt before I did the change, was at 1.025

 

[ReefJCB]

Out of curiosity, what is your living situation? Apartment? House? Duplex? Neighborhood? Urban, suburbs, or rural?

Also out of curiosity, what kind of rock are you using? Man made (commercial/home made) ? Natural?

Do you used natural gas to heat you house? Kerosene? Or oil?

If you are taking any medications, go look up the warnings and see if they can leach from your skin. Some will do that and you not even realize it. Hand lotions? Hand sanitizers? Do your clothes ever come into contact with the water (like the sleeve of your shirt) and could it have not been rinsed well in the wash or hold fabric softener?

I'm in a house in the suburbs of Phoenix with a little agriculture around, the windows were open last night in the same room the tank is in.

Natural rock from BRS. Heat is electric. No funky medications and I never use lotion or hand sanitizer.

I'm not always the best about washing my hands before getting into the tank and I've definitely had my sleeves get wet before so those are possibilities.

 

[ReefJCB]

A few things I thought about on my way home:

I recently changed my bleach to wash my filter socks out with to a “no spill” bleach. I always double rinse my socks so I don’t think that is the issue.

I’ve got a sea cucumber for detritus, I hear they can nuke takes if they die. I saw it moving around yesterday and am trying to see if I can find it now, but it’s not uncommon for it to go weeks without being seen.

Good news is the corals all look ok for the most part. Doing some water tests now.

 

[ReefJCB]

Amonia is at 0. I haven’t been able to find a missing coral beauty, inverts all seem fine so I’m pretty sure they will be able to break up the corpse.

 

[ReefJCB]

This is the brand of citric acid.

 

[JoshO]

Sorry for your loss. I'm not sure what else to mention that somebody else hasn't already! I'm thinking along the lines of something accidentally entering the water, some rogue citric acid on your hands of arms possibly?
Glad to hear the inverts and corals are bouncing back

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

A few things I thought about on my way home:

I recently changed my bleach to wash my filter socks out with to a “no spill” bleach. I always double rinse my socks so I don’t think that is the issue.

I’ve got a sea cucumber for detritus, I hear they can nuke takes if they die. I saw it moving around yesterday and am trying to see if I can find it now, but it’s not uncommon for it to go weeks without being seen.

Good news is the corals all look ok for the most part. Doing some water tests now.

That no spill is thicker right? I'd consider that a potential issue. Can you soak your socks in prime before using them in the tank?

 

[ReefJCB]

That no spill is thicker right? I'd consider that a potential issue. Can you soak your socks in prime before using them in the tank?

I’m not familiar with prime, I do a double rinse on the socks in the wash. I can easily switch back to regular bleach if it’s a concern at all.

 

[ReefJCB]

Yes, it’s kinda gel like. I’m not familiar with prime, I do a double rinse on the socks in the wash. I can easily switch back to regular bleach if it’s a concern at all.

 

[oceans garden aquaculture]

Ugh.

Woke up this morning to essentially all of my fish dead. I'd love some help identifying what went wrong and how to avoid it, here is the time line:

3/5 used 2 little fishes coral epoxy for roughly 3 frags - not a lot but skimmer did go on the fritz. I left the skimmer on but unplugged the collection cup to keep the aeration going.
3/6 Skimmer is still on the fritz
3/7 Did 30g water change (120g tank with ~30g in the sump), everything is still looking fine, Dosed 15 ml of Vibrant, I've been doing this for the last few weeks to help with bubble algae.
3/8 Picked up a few more frags and did about another 4 with the epoxy.
3/9 Skimmer still on the fritz, fish are looking fine and eat well, did not notice any abnormal behavior, used about 4 ml of aiptaisa x, cleaned 3 powerheads with citric acid.
3/10 Wake up and all my fish are dead except for 2 clowns who are not looking well. Corals are all closed up.

I did a 30g water change and replaced carbon this morning. I removed all the fish except a coral beauty that I could not find. Clowns are in quarantine but its not looking great. I've got more water going right now and will do another 30g change when I get home.

I'm thinking this was a combination of the coral epoxy and dosing vibrant without having enough air in the tank. I've dosed vibrant for several months in the past and for the past 30 or so days without any issues. I've never increased the air in the past, but also never had it happen at the same time as using the epoxy.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Losing the fish sucks but I really don't want a total coral crash.

What did your PH look like through all of this?

 

[oceans garden aquaculture]

I’m not familiar with prime, I do a double rinse on the socks in the wash. I can easily switch back to regular bleach if it’s a concern at all.

Prime is a must if you're not leaving chlorinated items in the sun for at least 3 days. IMO prime is a big deal.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

I’m not familiar with prime, I do a double rinse on the socks in the wash. I can easily switch back to regular bleach if it’s a concern at all.

Prime by seachem removes chlorine, ammonia, and a few other impurities. It's often used when people recharge the purigen bags. They will soak the purigen bags in bleach for 24 hours or so, rinse, then soak in the Prime for another 24 hours.