Crash!!!!!:(((

[Carson24]

My whole tank just crashed I recently moved to my new 125 gallon tank and things were fine for two days other then the water being cloudy. Well today I got home from work and went down to watch for a bit and water was still cloudy and one looked kinda sick well went up stairs to get some pizza when I came back down my striped tang( sickly looking one) was kinda laying on his side. Well I went back up to get another slice of pizza came down and my lion fish my yellow tank my sea horse my crab and urchin were all dead. Now I have horse shoe crab somewhere in there buried in the sand that's prob gonna die to. And my two mollies are fine which really pisses me off bc they r the cheapest but I still like them the female is pregnant and now that everything else is gone maybe the babies won't get eatin

 

[iDream]

did you replace the sand after you moved?

also you seriously want to reconsider your stocking, i see many problems..

 

[Carson24]

I went bare bottom for now but my lion was very docile if that's what ur thinking lol but Ur prob right

 

[mr_X]

that stock list says you didn't do much research. i think it was user error.
what did you upgrade from, and how did you do it?
how old was your existing tank?
how long did you have the horses an what did you feed them?

 

[David S]

What sand is in the tank now as your horse shoe is burried,your stock was way to aggressive/quick for horses,what size was the original tank,whats your water parameters

 

[Carson24]

The guy at the pet store said he would eat anything he can is that wrong? And the ammonia spiked so j think that's what killed them but I don't know why it jumped up like that?

 

[cmor1701d]

Let's start with some basic information about the tank...
How long has it been up and running with fish? (old tank)
What filtration are you using for both mechanical and biological?
Describe the lighting units (type bulbs, total wattage).
What are the current water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, salinity, temp, calcium and alkalinity? Please post numbers of results and brand of test kits used.
What else is in the tank (livestock and equipment)?

So currently the tank is bare bottom?

 

[mr_X]

a horseshoe crab will get to 2 feet long, and will need more food than your sand bed can give it. plus, they need a deep sand bed for they bury themselves completely. they don't live long in home systems.
sea horses belong in a species specific tank. in other words, they should not be in a tank with fish and other creatures.
they also require cooler temperatures than a normal salt talk. a seahorse tank shouldn't be above 74 degrees. they also have a specific diet, and are prone to illnesses.
how long was the 1st tank running? what size tank was this? what exactly did you bring over to the larger tank? rock and sand as well? how much rock and sand?

 

[Carson24]

Ok the old tank was 55 and to small for my tanga so I upgraded most is bare bottom but about 22 inches of it length way is sand enough for my horse shoe crab to burry himself ammonia is high but I thought that might be because o everything dying cause before this happens all my levels were fine. My old tank was only running about six months I know it's not that long but I fell in love with this hobby and got over my head maybe. I guess maybe I could look at this in a good way and say this will give me a chance to start over and take it as slow as possible. I have read on here alot about sand not being best so I didn't want to buy all the sand if it wasn't the best possible thing.

 

[mr_X]

sand is fine. i prefer sand to a bare bottom tank. that's not your issue.
right now you need to be doing some large water changes to knock down the ammonia, or your going to lose more livestock.
how much live rock do you have in the tank?

 

[Carson24]

Just one big piece right now and some fake stuff. But there isn't really anything else to lose just my horse shoe my two mollies and two peoermint shrimp.. But I have a regular hang on filter till my canister filter gets here in the mail do u thing that was the problem

 

[mr_X]

no. the problem is, you didn't cycle the 125. you need to cycle the 125. you also should have about 100 pounds of live rock in that tank too.

 

[Carson24]

I need to cycle it even if I used water from my old tank.?? I should have come to u guys before I asked the guy at our pet store

 

[Magma]

benifical bacteria does not reside in the water it grows on the rocks and good practice is to have 1-2lbs of live rock per gal that way you have enough surface area for the bacteria to grow on and break down ammonia fast enough so it wont harm the fish.

here are some things to read
Ammonia conversion to nitrate
Cycle your salt tank

 

[melosu58]

Magma is right. The beneficial bacteria does not reside in the water. It grows on surfaces like the rock. sand and tank surfaces. As mentioned you need more LR in your tank. It might be a good idea to return the crab and start all over.

 

[Carson24]

Ya that's what I'm gonna do I'll just give my crab to my cuz bc he has had his tank forever