All dead

[sw-addict]

Thanks to all who replied for your input.

 

[reefrunner69]

Has any work been done around the house lately? Exterminator come by? Painting? Anything? The timeframe suggests a toxin or overdose of some sort.

What are your water parameters?
Ammonia
Nitrite?
PH?
Calcium?
Alkalinity?
Specific Gravity?
Temp?

 

[reefrunner69]

Sorry about the paramters, Quick Reply makes me stupid sometimes and I forget to see if there are more pages to the thread

BTW,

to AquariumAdvice.com!!!

It may not be under the best of circumstances, but we are happy to have you and will d everything we can to get your tank back to good health.

 

[Sam]

I woudl definitely suspect that you had a pH crash as the cause of the problem. Remember that pH is measured in a log scale and a 8 to 7 difference in reading is actually a tenfold difference in the pH of the water. I strongly suspect that you probably did not have enough buffering capacity in the tank (Alk) to handle the calcium addition, which can trigger a sudden pH drop . I am so sorry to hear of your losses. Nitrate levels while it needs to be brought down, is unlikely to have caused the wipe out you experienced. pH is a major factor and especially with more delicate fish, you can wipe out all livestock. Please make sure that in adding calcium, you also maintain an adequate Alkalinity level to buffer changes in pH. This is very important. I can see you measure and maintain the other parameters pretty well. Sorry again for your loss. HTH

 

[captivereefs]

Have you used any household cleaners in the house at all lately? This is one of the major causes of tank deaths i know. I killed my tank pretty bad one time with Love my carpet powder. It got in the air from the vent system and turned my tank into a couldy mess within hours. My tank was in the living room and the carpet cleaner used in the Far bedroom. It still had an effect on it though. My advice would be big water change and run carbon!

 

[sw-addict]

Thanks again tank is doing better now after three 10% water changes water parameters are specific gravity 1.023, P.H. 8.2, nitrite 0, amonia .25, temp.80 degrees, nitrate 20. I have started testing calcium level is at 310ppm. I have read levels need to be around 425ppm for soft corals? The other test that I have done is carbonate harness(KH) this level indicates 23pkh. One of the guys at the fs told me it can be used to tell alkalinity was he just in a hurry or is that true. What calcium levels is necesary for soft corals(mainly mushrooms soon)? Any recomendations for that alkalinity buffering chemistry?

 

[Sam]

I will let one of the more knowledgeable pros here answer you more specifically on the chemistry part. However from what I do know, carbonate hardness is specifically for that element. Alk is a measure of a couple of different things, if I remember correctly, both carbonate and bicarbonate. The bicarbonate is the key to the buffering capability. So again this is essential for absorbing potential fluctuations in the pH leve. Calcium should be between 400-450ppm for corals. So before you add any of those, you should make sure that your calcium and alk are at acceptable levels and stable. Couple of other quick quesitons. What do you currently have in the tank? I am curious as to why you have an ammonia level.

As far as the buffering chemistry, kent makes a good line of buffering chemicals but there are a lot of different one out there. Any suggestions from anyone else??

 

[steve-s]

Soft corals do not incorporate CaCO3 to grow so the Ca levels are unimportant to them for the most part. It is however neccessary to keep the levels in a general area for proper scleractinian and coralline growth. Ca levels in the range of 350-450 ppm with a properly <<balanced>> alkalinity would be fine. Higher levels will help hard corals grow aa bit faster but I would not suggest it until you have a firmer grasp on the understanding of the chemistry.

Alkalinity and KH are not the same thing and represent different things. KH will generally represent the total magnesium and calcium while alkalinity represents the total hardness of carbonate, bicarbonate and hydroxide. In short, alkalinity measures the water ability to resist changes in ph.

<<This article>> may help some... just excuse the title. Balanced additives are they key. Kalkwasser and two part liquids primarily. When imbalanced a good marine buffer and seperate form of CaCl can be used but should be dosed slowly and monitored carefully until you know how the amount of each addition affects the chemistry. Golden rule, always test never guess. Water changes will also help bring the chem back into ionic balance as long as the saltmix used is properly balanced.

Cheers
Steve

 

[sw-addict]

When all the fish died there were 1 clown trigger, 2 large tangs, red lipped blenny, long nosed hawkfish, 2 mandarins, maroon clown, emerald crab all dead. Still have yellow sea rod, colony polyps, 5 differnt anemones and a red ball sponge that I have recently removed. Also just sold me volitans lion prior to using the rxp ich treatment.

 

[Sam]

Sounds like your tank is going through another mini-cycle. I would monitor the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate until you have zero on both the ammonia and nitrite with low to zero on the nitrate before adding anything back into the tank.

 

[steve-s]

Treating the main tank with RxP is also dangerous. There are many inverts and some fish that could be killed by it. I would double check the instructions for use to see if there wasn't something amiss there mabye... That stuff is pretty toxic.

Cheers
Steve

 

[sw-addict]

Here is the 'All Dead' post....sorry still getting familiar with your site

 

[Doan]

I am a newb but I am really eager to help..What my have happend was that you O.D.ed on the calcium.. It is not like other supplements where you can just keep bringing the levels up to toxic and beyond. It will actually form a chemical bond adn become small solids and percipitate out of the water causing your cloud. This could really be a problem for your fish and such.. How much did you dose?? Again I am no pro but I am trying..

Doan

 

[Doan]

ahhhh got lost here by mistake on page 4 you have covered this I am sorry

Doan

 

[sw-addict]

Our question is could a spawning incident by an anemone cause a 120 gal tank to crash? Kill all fish within 5 hours and PH drop from 8.2 to 7.4?
Sorry we(my husband) didn't just add to this post instead of starting a new one...

 

[steve-s]

It is possible depending on the type and size of the anemone. Where they eggs or sperm? Not sure if this would cause the ph drop though. It would make an awful mess which the excess DOC could have played a heavy role on the water parameters though.

Typically this would also affect the other inverts in the tank. I am curious since you do not mention anything but fish deaths if you have a cuke or sea apple?

Cheers
Steve

 

[sw-addict]

The only things that lived were one verry large condy,3 flowerpots,1 bubble tip,red ball sponge, yellow sea rod, all colony polps(still multiplying),all blue leg hermits one crab did die it was a emerald crab. As far as eggs or sperm this is unknown it just sounds like a logical theory.

thanks for reading this again.