Powerhead tank wipe.

[mikewest]

Hello I have a 29 gallon FOWLR with a large clownfish, yellow tail damsel, lionfish, and diamond goby. For Xmas I got a 750 gph power head I had it on for about 3 hours before I realized the fish hated it and when I woke up the next day the goby was dead and all of my other fish did not look good when I woke up 2 days after that all of my fish were dead... If I could get any help understanding what I did wrong would be great so I wont do it again.

 

[AquaRick]

What do you mean the fish hated it? Was the PH rinsed in rodi or SW before you added it to the tank? Are your parameters ok?

 

[mikewest]

I didn't do a water change when I added the power head, all of my fish went to hide under my LR

 

[AquaRick]

I mean did you wash the powerhead itself before adding it to your tank?

 

[mikewest]

No....

 

[Hholly]

Wow, that's awful. I hope you find the answer.

 

[TLTGF]

It's a long shot, but also could have stray voltage going into the tank.

 

[mr_X]

I never rinse power heads. Maybe you had a lot of detritus on the sand bed that was disrupted by the power head.

 

[melosu58]

My suggestion would be too much flow in the tank. That`s a pretty powerful PH in a tank that size. JMO

 

[mikewest]

If it was the detritus what should I do to clean them out of my tank?

 

[crister13]

You could use a cuc or just manually vacuum your sand or rock.

 

[mikewest]

So I just tested my water and the ph had risen to 8.4 so could the change in ph kill my fish and why would the power head change the ph.

 

[mr_X]

more gas exchange at the surface would change ph.

 

[mikewest]

How do I stabilize the ph?

 

[mr_X]

keep gas exchange steady. use calcium based substrate and/or live rock in the tank, or both.

 

[bighabeeb]

Out of curiosity, how long has the tank been running with that bioload and have you tested the water at all other than the PH? 8.4 is high, but its still within safe parameters...though I suppose a very rapid rise could cause the problem. Unless that powerhead is riffling the surface, however, its unlikely to cause a very rapid spike....

I suspect it is likely something other than the powerhead that would have caused the issue. For a powerhead to actually kill a fish...I mean...it would have to be REALLY blasting...

 

[mikewest]

I've had my tank for about 4 months now and none of my fish had ever died, I read online that in order to reduce the power heads current you can point it twords the surface so I did for about 2-3 hours before I turned it off. I did test for ammonia, and nitrogen and they were usual.

 

[Breezyrae]

IMO I think that's too much current in the 29 gal. I use a 425 in my 29 gal. I'm not an expert tho and new to the trade. But the 425 gives really good circulation in my tank.

 

[carey]

I used 2 750 Koralias in my 29g and never had any issues at all. It's all a matter of placement and angles.

 

[Breezyrae]

I used 2 750 Koralias in my 29g and never had any issues at all. It's all a matter of placement and angles.

Wow!! Wish I woulda stuck with my 750 then my fish were flying all over the place! Guess I had it wrongly positioned