Dead Fish

[aravindk]

This is sort of a follow up from a another thread:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=95857

Here is a synopsis: I am trying to hook up a basement sump and the pump turns out to be a bit overpowered for my 72 gallon tank.

Here comes the latest: The new pump kicked off a good size sand storm. I ran the pump for about an hour in the night and then fed the fish as usual.
Seeing the sand storm, I decided not to run the sump/pump overnight. There were two powerheads in the display tank that was running all along.

Next day morning all fish were dead! Now I am trying to find out what caused this major disaster. Can a sand storm kill a fish? How can I test for what they call a DSB crash? What else could have killed the fish? Is it the dust from the PVC? Glue/Primer?

The inverts look good so far.

The water was nicely aerated for two three days. Salinity was 1.024 and the temperature was 78.

I am totally lost!

 

[MT79]

The sand storm could have produced some ammonia. That combined w/ the decreased circulation and natural PH drop at night, may have caused a drop in O2 and PH levels and shocked/suffocated the fish..?

How can I test for what they call a DSB crash?

An overall decline of health in the tank, frequent or constant nuisance algae out breaks, uncontrollable NO3 and PO4 levels are a few things that come to mind.

Is it the dust from the PVC? Glue/Primer

It is recommended to use GAC, or something similar, in systems w/ new plumbing. It usually affects inverts more than fish though.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that it could have stirred up some of the bad stuff in your sand causing an ammonia spike. A PWC might help.

 

[Ziggy953]

I would get on the PWCs now! Run some GAC as said for a few days just to help things out! I hate to hear that you lost all of your fish, that really sucks!

 

[aravindk]

Ok, I was trying to hook up a new sump. That is as good as PWC right? I think the only mistake I did was to leave the pump off for night?

 

[Ziggy953]

Well....if the SW in the new sump didn't match the parameters of the SW in the display it could have shocked the fish. PH off, SG off Temp off....those kinds of things added to the sand being stired up, possiblely causing an ammonia spike may be what happened. When I added a sump to my system I did a PWC and the water that came from my display was put into the new sump before it went online with the rest of the tank. I let that sit (w/ a PH) for a few days and then did another PWC and connected the new sump to the system. I always let my new SW mix for at least 24 hours before use. This allows the salt to disolve completely and allows the temp to get to at least 78 before I do my PWC.

 

[roka64]

I agree with the rest. There were a lot of possibilites that could have caused the deaths. What are your water parameters? Sorry to hear about your losses, that is awful.

 

[aravindk]

Thanks to all your responses, guys.

As I mentioned in my original posting, the water was aerated for nearly three days and the temperature was brought to 78 before introducing to the display tank. I did not bother testing for PH and other things, since I thought this was just one big water change.

All fish are gone and I did not lose a single invert. So I can only come up with the following assumptions:

a) There was no DSB crash since there was no bad odor.
b) Excessive Flow and/or sand storm killed all fish - I have already corrected the pressure problem.
c) The biggest blunder I think I did was to completely turn off the sump/skimmer/return for the entire night. The powerheads were running but now I doubt their efficiency.

I was wondering if anyone else had gone through a situation like this. Tonight I am thinking of getting a damsel and put it in the tank and see how he copes up.

 

[MT79]

As long has you have no ammonia, nitrite, and your PH is good, I think your ready to go. Just don't shut down the pumps/skimmer in the future for that long. Getting the damsel out could be a chore, and they can get aggressive.