all my fish died.. ph/nitrate/ite spike.

[jsa83]

i started my tank back in november. added some live rock and "live bacteria" the LFS recommended back in mid. december. the ammonia was still very high (8ppm), ph nitrate and nitrite were @ acceptable levels. a week or 2 later i added 2 pieces of shrimp b/c after doing research online i was convinced it was the best and humane way to cycle a tank. months have passed by and maybe about 3 weeks ago (early may) the ammonia was reading 0ppm. i decided to get a few fish last week; 2 yellowtail damsels; 2 stripe damsels; 2 clowns. my tank is a 50 gallon. the person at the LFS said i would be fine starting off with them. a few days go by and every thing still tested fine ammonia was not detected.

well, late tuesday night i was watching them and they all seemed fine. i decided to go to sleep around 1:30am-2am. before i fell asleep i took a look at them and they were still swimming around as usual. i woke up at 6:15 to get ready for work (slept for about 4 hrs or so). first thing i did was check on them. when i approached the tank i found one of the clowns dead at the bottom of the tank. i quickly turned on the light and saw all the other fish dead, scattered in different areas of the tank. i noticed that one striped damsel was still breathing but laying on its side. i quickly took him out and put him in fresh salt water that i had in a 2gallon tank just in case some thing happened. right now hes doing fine. hes back to his normal color and swimming around. i just have to change the water in the 2gal tank every night.

i took all the fish out asap and tested the water. i had work at 7 so i just tested the ammonia and nitrate. ammonia still read 0ppm but the nitrate went up to 80ppm, maybe even 160ppm. what could have gone wrong?.. went i got home at 5pm wednesday(yesterday) i tested the water again....

ammonia 0ppm...
ph went down to 7.4
nitrite went up to 5ppm
nitrate went up to 80ppm

i can't do any thing now. i just feel bad for the fish. i thought i did enough research. what should i do next? should i do a water change? if so how much? change filter media? i have the fluval 305 filter and a protein skimmer running. or should i just wait and don't do any thing and see if the biological filter will catch up?.. all i am doing right now is changing the water in the 2gal tank.

any advise please let me know. thanks!

 

[Keysman]

Did you add all theses fish at the same time

 

[Maya]

Sounds to me like your ammonia spiked with that bioload increase and the subsequent nitrite spike killed your fish. Did you do any water changes for a time after you bought your fish? Unfortunately, even after you cycle your tank, any increase in waste production, especially when adding large fish or large numbers of fish, can cause mini cycles. You have to be diligent in your testing and PWC's during that time in order to allow the number of bacteria to increase to convert the waste. You may be better off, IMO, adding the fish slowly. You may also want to make sure that they weren't accidentally exposed to something chemical in nature.. No windex or toxic air fresheners. Sorry to hear about your fish. Keep your head up and try not to get discouraged.

 

[Keysman]

Well I think you over loaded you tank do a 1/3 water change leave the bio filter in and keep doing water changes to your levels come down just take it as a learning experience only ever add one thing to your tank at a time you don't want to over load your tank
With you small tank yes do daily water changes till your dt ready to go then add the fish
How much lr do you have?

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

If you added all six of those fish at the same time, that's what led to the demise of them all. I wouldn't recommend adding more than one fish per week/ two weeks. If you add too many fish, the ammonia will spike dramatically which would eventually be turned into nitrates, which is why you had a large amount of nitrates

 

[joy13]

All the fish are usually very hardy. Is there anyway something could have gotten into the tank like a spray cleaner or something else? Check your temperature sometimes a heater will go out. The nitrite jump could be from all the fish dieing or might be the cause but it really isn't that high.

 

[bart051284]

How long has the tank been running before you added the fish?

 

[jsa83]

thanks for the advise and input guys!

Did you add all theses fish at the same time

i added the 4 damsels one day and then the 2 clowns 4 days later. i specifically asked the person @ the LFS if that was ok. he said i would be fine considering how big my tank is and how damsels and clowns are hardy

. Did you do any water changes for a time after you bought your fish? .

nope. i didn't do any water changes. should have i? the one damsel is still alive and well but when i do decide to put him back should i do a PWC prior?

How much lr do you have?

about 25lbs of live rock

Is there anyway something could have gotten into the tank like a spray cleaner or something else? .

i'm positive that cleaning chemicals did not get into the tank. i was second guessing my self the whole day i found them dead but i'm positive nothing air born fell inside

How long has the tank been running before you added the fish?

it has been running since dec. ... about 5 and a half months without any fish. only LR and 2 pieces of shrimp.

 

[jsa83]

i'm thinking about adding more live rock.. would adding about 20lbs more benefit in a way?

 

[jsa83]

tested the water today... nitrite and nitrate went back to normal... ph is still down ... ammonia looks a little bit there

any suggestions on how to bring the pH up?

 

[Maya]

Well JSa, I'm going to guess that it was an ammonia/nitrite poisoning. When you added 5 fish to a tank that had been running with a relatively small bioload your fish added a lot of waste at one time. The bacteria wasn't sufficient (because they weren't yet needed) to cope with the added ammonia. The next time you add fish, you'll need to either add them slowly (1-2 at a time) or keep an keen eye on your water parameters and be ready with a water change frequently to avoid the mini-cycle that your tank will go through. Any time you significantly increase the amount of waste in your tank (anything from fish poo to overfeeding or even dead fish) you have the chance of seeing an ammonia spike. Normally your tank will have a bacterial load capable of quickly handling it. In your case you went from little bio load (no fish) to lots in a very short period. Before the fish, even though your tank had technically cycled... You didn't have enough ammonia to create a large bacterial population. More live rock will certainly benefit you. A DSB is also a great place for nitrite conversion. In the end it probably came down to balance. Too much of anything at one time is going to create a problem. When you add the live rock, the die-off from live rock can cause the same problem. When you add anything to your tank... Be ready for PWC's and extra testing. Good luck!

 

[Keysman]

Don't listen to your lfs you should only add one fish at a time my tank is 55g I add a valitine puffer first then 2 weeks later a coral beauty then 3 weeks later a snowflake eel and now I've got a zebra lion fish at the lfs on hold (waiting for him to eat frozen food) its been two weeks and now I'm ready for the lion fish

 

[Strawman]

thanks for the advise and input guys!
i added the 4 damsels one day and then the 2 clowns 4 days later. i specifically asked the person @ the LFS if that was ok. he said i would be fine considering how big my tank is and how damsels and clowns are hardy

The things to be learned here are NEVER TRUST YOUR LFS unless well never.

Always consult this forum for info, or do proper research before hand

and add fish one at a time, recommended to me was once every two weeks,

But I would set up a quarantine tank capable of supporting life for a month, so you can make sure you don't kill your tank off with a new fish.

That isn't what happened here, u just dumped a huge bioload on a small amount of bacteria.

Damsels get mean as they get older so I not recommened them, but they are cool, I personally have a yellow tail thats bright blue.

yes live rock will benefit your tank, but make sure it's cure if you have any fish in there.

 

[Keysman]

About your live rock yes adding more would be great you should have about 1 to two pounds per gallon (I've got 46 pounds in mine I need to find some more myself picked up 22 pounds last week for $20 last week)

 

[Keysman]

And make sure the lr is cured you don't want any die off in your tank it can add ammonia

 

[mr_X]

you could have added all of those fish at once if you had a bacteria colony large enough to sustain them, but 5 months without any fish and i feel the tank needed to be recycled. the bacteria colony needs food to survive/grow.

i've added many fish to a system all at once with no ill effects. it's not a common practice, but it can be done. if anyone disagrees, just think of the LFS. do you think they purchase and add one fish at a time to their systems?
they might add 50 fish at once.

 

[Purevil21]

Good point about the LFS Mr. X, never thought about that before.

 

[Maya]

I agree Mr. X. Which was the point I was trying to make (apparently unskillfully). Bacteria cannot multiply if they don't have a continuous food source. They just die off. Letting the tank sit dormant without a significant bioload basically set up the tank for a who new cycle when those fish were added.

 

[kingman8610]

I would have to agree with X, listen to him he has helped me significantly with keeping my 10g stable for about the past year. My first thought was the bioload as well but was confused bc of your tank size, but no pwc's and the sedentary life of the tank previous to the add is definitely the cause, srry about your first run. Just try again, and PLEASE consult the forum bfore you do anything new, no matter how much research you've done on your own. Someone here may well point out something vital you may have missed. Good luck!!