HELP! Nudibranch poisons

russ1realtor

New Member
I have 24 gallon BioCube that was running very healthy for several years. I added a new triggerfish and nudibranch the other day. I have about six fish and a few shrimps and snails. The next morning the new deed was dead along with the triggerfish I added. I saw the nudie squirting a white liquid out somewhere to when snails are mating. The next day I lost everything in my tank including some corals and fish Plus invertebrates. Can this poison from the nudie kill my whole tank? I have never experienced anything this devastating? I'm extra cautious with everything I do even when acclimating new fish. I even did a 5-gallon water change before adding the new fish. Everything in the tank was great except nitrates were slightly high but I thought the water change the local store said would correct that. Sometimes when adding the new water is stirs up a lot of the send which could raise nitrates a little bit until the water settles and I add water conditioner to the new water as well. I need advice or comments will be appreciated!
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
I have 24 gallon BioCube that was running very healthy for several years. I added a new triggerfish and nudibranch the other day. I have about six fish and a few shrimps and snails. The next morning the new deed was dead along with the triggerfish I added. I saw the nudie squirting a white liquid out somewhere to when snails are mating. The next day I lost everything in my tank including some corals and fish Plus invertebrates. Can this poison from the nudie kill my whole tank? I have never experienced anything this devastating? I'm extra cautious with everything I do even when acclimating new fish. I even did a 5-gallon water change before adding the new fish. Everything in the tank was great except nitrates were slightly high but I thought the water change the local store said would correct that. Sometimes when adding the new water is stirs up a lot of the send which could raise nitrates a little bit until the water settles and I add water conditioner to the new water as well. I need advice or comments will be appreciated!

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You have several problems here that should be corrected. Please don't think I'm trying to bash you. I don't intend this, but there are some issues that should be corrected before moving on.

Most nudibranchs are a poor choice for a SW system since they usually have very special diets, and as you have seen can by very toxic. These are best left out of your tank. Note there are a few species that are ok in a reef system, but when in doubt, leave it out.

A trigger fish is also a poor choice for a reef system, especially a clown trigger. The minimum tank requirement for one is about 100 gal. Also triggers will eat most of your clean up crew, especially snails and hermits. Lastly clown triggers are very aggressive once they mature, and it's common for one to get so nasty that it kills everything else in the tank. If you really must have a trigger, consider a much larger tank, and one of the more docile species. It will still eat your clean up crew, but at least you can keep other fish with it.

Your tank, before the crash was way over crowded. 6 fish plus the shrimp just doesn't work out. By the time you set up a 24 gal tank with live rock and a shallow sandbed, you'll have only about 20 gal of water in the tank. In a SW system you want only about 1 inch of fish per 5 gal of water. So for that tank you want about two fish that are about 2 inches long. Yes, some people do go way beyond this limit, but they are really walking a fine line. The slightest mistake results in the total collapse of the system.

The big question is where do you go from here.

Since you lost everything, I recommend you tear the tank down and set it up again, using all new water. Normally you don't want to use all new water, but your water has been contaminated by the toxins released. Then cycle the tank as you normally would with a new tank.

As an alternative you could also do about 4 or 5 large partial water changes of about 75% of the water, each change done about a week apart.

You don't mention how you are getting your SW. Generally we recommend mixing your own using RO/DI water. This obviously means you need an RO/DI unit. Often the water sold as RO/DI by your LFS isn't RO/DI water at all.

You don't mention what water conditioner your used, but with RO/DI water, no additional water conditioner should be used. They are just not needed.
 

russ1realtor

New Member
Hi Dave thanks for the comments, I don't take anything's wrong the more we learn the better our system is. I get the water for me local aquarium stores. every store has their own little bit of advice that differs. One person says of fish is great the other says it's not. I use prime conditioner plus add fritz zyme 9 good bacteria or microbe- lift special blend, reef sculpture elements & nutrients, chemi pure elite in filter with bio rock. Yeah I'm considering changing after water or getting a bigger tank, I've been letting it run for a week with no fish and out of the bacteria so I can lower the ammonia and nitrates which it's already down I think from all the fish dying it shot up. it's a shame how everything could be running great one day and then next day have I made your crash. The aquarium store guy said no way the nudibranch killed all the fish or they would have died instantly when I saw the white stuff squirting out. I don't believe him because that was the only problem in the tank they should give me some kind of credit or lose me as a regular customer.
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
... I get the water for me local aquarium stores. .... I use prime conditioner plus add fritz zyme 9 good bacteria or microbe- lift special blend, reef sculpture elements & nutrients, chemi pure elite in filter with bio rock. ...

If possible always mix you own water starting with RO/DI water. If you must uses water from your LFS always test it. It's always possible that the water was bad to start with. By "bad" I mean it may not be mixed right and the readings are off, or something toxic got in there.

Please stop using all those additives. You don't need them and they will cause more harm than good in an established tank. Chemi pure elite is ok as a media, but in my opinion way over priced for what you get. Bio rock is not usually needed in the filtration system, and tends to become a dirt trap. In a reef system, the live rock and live sand provide all the biological media you will ever need.

If you take anything away from this forum, understand that many LFS often give out a lot of bad information. It's often wrong, or a guess, or considered obsolete by today's standards. Often a larger LFS will have only 1 or 2 people that know anything about SW systems. You will tend to get much better results asking questions online, if for no other reason you will get various opinions, and often people with a lot more experience.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Why did you add a nudibranch?

I can't speak for the op, but this is an easy mistake to make. You see a colorful, interesting nudibranch, and even ask the LFS about it, and they say it's ok to add. You buy it, without realizing that it can wipe out you tank or that it's got very special dietary requirements.
 
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