Anemone is evil?

[W.Nowling]

I’m stumped on this one. I’ve got a 55gal FOWLR tank with a small amount of live rock and about 4” of live sand. I had 2 clownfish, 4 damsels assorted, a red banded shrimp, hermit crab and anemone crab. I purchased a pink tip Haitian anemone about 4” with the orange foot acclimated him and he found a spot on a rock, stayed there all night. Today I did a small water change as it was time for it. No more than 20% and I made sure temp/(0)toxic chemicals all parameters were matching before starting. Now I went to take a nap and came back out and found all my fish dead and the water was twice as cloudy. Only thing still alive are the inverts. Help. What the heck. I noticed the water getting cloudy that was also a reason for the water change. It was clearer before nap.

 

[DaveK]

Usually when you see this kind of crash, especially with cloudy water, something big died. In your case it is likely to be the anemone. Anemones can also shead their stinging cell in the process. However, the problem could also be from the 4" dsb, especially if it was disturbed, or from not mixing the new water correctly and/or mot matching parameters. That can easily disturb an anemone.

The other factor with anemones is that they require a well established tank, very stable water conditions, and excellent lighting. How long has your tank been set up? How long have you had the anemone?

 

[W.Nowling]

It’s been up and running for about 8months total. I’ve got two LED light panels over the tank. One 48” full spectrum and one 48” white/blue FOWLR marine both running at 10k each. I’ve slowly added each fish one at a time. All my parameters are and were well within acceptable. Except my ph did come back low this time for some reason. I ordered more live rock btw it was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday.

Now it looks like I’m gonna have to start all over again. But at least it’ll give me a chance to build a proper rock wall on the back. I’m thinking about upgrading to a 300watt full spectrum 10 band LED light fixture instead of the two light bars. I’m gonna miss my clownfish they had the best personality. I just want to not make this mistake again. So I’m just trying to figure out where to start. I’m also running two canister filters. With biological and bacterial filtration. I improvised and made a old marineland HOB filter into a makeshift surface skimmer that seemed to do a good job. I always had clear as glass water ever since it first cycled. I have 4 Powerheads that were always keeping the water moving never letting waste or food settle.


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[W.Nowling]

It’s been up and running for about 8months total. I’ve got two LED light panels over the tank. One 48” full spectrum and one 48” white/blue FOWLR marine both running at 10k each. I’ve slowly added each fish one at a time. All my parameters are and were well within acceptable. Except my ph did come back low this time for some reason. I ordered more live rock btw it was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday.

Now it looks like I’m gonna have to start all over again. But at least it’ll give me a chance to build a proper rock wall on the back. I’m thinking about upgrading to a 300watt full spectrum 10 band LED light fixture instead of the two light bars. I’m gonna miss my clownfish they had the best personality. I just want to not make this mistake again. So I’m just trying to figure out where to start. I’m also running two canister filters. With biological and bacterial filtration. I improvised and made a old marineland HOB filter into a makeshift surface skimmer that seemed to do a good job. I always had clear as glass water ever since it first cycled. I have 4 Powerheads that were always keeping the water moving never letting waste or food settle.


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Also. I’d like to inevitability get into sps/lps etc I’ve gotten mixed reactions about the fact of not having a sump. Running purely on the canisters and 20% partial water changes. But I know I can’t do that many water changes with coral in the tank, right?


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[DaveK]

What were the exact reading you had? Stating that "All my parameters are and were well within acceptable" doesn't tell us what you tested and doesn't convey any information. What you think is acceptable might indicate a major problem to someone else.

Since you had a tank crash, the last thing you want to be looking at is your lighting. Seeing that your running two canister filters and an outside filter is also likely to be a big part of the problem. Consider replacing all that with a serious sump and skimmer. Your fish will thank you. If you must use the canister filters, they should only contain mechanical filter media, and maybe chemical media in modest amounts and they should be cleaned every week. A good skimmer can do a lot here, and they are very good at removing fine particulate matter from the water, and giving you a better chance if there is a major water issue. Best of all a skimmer removed stuff before the biological filtration needs to day with it.

If you want lps and sps corals, your filtration system will need some major upgrades. I would say that while it has been done, it's much harder to maintain high quality water using canister filters. This is because some of the qualities that make them ideal for things like FW planted tanks, are actuallt problems in a SW reef system.

 

[W.Nowling]

Thank you so much that is exactly what I’ve been asking others and researching for nearly two years. I had koi ponds and several freshwater tanks prior to this. It took me years to get the nerve to finally do my first marine tank. Before I got started, I had to decided on canister filtration. It just seemed with it being only a 55-gallon, the canisters would be most efficient than having to deal with all that extra equipment. Boy was I wrong. Now this far in, (time and money wise) I’ve realized how important all parts are. As scary as a sump sounds to do and maintain, my canisters have turned out scarier than I’d imagined. I try to make the best decision keeping in mind where I want my tank to go in the future and how my fish are growing right now. Then this crash. This is first issue I’ve had really.

If I can find my log and I’ll let you know what my most recent entries were. When I woke up and saw the tank-I quickly went into “save what I can mode”. Kinda made a mess of the room. But did save the anemone crab, hermit crab, sand sifting starfish and it looks like the anemone is still with us. (I’ve separated it from the others for the time being) All others weren’t as lucky.

Ok I’ll overhaul the filtration (install a sump/skimmer), upgrade the lighting and tighten the reigns on all the chemical treatments. I should expect a full cycle at first? Or does it matter that I’ve got all this live rock? Would that shorten the cycle duration you think?

That’s what’s most important to me is that I find out all the underlying possible causes, so I can do everything in my power to prevent it from ever happening again. I have a feeling it was several factors at once and adding the anemone likely set the chain of events. Even though he was acclimating for nearly 4 hours. I’d put him in the tank one day prior to the crash. So that’s what had me eyeing him.


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[nanoreefing4fun]

to RS ! Very sorry to hear you lost all your fish ! Best of luck on the restart !

Today I did a small water change as it was time for it. No more than 20% and I made sure temp/(0)toxic chemicals all parameters were matching before starting. Now I went to take a nap and came back out and found all my fish dead and the water was twice as cloudy.

Very weird ! hard to imagine what could kill all your fish in a few hours... and the nem still be alive... short of some poison being introduced... when you say... a small amount of live rock - how small ?

Ammonia poisoning a possibility ??? an overload of your biological system... one of the few things I can think of that can kill quickly

Post us some pics !

Maybe others have ideas,,,

 

[W.Nowling]

That’s a picture of a stack of live rock with what I had at the time a fake anemone attached to it. That had been there from the very beginning. But the water was clear as glass right before when I woke up about 2 hours later

Now you’ll see a have a lot of fake coral and silicon replicas on the stone. They had all been there from when I only had fish in my system. And I planned on replacing them as my tank progressed. The information on everything stated “saltwater tank safe” or “Marine-fish safe”. But a friend of mine said to take them out. See I always get contradictory information everywhere. I did remove them once before but I felt the fish appeared less than enthusiastic about their tank. Then I put them back and they’d play around them again.


This was just days before.... the crash

.


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[nanoreefing4fun]

Just a guess... but I would guess... maybe one of the artificial coral leached a toxin into the tank...

see what others think

 

[Uncle99]

One can only guess, but whatever happened, it was real Quick.

Personally, I never put anything in that’s man made, lead in paints would be lethal, but the
Timing seems to coincidental.

I support DaveK’s thinking of ammonia poisoning which would be amplified by low
PH.

In any event, I run carbon, just in case