Christmas Tragedy in My Tank

[bluespotjawfish]

Hello, I've had a 125 gallon saltwater tank for about 8 years. I ran into this site yesterday when I was troubleshooting the cause of a cloudy tank. It's been so long since I have had any problems that I am very rusty at what to do. Anyway, as you may have guessed, what I discovered is very sad! Corals are all but lost, fish are still okay, but I'm afraid that it is a matter of time since the tank is cycling. Most of the stuff in my tank has been around for about 4 years (since the last tragedy hit while I was out of town and as a result lost all my fish except "Lucky" who is still alive today). Anyway, this site is very helpful.

I suppose at this time I just need to wait out the bateria bloom with frequent water changes and hope for the best. Any other ideas? I lost an anenome about a week ago that I had just bought, which may have started the problem, but I didn't notice anything until after I did my regular water change on Saturday. I used Amquel (which I never do, but I ran out of Stresscoat) to condition the water. I have since thrown the bottle away. I don't know if it was bad or I already had something going on in the tank before that. I don't have an ammonia kit and seeing how it is Christmas can't run out and buy one, but nitrites are quite high right now.

 

[Frankie]

Water changes!

 

[Woodstock]

Sorry to hear

Keep doing lots of water changes (20-30%), crank the skimmer up and remove any dead corals.

 

[sasquatch]

BLUESPOT!!! as above ^^ water change and run carbon! , I think what happened is it bound your ammonia and triggered a sudden increase in nitrite production, carbon will remove the unbound amquel, this product is really only good for shipping livestock. good luck and please keep updating. Steve Edit are you using stress coat because you dont have ro/di?

 

[lcstorc]

I agree with sasquatch. Water changes and carbon. I thought stress coat drove skimmers crazy. Do you have one? If not I would certainly recommend it for the long term. Meanwhile, make sure you remove anything dead as soon as possible and keep up with frequent large water changes.
Hopefully you will save some of your livestock this way.
Best of luck

 

[lgerold]

I am so sorry to hear about your trouble!

Gang, would it be worth setting up a temporary tank with fresh saltwater to put the healthiest specimins in while the tank cycles? Justa thought....

 

[lcstorc]

I wouldn't. The temporary tank will likely have a cycle as well and the fish will be stressed by the move.

 

[Pro_builder]

Water changes, skimmer turned up to produce wet foam, and carbon in a high flow area.
Could you give us some more specs on your tank, equipment, livestock, etc

 

[sasquatch]

Found an article on amquel( we need a chemist)http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Amquel.html
Amquel Steve

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks for all the replys! An update - Fish all still doing fine!!!! Nitrites have started to come down a bit. As for tank specs, it's been so long since I set up the tank, don't know the specifics of much of anything and I am certainly not techy, but here are the basics:

Sump has skimmer (runs with 2 pumps - 1 medium, 1 small) and a UV sterilizer (with 1 medium pump). Also use carbon in the sump (under the flow from the skimmer). Don't know the size of the main pump, but it is good sized and has two return flows to the tank. Since I got the cloudy water, I have added an extra medium pump and backup battery operated air source internal to the tank to keep oxygen levels from dropping (the only cause I can think of for previous "all fish died" episode). Lights are 5' VHOs (2 Blues and 2 Whites), changed about a month ago. I've always used tap water. Of course I avoid purchasing the mores sensitive stuff because of that. Most of the time use stress coat to treat it. If I put too much stress coat in, the skimmer does go crazy for a short while, but most of the time it doesn't mind it. I use it only because I got 3 gallons (instead of small bottles) on an order by mistake. The bottom has aragonite with a plentom undergravel filter (do they even make these any more). Live rock takes up about 1/4 of the tank.

Corals of Christmas Past (so sad they are gone) - Beautiful frogspawns, fox coral, a variety of red and green candy coral, heammer coral, leather corals, and a variety of polyps.

Fishes of Christmas Present - Nasa Tang, Palani Tang, Fox Face, Emporer Angel, Flame Angel, Tomato Clown Fish, two Yellow Tangs, a couple of Green Chromas, a two spot wrass (I think), and my Bluespot Jawfish. Here is a link to some photos I took of my tank in 2004 - Most of the same fish still around. (Cut and paste link into your browser if the link isn't active). Oh so pretty back then:

http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/ER7Zg4Pk

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Based on the article for Amquel, I'm adding more carbon! Thanks!

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Correction, my wrasse is a twin spot coris wrasse. He is all grown up and loves any snail or crab I put in the tank, but he is still gorgeous.

 

[sasquatch]

Sheesh, that was a beautiful tank, not to worry!! if you had it like that and did so little you forgot how, just think what you can achieve with all the advancements made in the last few years, keep trying , sorry to meet under such conditions, keep posting ok? Steve

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Back from the LFS with new test kit. The ammonia is up along with my nitrites as I suspected. One question I was hoping someone could help me with...since I still have all my fish in my tank, and, since the tank has been around forever, is it better for me to use or not use stuff like TLC or Stresszyme to excelerate the cycling of the tank? Right not my fish do not appear stressed (though i am sure they are). Meanwhile I am continuing water changes and carbon for now. That leads to another question or two, how often should I be changing the water? Been doing 20-25% a day since Saturday. And...how often do I need to change the carbon? In the past I have changed it monthly, but I assume I need to change it more frequently while it cycles????

I'm sooo rusty at this new stuff. :bigblue:

 

[Charlie97L]

i would say first of all, at this point in the game, don't add any more additives to your tank. from here on out as well, i would grab an RODI filter to make your water, and stop using treated tap water.

the additive industry of marine tanks is a double edged sword. sure, some of them work (calcium additives, DKH buffers, etc) and some of them are garbage (anything that helps you cycle "faster" IMO). but they don't do anything that proper maintenance (ie. water changes) and proper equipment won't do better, and more naturally than dumping chemicals in the water. especially when you never know if there's anything in there that builds up and can cause damage. also the chemicals can expire, possibly causing futher problems.

also, in the additive industry, i've noticed, that usually "marine" additives = marine fish tank, and NOT reef.

i'd say a 20% per day until the tank parameters start to stabalize, as was mentioned earlier on water changes. i'm not sure right, now, as your tank is cycling. might be better to just let it ride out the cycle, as long as the water is clear, and all dead/dying animals/coral are removed promptly. This point is NOT something i'm positive on, I will leave that to more experience reefers.

you have a bunch of pretty darn hardy fish in there, and if they're not looking overly agitated or breathing heavy or anything, i wouldn't worry for the moment.

sounds like you've got a handle on it. keep us updated, and good luck!

 

[lgerold]

I actually was referring to the corals when I wondered about setting up a temporary tank for them. Are more corals dying? I was thinking that it would be fairly easy to keep the healthiest corals alive in another tank, isolating them from the poisons in the water, from the other dying corals.

Just an idea...

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks, the tank is slightly cloudy still (since Saturday), but I think that is the bacteria bloom. So, for now just more water changes and no more additives. Yes, I will look into the RO units, I've just been very lucky until now I guess. I used one for a long time on my Discus, and I can't say I had any fun doing it. Hopefully they are much better now and easier to use.

I'm starting to think that the Amquel I used was out of date and didn't remove the chlorine - poof!

 

[bluespotjawfish]

As for the corals, I gave my daughter an extra Christmas present yesterday -- the remaining polyps from my tank. Her tank is now extra stuffed! :swmfish:

 

[sasquatch]

As for the corals, I gave my daughter an extra Christmas present yesterday -- the remaining polyps from my tank. Her tank is now extra stuffed! :swmfish:

nothing like a spare tank in time of need.Hopefully the tank will cycle quickly. Carbon can be rinsed every other day, then scrunch it up a bit to expose new surface area, at this point I would change it weekly for 2/3 weeks- overdoing carbon also isnt that good, if it was fresh it probably already removed the bad stuff, now its dealing with the die off.Steve

 

[PhilOlsen]

Are you using tap water??? Even with conditioners tap water is the worst thing you can use, also do you have a UV filter? If not adding one will prevent algae blooms as well as kill any waterbourne parasites. I had a similar issue several months ago, I added a Aqua UV steralizer and within 2 days the water was crystal clear and I no longer use any water unless it runs thru a RO/DI filter.