HUGE tank crash need help fast

[K.G.]

I've been putting together a 12G Aquapod for a few months now and everything has gone great until now. i've recently moved the tank, and as can be expected it wasnt quite the same afer tearing it apart and putting it back together. However, it was doing great after a few days.

I never saw the emerald crab that was in the tank after the move happened, and soon after my peppermint shrimp went MIA. I added a pair of percula clowns and they were as happy as could be for a month or so.

A couple of nights ago i topped off the tank with a 1/2 gallon of water and went to bed. In the morning, i found one of the fish dead on the bottom and the other breathing extremely hard. The other fish died during the day. I changed about half of the water out and left it alone. The next day i woke to a terrible smell coming from the tank and the corals seemed distressed as well. It smells like rotten eggs and is foul. Figuring something real bad happened, i tore the tank down again, placed the corals in a bucket with the pump and new water, and started cleaning.

I siphoned a lot of the sand and cleaned the rest, the water was black when i rinsed it. i dipped all of the rocks without corals on them in freshwater and scrubbed some stuff off with a toothbrush. I reassembled everything and put the corals back in and upon first look they seemed great and the stench was gone.

I woke up this morning to see the water clouded again and stinking like before. I changed all of the water and cleaned everything. What could be doing this and how do i get rid of it? sorry for the long post. thanks in advance.

 

[Gina]

Sounds to me like your tank is going through a cycle.
The rotten egg smell is probably due to organics decomposing on your LR.
How did you transfer everything?
All at once?
How long after the transfer did you do a 1/2g water change?

Have you tested your tank water for Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites?
When you say you did a fresh water dip, is that freshly made saltwater or freshwater? Just trying to be clear on that.

 

[Tigger]

My humble advise is
1. Change water
2. Run activated carbon
3. Increase water circulation
4. Increase aerration

 

[K.G.]

Sounds to me like your tank is going through a cycle.
The rotten egg smell is probably due to organics decomposing on your LR.
How did you transfer everything?
All at once?
How long after the transfer did you do a 1/2g water change?

Have you tested your tank water for Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites?
When you say you did a fresh water dip, is that freshly made saltwater or freshwater? Just trying to be clear on that.

i didnt introduce anything new into the tank after i moved it except for the fish and a couple small corals. i dont think it would have been cycling that long after i moved everything. i've had it going for at least a month and a half after the move and everything was fine. i havent tested the water yet but that is the next item on my list. i dipped the rock in RO water, not saltwater.

i have a 1/2 bag of chemi pure in and a small piece of filter media to get any leftover junk out and i'm changing water like a madman. i dont know what else to do for it.

 

[Gina]

If you didn't see your Emerald after the move, if there is a chance he died, and is decomposing in your tank, that could have started a mini cycle. Ammonia would definately cause your other fish to become distressed and die.
Dipping your LR in RO water has possibly killed some of the life on it and would further increase your Ammonia in your tank.
With a 12g it doesn't take much of a change to throw things out of wack.

Test your water
Start doing small water changes every day until you see your levels coming down.
Run Activated Reef Carbon (as mentioned above).
Remember to rinse your carbon first and only use it for about 3 days at a time.Then replace it fresh.

Do you have a skimmer by chance on your tank?

 

[K.G.]

i think he died in there but didn't locate him when i cleaned everything. i'm fairly certain he's not in there now, but i don't know. i was using a fission nano skimmer, but it caused me nothing but headaches so i'm not using it now. i'm sure i've had an ammonia spike since i cleaned it all, i'll post up the water numbers when i test it.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

When you moved the tank you probably stirred up the sand bed and released the gases from the sand into the tank causing a ammonia and nitrate spike which caused the death of emerlad crab and shrimp.

You said you added about 1/2 gallon of water before bed???? Could anything like soap ,bleach or any other chemicals have been in the container you used?

You know since you tore the tank down and cleaned everything your tank is gonna need to cycle again.. The cloudy water is prob. diatoms and trying to build up your beneficial bacteria again , it is gonna take time.. You are starting over again from scratch...Let the tank cycle, run carbon,,,,Dont add any livestock until all level are at 0.... Good luck

 

[Frankie]

Yes. I agree with blueeyes on the sand bed issue. You relesed all the gases and junk that was in the sand into the water colum. Dipping the rock was not needed but to late now.... I would get that skimmer up and running asap. It will help remove all the dead organics coming off the rocks. Im not so sure the crab is dead. He's most likly hiding. There tough critters.

 

[Splendid]

get a genarator!

 

[K.G.]

is there any way to get rid of the smell coming from the tank? its getting real bad and this is in my bedroom, i have to do something about it.

 

[Gina]

Are you doing the water changes?
Is it possible for you to put a fan in the window to blow some of the odor outside?

 

[Snelly40]

I would bye a better skimmer ASAP and hook it up, that fission really is not that great, sorry.
Also, there is an additive called stability which will introduce all that beneficial bacteria back into the tank immediately. I know many people say to stay away from additives but in this case i think it would help.
Good luck

 

[K.G.]

Are you doing the water changes?
Is it possible for you to put a fan in the window to blow some of the odor outside?

i'm going to change a couple of gallons a day and see if it goes away anytime soon, the tank isn't in a place that allows me to vent to the outside so i guess i'll have to live with it.

i'll try the stability additive, i dont want my corals to suffer and i dont have anywhere else to put them.

i took the nanoskimmer back to the LFS and got a credit for it. i'm tired of trying to get it to work. i'm going to run it without a skimmer because i dont have room for a sump or large skimmer in such a small tank. hopefully it will pull through, i dont know what else to do.