saddest day of my reefing life

reefle

reefle

Active Member
Mike Johnson said:
Because I care is I why I'm telling you this. After reading your livestock list I've come to a few glaring observations: 1. The species on your list aren't compatible in the long run. 2. Some of the fish on your list shouldn't be added to an aquarium until it is mature, about a year. 3. To stock an aquarium with your list would take almost a year to do properly.

Sorry, for your losses. Slow down and enjoy the ride.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify which ones?

I've read that the royal and dotty might not go along well together, but I've never had problems for the 3.5 months I've had them. and I thought having a bigger tank would prevent any fighting. I know the tangs need algae but I supplemented food with nori.

The angels never chased anyone or got territorial. I just don't get why everything would be fine in the biocube and 46 and suddenly die in the 100..
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
RS Ambassador
Sad story to say the least.

It's tough to say "exactly" what the cause may have been so here are a few thoughts that may help shed some light on the subject. This is in no way to make you feel worse than you already do but instead help shine some light on how we all could learn from our mistakes that we all make along the way:)

My $.02 worth is that it just seems like too much going on too fast.

Previously mentioned, stress seems to have played a big role in this unfortunate incident. Rocks, sand, better than half the tank filled with fresh salt water etc. all done in one day is a lot to get used to in a relatively short period of time. I know you acclimated the fish but I'm curious as to what the difference in PH may have been between the two tanks. A sudden change in PH (esp on the high side) can be very stressful to all our tank inhabitants. The cloudy water could have been calcium precipitation due to a relatively high PH. Also the reason we recommend mixing salt at least 24 hours before a change is due to the fact that a fresh mix can be very caustic.

Again, without being there and living through it with you it's tough to say any one cause is the culprit but the fact that it happened on such a large scale indicates that something major was out of wack.

We all like to get right into our tanks and make them look the best we can in a short period of time however, it is imperative to take things slow and watch it grow.

If anything else comes to mind, let us know and maybe we could help narrow things down a bit more.

Sorry again and here is an article worth reading:)
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/
 
reefle

reefle

Active Member
Again, thanks for the condolences and encouragement everyone.

Bear,

I'm really glad you brought that up....I seemed to completely forget about checking pH. I was so focused on the typical Phosphates, ammonia, and nitrates I completely forgot to check pH.....

I did a full check a day after the fish all died and it was sitting at 8.0, but I never did check it when I mixed the water.

I'll definitely just use everything in my test kits if I want to do big moves or changes like that again.
 
reefle

reefle

Active Member
Phixer said:
Holy crap, thats some bad luck 98% of your fish gone like that. Whats your plan?
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I'm just going to recycle the tank for 3-4 weeks before I add anything else. I'll probably get some new larger live rock from my LFS but thats about it.
 
tommyboynj

tommyboynj

Member
Sorry to hear about this. Unfortunatly youre not the first person this has happened to and I doubt you'll be the last.

The transfer from the "old" tank to the new caused an amonia spike that your biological filtration couldn't handle. Then its like a snow ball effect. Each dieing fish adds to the problem. On a mature tank, the bacteria can handle a fish death. Let the tank cycle fully. Add 1 fish. Wait a month. Then add your next.

One of the reasons i cycle tanks with dr tims and pure ammonia is that I can really see what ammonia load the tank can handle because i know how much ammonia im adding. It take a long time to getting a mature bacteria population

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
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