Tank emergency!!

Kayla_22

New Member
Hey all, I am from another forum but am seeking help. We have had a 60 gallon saltwater up and running for over a year now with no problems. Suddenly about a month ago we noticed 15 of our zoa frags & colonies close up and “melt” away in less than a couple hours. Then, our palys started to do the exact same thing, but they are closing up and dying by how old they are. We have lost 6 palys and now are down to our first ever palythoa. Not only did we lose those, we just are about to lose our torch. Our purple hammer does not look too well either now. We are left with an elegance, Duncan, brain, a couple SPS, feather duster, chalice(s), mushroom, and a trumpet. Who all seem to be thriving.

our water parameters have been near perfect with no pests at all. Besides a lot of colonista snails at night.

Ammonia/ nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15
dkH: 8.5
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1250
Phosphate: .05

if it helps, before they totally disappeared we moved 2 zoanthids into our other 10 gallon and they have been there for about 3 weeks and are just now starting to form polyps again.

the fish are
Yellow tang
Aptasia eating filefish
Blenny
Diamond goby
2 clowns

We did have a six line wrasse swim up our protein skimmer and die around when this was surfacing if that means anything also.
We are just out so much money and hate to see the things we love keep dying and we do not know what to do. If anyone has any ideas please let us know, we are desperate!!

thank you in advance
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
When you see something like this happen in an otherwise working SW system, the first thing you should consider is that something is making the water toxic to the corals. This can come from many sources.

The first thing I would do is to make about a 50% water change. No matter that the water parameters seem ok, something isn't right. Mix a new batch of water, match temp and SG and make your water change. It's a good idea to remove as much dirt as you can while doing this. You can safely stir up the substrata to about 1 inch to remove dirt there. It will not hurt to blow out the live rock structure either. Neither will cleaning the filtration system. It would also be a good idea to add carbon or purigen to the filtration system.

Once you make that water chaneg, keep an eye on things for a few days. If things seem to get a bit better, Continue to make additional partial water changes but they need not be as large, maybe 25% to 33%. If things really go downhill after the water change, you'll need to consider some really drastic action but I think the water change will get things going in the right direction.

Long term look for "what changed" as to the cause of your problem. Perhaps something has died, or the tank has been contaminated from an outside source.
 

Kayla_22

New Member
When you see something like this happen in an otherwise working SW system, the first thing you should consider is that something is making the water toxic to the corals. This can come from many sources.

The first thing I would do is to make about a 50% water change. No matter that the water parameters seem ok, something isn't right. Mix a new batch of water, match temp and SG and make your water change. It's a good idea to remove as much dirt as you can while doing this. You can safely stir up the substrata to about 1 inch to remove dirt there. It will not hurt to blow out the live rock structure either. Neither will cleaning the filtration system. It would also be a good idea to add carbon or purigen to the filtration system.

Once you make that water chaneg, keep an eye on things for a few days. If things seem to get a bit better, Continue to make additional partial water changes but they need not be as large, maybe 25% to 33%. If things really go downhill after the water change, you'll need to consider some really drastic action but I think the water change will get things going in the right direction.

Long term look for "what changed" as to the cause of your problem. Perhaps something has died, or the tank has been contaminated from an outside source.
Thank you for that!! Last night we did a 50% water change and cleaned out everything. I can’t say anything looked better today, but it didn’t look worse. I guess we will see in a few days
 

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about the struggle, I just have one additional comment, keep an eye on your filefish. I had issues with aiptasia in the past and used filefish, in both occasions the filefish ate my zoas as well as the aiptasia.
 

Kayla_22

New Member
Sorry to hear about the struggle, I just have one additional comment, keep an eye on your filefish. I had issues with aiptasia in the past and used filefish, in both occasions the filefish ate my zoas as well as the aiptasia.
Oh for sure. I have seen her pick at them before, but not enough to cause this much damage, and now the torch is going so I think she is off the hook. But yes, they can be little pricks some times! Thank you!
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Thank you for that!! Last night we did a 50% water change and cleaned out everything. I can’t say anything looked better today, but it didn’t look worse. I guess we will see in a few days

Keep in mind that a large partial water change puts some amount of stress on the livestock. You do them in cases like yours because with everything going downhill, you don't have much to loose and a lot to gain.
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Totally agree with the water change. Next I'd recommend sending off a water sample for an ICP test ASAP.
 

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
Lets not forget to evaluate the source water for filtration failures, i see its too late to catch this for the big WC, but still worth checking.
Where are you getting water, what is the TDS, and has there been any significant changes to your routine?
Also, there are potential airborne contaminants from household cleaners/air fresheners/ candles that have been known to cause tank reactions.
 
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