The 6th month struggle!

[JeepersReefers]

For the last 6 months the 46g zoo tank has been very successful, but that has all changed lately. With in the last few weeks I have noticed brown algae returning along with a bad out break of cayno. With that I did 15g water changes each week and siphoned out as much of the canyo and algae as I could. That seemed to be a temporary fix, now the alga and cayno is back in full force along with a large zooanthid die off. Also every single snail has died now. Every week now my ammonia level gets around .5ppm if I don’t do water changes ever few days.
Until I figure out what is causing this I’m changing 5g every other day. What gives??

Tank info
Ammonia up to .5ppm
Ph 8.2
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
SG-1.025
Temp - 79-81F

Live stock
2 tangs small less than 2 inches
1 watchman goby also small
1 colt coral (4")
8 zoo colonies
6 rich clusters
Some hermits now
Equip
1X 250w 10k halide
150w heater
Sea clone skimmer

Help!

Ps All dead snail and zoo remains are removed daily.

 

[hunterd_67]

Have you changed the water source or anything else?

 

[JeepersReefers]

No i havent i still use RO/DI water with less than a 4ppm reading. The only thing that changed was the salt that i used. i swiched from red sea to tropic marin, (i dont want to start the salt battle over again) but i dont think that had any thing to do with the recent events.

 

[mattie]

well i would think if somehting big died you would know about it....
you should look real close at the tank before the lights turn on and about an hour after they turn off to see if you have any bad parasites' or nudi's in the tank which could be causing you problems.
are you sure your nitrates are still 0 with the amonia going up?

there are so many questions to ask

 

[JeepersReefers]

It crashed... Kinda. Every thing except for the richordias is gone. All the soft corals the colt and the xenia were in trouble. The colt and the few surviving zooanthid colonies were transported to a friends tank to see if they make it. there was no evidence of a parasite... just some thing wrong with my tank. Every day the ammonia would get stronger and come back quicker after daily water changes. Im at a loss here

Ill keep you posted

 

[JeepersReefers]

the ammonia is allready a .5PPM 24hrs after the last water change. There is nothing visiably wrong or rotting in the tank. The skimmer is still working just fine, infact its working overtime with all the death.

 

[Gina]

Mix a fresh batch of water and test it for ammonia just to make sure you don't have a bad test kit.

 

[Curtswearing]

Yikes!!!

How long are you mixing the saltwater? It is not uncommon for newly mixed salts (of any brand) to put out ammonia until it has had a chance to off-gas.

 

[Woodstock]

How is everything doing JeepersReefers?

 

[JeepersReefers]

Originally posted by Curtswearing
Yikes!!!

How long are you mixing the saltwater? It is not uncommon for newly mixed salts (of any brand) to put out ammonia until it has had a chance to off-gas.

Each batch sat for several hours. I thought it was only to let the ph stabilize.

Most of the zoos are doing fine in a friends tank, the colt also is recovering in the same tank(thanks sincityreefer). The zoos that had to stay are still there although they are just a fraction of there former glory. Oddly enough the richordias were un affected?

Thanks Dane

 

[hunterd_67]

R u considering switching salts, just wild that u switched to tropic marine and everything goes to heck. I just had a real bad diatom and algae problem, I switched brands of distilled water that i was useing, (knock on wood) i think i have it beat..I hope...i cleaned the tank 2 x a day, scrubbing rocks and glass, blowing out the rock...Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[Curtswearing]

I'm terribly sorry for your losses.

I truly don't have a clue what happened. It could have been pH, Ammonia, or a number of other things regarding salt. The chemical processes are quite complex. Read this. BTW....I use a paint mixer from HD and then drop a quite powerful pump (not a powerhead) in my mixing trash can and I still wait 24 hours at a minimum.

On the other hand, the die-off could have been from something else entirely. It could be a chain-reaction of the previous deaths and the bioload of the tank could be overwhelming the bacteria. I don't know.

With each death, there are more problems. Are you cleaning the front glass with Windex or some other product containing Ammonia. How old is your tank? Have you been using air fresheners to get rid of the tank smell? Is your mixing container closed? Etc., etc., and so on.

This problem can be fixed...we just need to work through it.

 

[JeepersReefers]

Originally posted by Curtswearing
I'm terribly sorry for your losses.

Are you cleaning the front glass with Windex or some other product containing Ammonia. How old is your tank? Have you been using air fresheners to get rid of the tank smell?
This problem can be fixed...we just need to work through it.

Thanks Curt,

To clean the front i use an old t-shirt and DI water only. There are a few scented candles in the bathroom less than 10 feet from the tank.


Up date.../

The water has been all but changed out using a different salt brand. The heater was replaced. It was over 4 years old and I didn’t want to risk it going haywire soon. The PC lights were also replaced at the same time. The refugee corals have come home and seem to be doing well... for what’s left. All is well for now but it has a long way to go… Again.