HELLP!! tank recycling after 6 months, 2 dead!!!

[teakwood12]

Ok I got a huge problem my tank crashed all of a sudden while I was at work, I came home to find all my fish breathing really heavy. I checked the water and everything was through the roof. Did water change 1 gallon And everything got seemed to clam down so I turned off the lights to let them rest for a few hours, 2 hours later I come to check on them and my royal gamma and cleaner shrimp were both dead, my two false clowns are huddled at the bottom of the tank breathing very heavy and not looking good. I can’t see how my goby is doing but I do see that he is breathing. My two-turbo snails look ok for the most part…. But they seem to be coming out of their shells like they are trying to lift themselves up higher. All of my fish have been in this tank for over a month now and I have NEVER had ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites in my tank since it has been cycled. All I can think of is I just dislocated my hip and couldn’t walk so I had my lfs guy come take care of my tank and he rearranged rock work in the tank after my damsel went wild (damsel went back to the lfs with the guy who did my tank). He said, “i accidently kicked up a lot of junk off the crushed coral” (yeah I know cc sucks)

How do I save my three little guys, do I put them in my qt tank? Or leave em alone?



10gal

Ammonia. 25

Nitrate 30

Nitrite .25

Ph 7.8

[BoomerD]

All that in a 10 gallon tank? WOW!! That's heavily overloaded. I'm not surprised that it crashed.
Sorry, don't mean to be insensitive, but you had that 10 stocked like it was a sardine can. The recommended stocking limits are 1 inch of fish, (measured at the adult size, (NOT the small size when you get it) for each 5(
FIVE) gallons. That means your 10 was safe for 2 inches of fish, which leaves out the gramma, one clown, let alone 2, and I'm not sure what goby you have, but most are ok, as long as they're the only fish in the tank.
You have to watch the bio-loads in saltwater tanks. They can't handle being overloaded the way most freshwater tanks can.

[BHinAK]

With crushed coral listed and not live sand and the ammonia and nitrites so high there was not enough bacteria to break down the fish poo into nitrates. Fish can live in nitrates but no way in nitrites. Live sand is expensive but there is a reason for it.

[Woodstock]

I am very sorry to hear that

In a 10 gal, it does not take much to severely alter the tank. For example, a sudden change of salinity could cause a few snails to die which would create a large cycle... the cycle would stress out the rest of the inhabitants and cause a deadly chain reaction. A cycling tank not only creates high ammonia and nitrItes but it can also become critically low in oxygen due to the high organics rotting and a surge of bacteria; both of which require tons of oxygen. The fact that you had a heavy bioload to begin with would indicate that the oxygen was probably low at the start.

If you choose to keep the crushed coral as a substrate, it is imperative that you vacuum out the diterus during weekly water changes. It is also as important to keep the nitrAtes at 10ppm or less (fish can tolerate higher levels, inverts can not).

Back to your question.... I would keep them in the 10 gal and I also suggest you perform frequent (daily) large (20-30%) water changes using well aerated salt water that is matched exactly as the main tanks (temp, salinity); continue until the nitrAtes are down.

Keep us posted to your progress!

[carolina reefer]

Continue the water changes! A 4 or 5 gallon change with water at the correct parameters would help. A filter running would help aerate the water also. Save the ones left and do not add any more.

[teakwood12]

im sorry i meant to say 20 gal hex tank i was just so freaked last night i couldnt really think or type right.... btw its only a qt tank that has been up for over 6 months fully cycled... i have cc in there because at the time i could not get live sand. once all my fish go into my 150gal, im putting live sand in. most of the fish in that tank were meant for my 150 (the clowns & goby..just didnt know he put the goby at the time.) tank thats cycled but im not finished landscaping. the only fish i did have in the tank were 2 SMALL clowns.. my lfs guy who took care of my tank while/still i was injured added the extra fish along with what i now know as ALOT of aquel +. the goby, the shrimp and gamma were only in the tank 3 days. i took all my fish out and added them to diffrent qt tanks the stress gave them ick but they are ok. apprently they sent me a "new guy, in training" who did not know what he was doing but they thought it was ok cause i only wanted them to care for 15 small tanks. the owner of the lfs came over today and tested my water for oxygen which was very low due to the amount of aquel + he put in.

[Charlie97L]

that's still an incredibly high load for a 20 gal hex. another thing you have to remember is that vertical room, while good for some species, like seahorses, ends up being a hindrance with most fish, and will end up reducing your carrying capacity. I know, i almost set up a 35 hex, but after consulting with a few local guys, they advised me against it for several reasons. the main one is it's tough to get a good water flow through them and good enough filtration for SW. FW do fine in them, but SW, well it can, but it's harder. that many fish in a 20 is asking for trouble though, even if it's just temporary. things can change very fast.

I am sorry you've had this problem, and hope that we can help you figure it out and save the rest of the guys for that bigger tank!

[mattie]

1... do not focus on the crused corals it's live sand now
do focus on the water change and try to not mess with to much other stuff for a few days
2.... gert the water tested to see if it is amonia or nitrates which is causeing the problem it could be neither

[KimPossible]

I have a 55. I feed heavier than most because I have an Angel and a pair of Anthias. I also have crushed coral . I really take care to vacuum my CC every other week.
Recently my skimmer stopped producing and I told my self for 2 weeks: "I'll clean out the injector tomorrow" well, my levels rose, my corals started to withtract and I am dealing with an outbreak of cyno

I've learned that you've got to get the nasties out. It's a full time job.
Good luck, keep up the water changes and I wouldn't add anymore livestock.

[teakwood12]

well i took everything out, they are all placed in a qt tank now (55 gal) i took everything out, and replaced the cc with live sand put the water and live rock back in and now im just waiting it out. i bought another 55 gallon that i set up with live sand, live rock and water. which the clowns, bta and watchman goby are going into. so basically the snails and the clown goby are going into the 10 hex unless i just turn that into a seahorse tank and put the clown goby in the 55 since my two gobys love my bta (stange i know) and they are really fond of eachother. other than that everyone is good, eating good, swimming alot, not breathing heavy.

btw the bta was not in the hex tank i just moved him in the qt tank to see if my clowns would take to him so far they just check him out and swim away. my watchman goby on the other hand has found his home while the clown goby sets up as a gaurd hanging out infront of it trying to help feed him! neither one show signs of getting stung and my bta has actually grown 4 inches!! go figure.