Help with Over Dosed Reef Tank with NOPOX

[datahoe]

Hello all,

I need some help and advice. I woke up this morning and discovered my dose dumped half a bottle of NOPOX into my 175 gallon reef tank. It appears that i have some type of bacteria/algae bloom as the water is a milky color. Unfortunately I lost my yellow tang, anthias, sailfin tang. I performed a 40 percent water change and from what I've read so far I need to ensure I have air stones for O2 exchange. My two clowns are in QT but not looking good. I checked the levels and the nitrites were 0 and no signs of ammonia. my anemones are struggling and I'm hoping with another water change I can save as many corals as possible. Is there anything else I should be trying to do to save my tank? I've attached a couple pictures for reference. I'm so frustrated right now. I plan to continue running carbon and wet skim as much as possible. Not sure what would have caused the fish to die so quickly? Lack of oxygen? A quick spike in ammonia and then it dropped? Will I have to empty my entire tank and start over? My LFS recommended I use a product called Cycle after my water changes but I have never heard of it. I would appreciate any feedback and recommendations as right now I am at a loss. I hope this is the right forum to post this topic.

 

[Rikki Reef]

Ive used cycle many a times on all my fish habitats, you mention a Qt tank? I would suggested getting that as close to what use to be normal and put whats hanging on in there, your DT should bounce back quick enough without going crazy when things are stable for a week reintroduce all back a day at a time

 

[datahoe]

That you for the quick response. Should I wait to perform two more water changes before attempting to use Cycle? I moved the remaining fish that survived to the QT. Unfortunately I don't have room or the lighting for the coral. My main concern are my bubble tip anemones. They are looking rough but I hope they can hold on through this horrible period. Any other recommendations to save the coral and anemone? I guess its just the waiting game now. I just hope the other fish pull through.

 

[mr_tap_water]

Hi there
IMO there is no need to recycle the good bacteria will still be in your rock it's just cause the bacteria bloom and May of reduced your oxygen levels for a brief time all should correct itself over a few days just make sure you've got all your flow pumps and skim are working and a couple of more water changes Will speed things up. Also I've don't believe Active carbon takes out Nopox it may be better to use a poly filter if really needed.
good luck[emoji846]


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[datahoe]

Hi there
IMO there is no need to recycle the good bacteria will still be in your rock it's just cause the bacteria bloom and May of reduced your oxygen levels for a brief time all should correct itself over a few days just make sure you've got all your flow pumps and skim are working and a couple of more water changes Will speed things up. Also I've don't believe Active carbon takes out Nopox it may be better to use a poly filter if really needed.
good luck[emoji846]


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Thanks for the advice. I'm not familiar with a poly filter?

 

[mr_tap_water]

I wouldn't worry just stick with the water changes that should be enough which will enrich oxygen and Dilute the bloom.


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[Pat24601]

I wouldn't worry just stick with the water changes that should be enough which will enrich oxygen and Dilute the bloom.


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FWIW, I concur with all the advice you are getting here.

 

[datahoe]

Thanks all for speedy responses. Ive been so stressed you just can't imagine. I love my reef tank and this is taking me to the edge. But like when I first started I must have patience and determination. I will definitely use this as a learning tool.

 

[datahoe]

So unfortunately only three fish remain (two picaso clowns and one lawnmower blenny). I also lost two of my fire shrimp and three anemone. This has been a disaster. I just hope the corals can recover. Just finished a water change and water is clearing up. phosphates are high (.346 ppm) all others (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) are at 0.

 

[DaveK]

I know it's small consolation, but reef systems usually can bounce back fairly quickly from thse kind of disasters.

I'd say the corals have a fair chance of recovery, but keep an eye on them

Also, consider if you really need to dose nopox or other similar stuff. Often not having something or not doing something prevents any problems that "something" can cause.

 

[Pat24601]

I know it's small consolation, but reef systems usually can bounce back fairly quickly from thse kind of disasters.

I'd say the corals have a fair chance of recovery, but keep an eye on them

Also, consider if you really need to dose nopox or other similar stuff. Often not having something or not doing something prevents any problems that "something" can cause.

Aside from Part A and Part B, dosing really bought me more problems than it solved in my admittedly limited 3 year saltwater career to date. Water changes were always the big key to almost any problem (except stuff like invasive species, of course).

 

[Pat24601]

So unfortunately only three fish remain (two picaso clowns and one lawnmower blenny). I also lost two of my fire shrimp and three anemone. This has been a disaster. I just hope the corals can recover. Just finished a water change and water is clearing up. phosphates are high (.346 ppm) all others (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) are at 0.

I know it's sucks, but anytime I get too down I look at @Danreef tank thread. That man has a beautiful tank after going through one of the most depressing tank crashes I've ever seen.

These things definitely test our patience and can be stressful as all heck, which is not what we look for with the hobby, but it's entirely possible to rebuild from it. Try to keep your spirits up. I know it's not easy. Stuff happens.

 

[datahoe]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Unfortunately this morning I woke to more dead shrimps and a multitude of dead bristle worms. Also my remaining anemones were almost dead so I removed them. It appears that 80 percent of my coral has died or is dying. There are a couple that are holding on. My concern now is how deep has this die off gone? Will I be able to recover the live rock with such a massive die off? My fear is that I will harbor so much dead organisms in the rock and sand bed that I will never fully get rid of dying matter. I have always heard the term "nuked my tank". I think this is what effectively has occurred. Thoughts or recommendations? So frustrated right now but I will continue doing what I can until it appears there is nothing else I can do.

 

[Pat24601]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Unfortunately this morning I woke to more dead shrimps and a multitude of dead bristle worms. Also my remaining anemones were almost dead so I removed them. It appears that 80 percent of my coral has died or is dying. There are a couple that are holding on. My concern now is how deep has this die off gone? Will I be able to recover the live rock with such a massive die off? My fear is that I will harbor so much dead organisms in the rock and sand bed that I will never fully get rid of dying matter. I have always heard the term "nuked my tank". I think this is what effectively has occurred. Thoughts or recommendations? So frustrated right now but I will continue doing what I can until it appears there is nothing else I can do.

. Sorry to hear that.

 

[Pat24601]

This is defintely past my level of expertise. See what advice others have.

 

[mr_tap_water]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Unfortunately this morning I woke to more dead shrimps and a multitude of dead bristle worms. Also my remaining anemones were almost dead so I removed them. It appears that 80 percent of my coral has died or is dying. There are a couple that are holding on. My concern now is how deep has this die off gone? Will I be able to recover the live rock with such a massive die off? My fear is that I will harbor so much dead organisms in the rock and sand bed that I will never fully get rid of dying matter. I have always heard the term "nuked my tank". I think this is what effectively has occurred. Thoughts or recommendations? So frustrated right now but I will continue doing what I can until it appears there is nothing else I can do.

Sorry to hear things are not working out, if this was me now based on what you said I would buy some Bio booster you add to your system daily for a number of weeks keep doing water changes on the Day today basis along with adding some active carbon for any impurities maybe in your system, there may be many other ideas people will come up with like I say this is just what I would do based on my experience.[emoji846]


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[StevesLEDs]

I'm pretty confident its the lack of 02. I would put a powerhead blowing on your air-bar, and perhaps even put a desk fan over the water surface.

When I had a similar situation, as an emergency evasive maneuver, I transferred all remaining livestock to a 45 gallon rubbermaid trashcan from Home Depot, full of freshly made saltwater. I was able to salvage the bulk of what I put in there. I also had a 1,200 gph pump with a pretty large aerator in there as well. Corals took a good 3 months to come back, but it was cheaper than replacing everything and saved a bit of heartbreak as well. Corals can take weeks to die with poor quality water, yet can die in hours without oxygen. Definitely not the best solution, but I panicked, and this risky maneuver on my part saved the day.

-Jeff

 

[datahoe]

Thanks all for the responses and recommendations. If there can be a light, my two clowns were doing great in my 20 gallon QT. This morning before leaving for work I happened to notice Lenny (my lawnmower blenny ) in the tank and swimming around. I thought he was dead but so far he has made it in the display tank. This has renewed my drive to continue with the water changes and wet skimming. One problem right now is the smell that is going through the house. so far my wife is tolerating it. Water is slowly clearing up. I'm tempted to use the Fluval Cycle my LFS recommended but I'm a little gun shy since I'm making progress, so it appears. I will continue to chronicle my progress as I hope others will learn from my experience as well as provide feedback to get me back and running. I do plan to purchase another brute trash can from Home Depot and salvage some of the live rock in it (the rock that doesn't have corals attached to it). That way I can save as much as possible in case the tank continues to decline.

any recommendations on the smell or I just need to run the course until all is clear? I have started running carbon this morning in hopes of it reducing some of the smell.