JeF4y
Member
+1 on both Frankie's posts...
I would lean towards the sandbed being a major portion of the disaster, and then coral toxins as well as fish contaminants from stress.
It's a shame though because you went through a lot to prevent disaster and ended up there anyhow. IMHO, a sandbed just can't be moved without it being rinsed, and at that point you might as well start over with fresh sand. Additionally, if you're going to move water from the old tank, water on rock is fine, but water with fish/corals/inverts is not. They stress & poison the water quickly.
It would have been beneficial for you to have tested the tank straight away after things started dying. That would have helped the diagnosis. At this point, it's moot because you're cycling again with all the dead stuff in there.
As for the liverock? I'd get things stable in the tank first. This might take a few months even. Then start small and see what happens.
As other have said, I'm sorry for your losses & frustrations in this.
I would lean towards the sandbed being a major portion of the disaster, and then coral toxins as well as fish contaminants from stress.
It's a shame though because you went through a lot to prevent disaster and ended up there anyhow. IMHO, a sandbed just can't be moved without it being rinsed, and at that point you might as well start over with fresh sand. Additionally, if you're going to move water from the old tank, water on rock is fine, but water with fish/corals/inverts is not. They stress & poison the water quickly.
It would have been beneficial for you to have tested the tank straight away after things started dying. That would have helped the diagnosis. At this point, it's moot because you're cycling again with all the dead stuff in there.
As for the liverock? I'd get things stable in the tank first. This might take a few months even. Then start small and see what happens.
As other have said, I'm sorry for your losses & frustrations in this.