bluce

Yeah probably oxygen issue plus other things - maybe the no3po4x caused the o2 to get used up without the return. The water I used was a few weeks old, and the lid was propped up 1/4 inch so I could keep a small power head in the container. Maybe something got into the water. I’m just surprised all died at once - wouldn’t you think if it was only an o2 issue that some fish could have stayed close to the surface where the water was being agitated by the vortech mp40? If I do restock I want to make sure this doesn’t happen again...

Haven’t checked in a week or so - tank is very mature, so everything stays pretty stable - until last night i guess. Last check am 0, nit 0, nitrate 25 (always runs a bit high, but don’t have any lps or spa).

On my 76 gallon tank - Last night fish were fine swimming around, ate well etc didn’t look to be in any distress. I made a mistake and didn’t turn the return pump back on; checked on them this am, and the water was cloudy and all fish dead. I had a yellow tang for almost 10 years! I’m surprised even with the mistake that all died (Yellow tang, blue tang, flame angel, 3 clowns, and shrimp) - the only things that survived are the rock anemones. The temp only dropped 2.5 degrees, the vortech was still on, so the water was moving, I’ve had the pump go out several times over the years and the fish never died - they have survived longer than 6 hours without return several times. I did a partial water change yesterday and I dosed with no3po4x. I’m thinking it was either the lack of return, or somehow the water was contaminated, or combo of both that did them in? Any thoughts? So now have to decide to wait a bit and slowly restock, or sell off and take a break from the hobby.

Does anyone think this submersible utility pump would be better From "Everbilt" at home depot 1/6 hp. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-6-HP-Submersible-Thermoplastic-Utility-Pump-SUP54-HD/205618696 It has a max head of 25' Or do you think the mag 24 would be better?

I'm trying to make water changes easier. I'm setting up a rubber maid for salt water mix / storage in the basement. When I want to do a water change I would like to unwind a hose from the container to the tank - probably will need about 18' head pressure. Does anyone have any good economical pump suggestions - other than a $180 mag 18 or $300 -$500 reeflow? It seems like most magnetic drives have max head of 12' or less. What other types of pumps would work. I will only be using it for short periods of time.

I have a pretty large LTA - for a few years now - looks like a smaller version of mine. I vote LTA.

China is pretty good at coming up with new ways to abuse. That is just terrible - and who would want a dead fish to carry around? They can't live more than a day or 2?

beautiful tank - nice pics Jon.

If you don't have any fish in QT that need to be moved to your display tank (which I gather by your post is empty now) I would err on the conservative side, and wait a full month - a full month of your DT being fallow should get rid of any ick that could be lingering. Also make sure you quarantine any new fish you get going forward, otherwise the problem could start all over again.

Thanks for the info Doug - at the time I saw them they were definitely "zipping" - I had all the pumps off. I haven't seen them since - I'll take a look tonight when I feed to see if any are still around. I wish I had a macro lens for my camera to take a super closeup!

Thanks for the replies! I do have peppermints, but if mogurnda is correct "Baby Lysmata (skunks and peppermints) don't zip" then they wouldn't be peppermints, cause when the moved they "zipped" around pretty good. I didn't think they were baby brine - but had to ask. When I add brine shrimp to the tank, they have such bad directionional control and locomotion - it would be hard to believe they could survive to reproduce. I guess the verdict is mysids. Nice to know - I imagine that baby mysids are another good sign of a healthy tank! It's interesting to look at the tank sometimes and find organisms I didn't even know were there nice to have more biodiversity.

So I'm feeding my fish last night - 76 gallon reef tank - a combination of some frozen foods + some of Scott's (from WAMAS) homemade frozen food. normally you see lots of particles suspended in the water column as I turn the pumps off so the fish have time to eat. Last night I notice a lot of the particles zipping around through the water and the fish are having a great time snacking on them. I look closer and they are not pods, but tiny little shrimps. How did they get there? Now I have added the live brine shrimp that you get from the pet store about once a month or so - but they usually all get eaten up or eventually sucked into the overflow. So did some of those brine shrimps survive and reproduce? or is there another way that these baby shrimps made it into my tank - a nice surprise as the fish like them, and maybe even come corals (the tentacles on my candy cane were fully extended when this was happening), but still a mystery.

Cats - YUCK

Hi RJT - welcome to the club. Chad gives some pretty good information / advice. I'm not a seahorse guy, but you may also want to message Jan - she has a really nice hexagon seahorse tank with gorgonia's and macros that looks great.