dead fish

[jamal]

i need some help badly! i have to cancel any fish additions as i have lost four fish in the last few days. yellow tang ocellaris clown coral beauty angel and a lyretail anthias. they were all feeding aggressively. nh3/4 .25 n02/3 undetectable. what could it be

[davjbeas]

I don't know what it could be. Do you have kids that might have put something in the water?

Do you wash your hands thoroughly with tap water to ensure no soap/ handlotion get in the water when working in the tank. How long from the addition of these fish was it until they died?

Oxygen levels are very important. maybe something happened that would cause oxygen levels to drop.

lack of circulation at the water surface and a bacterial bloom (nitrifying bacteria need oxygen). I am guessing. what water are you using for salt water and top off? when you found the fish dead, were part of them eaten or were they dead like they just died? What is your water temperature at and is it stable throughout the day within 1-2 degrees? What fishes are still alive? how much are you feeding per day?

I can think of nothing else to ask, i will wait for your reply.

 

David B.

[jamal]

I don't know what it could be. Do you have kids that might have put something in the water?

Do you wash your hands thoroughly with tap water to ensure no soap/ handlotion get in the water when working in the tank. How long from the addition of these fish was it until they died?

Oxygen levels are very important. maybe something happened that would cause oxygen levels to drop.

lack of circulation at the water surface and a bacterial bloom (nitrifying bacteria need oxygen). I am guessing. what water are you using for salt water and top off? when you found the fish dead, were part of them eaten or were they dead like they just died? What is your water temperature at and is it stable throughout the day within 1-2 degrees? What fishes are still alive? how much are you feeding per day?

I can think of nothing else to ask, i will wait for your reply.

 

David B.

 

no kids. wash my hands. the anthias has been in there like two or three days the clown about a week. the yellow tang and coral beauty for several months. i just added another mj1200 and seio 1100 to a mag 12 return and 2 seio 1100's. i will be getting a uv sterilizer for the bacteria. i use ro/di water from a kent 4 stage ro/di unit. reef crystals salt. water temp is between 78 and 80 all day. the angel was missing his eyes but the other three were in tact. the other two lyretails are still alive as well as one clownfish and two green mandarins. i feed a half cube of mysis to my sun coral. about 3 or 4 oz. of dt's phyto to my chilli coral and general filter feeders and i was feeding a quarter sheet of nori as well. also i feed cyclopeeze sometimes and i just started with oyster eggs.

[Caribbean Jake]

have you checked the temperature in the water? is the thermostat working? This happened to me once and the water went to 64F killing one of my fish, all other survived,, since then I keep two termostats in each tank, for back up.

 

have you checked PH.... maybe a spike on PH occured and that will kill fish

 

last, have you checked the container where you mix your salt? I found kreeping residue in mine that killed few of my corals once.... had to cleanup and start the reservour again with new salt water

[jamal]

have you checked the temperature in the water? is the thermostat working? This happened to me once and the water went to 64F killing one of my fish, all other survived,, since then I keep two termostats in each tank, for back up.

 

have you checked PH.... maybe a spike on PH occured and that will kill fish

 

last, have you checked the container where you mix your salt? I found kreeping residue in mine that killed few of my corals once.... had to cleanup and start the reservour again with new salt water

 

i mix my water directly in the sump so thats not it. i tested my ph with a test kit and it is constantly monitored by my aqua controller and they both say around 8.1. temp on controller and chiller are in accpetable ranges

[jason the filter freak]

Sorry to hear about the losses. Did you start dosing anything lately anything at all Iodine? Etc...

[jamal]

i put in some turbo calcium and the red sea calcium buffer

[dzekunoi]

You had some wiered things happening with your Alk. What was it? Did you figure?

 

Seems like you have a spike of NH4 as well.

Edited February 4, 2007 by dzekunoi

[davjbeas]

I am not sure what you mean by mixing new salt water directly in the sump. does this mean you are adding water to your sump and pouring salt into the sump? If this is the case that is a serious problem.

I use a big rubber maid trashcan. I fill with deionized water, then i add salt while testing specific gravity until the specific gravity in the new water matches my tanks specific gravity. I run a rio 2100 in the trash can to aerate the new water for at least 3 hours to a day before use.

If you are adding turbo calcium and calcium buffer are you adding the powder directly to the tank?

If you are adding more than a teaspoon you should mix it with water and slowly drip the solution to your sump in high flow area.

I think for you since you are a beginner its better to not add additives. Since you are using reef crystals salt

if you do a 20% water change every 2 weeks and you match the specific gravity of the new water with your tank water and also the temperature. Reef crystals salt has extra trace elements/calcium and alkalinity and ph buffers which should be good enough for your tank. Adding turbo calcium will not make your corals grow faster. this should be added if your tank is heavily stocked and the stony corals are depleting the calcium in your tank water. I have found that STABLE water parameters is the key to healthy fish and corals.

 

David B.

[davelin315]

I agree, are you mixing the water beforehand and letting it settle for 24 hours with circulation and aeration before putting it in or are you simply dumping salt and water in there? If that's the case, you can cause some major problems. Can you clear up how you mix the water?

[jamal]

You had some wiered things happening with your Alk. What was it? Did you figure?

 

Seems like you have a spike of NH4 as well.

 

test kit gave me a bad reading i tested it again the next day and it was 9.6dkh

 

before i would mix it seperately but recently since i have been adding water to my sump because i just put it in i have been adding ro water and then salt and stirring it with my hand and then testing it and adjusting as needed

[SDBDRZ]

test kit gave me a bad reading i tested it again the next day and it was 9.6dkh

 

before i would mix it seperately but recently since i have been adding water to my sump because i just put it in i have been adding ro water and then salt and stirring it with my hand and then testing it and adjusting as needed

 

 

Check your salinity. I m not sure but it sounds like you are adding water directly to the sump for evaporation and then addng salt also. If that is the case the water evaporates but not the salt.

 

Also, depending on how much water you are adding to the sump you are effecting the salinity of the tank. When you add the salt it does not dissolve instantly. The water you are adding to your sump, is it RO water?

 

I am not sure what the problem is, im just trying to ask some questions to get a better picture of what you are doing.

[dzekunoi]

What is the salinity measurement now?

[jamal]

my sg is 1.024. it takes a while to fill up a 100gal container so i put in about 10 or 15 gal of RO/DI and then pour in some salt and mix it with my hand right in the tub. once i got it filled i had planned to stop doing it that way but i will premix it in the future

[davelin315]

my sg is 1.024. it takes a while to fill up a 100gal container so i put in about 10 or 15 gal of RO/DI and then pour in some salt and mix it with my hand right in the tub. once i got it filled i had planned to stop doing it that way but i will premix it in the future

 

Right there is what I'm guessing is the problem for you across the board. You really need to let the saltwater "season" for a bit before putting it into your tank. When you add newly mixed saltwater the pH is off (have never tested this personally but this is from the gurus who have) and pH swings can be deadly if they are extreme. I would guess that simply dumping the salt into your sump and swishing it around is kind of like rubbing salt on a wound as well because you'll have very high concentrations of salt in your sump until enough water has flowed through. Never mix it in the tank (unless it's the first fill and there's nothing else in there!).

[davjbeas]

I agree with davelin, the are some basic methads that we all folow for a succesful reefs. premixing saltwater to the correct specific gravity and oxygenate the new water and it helps to make it the same temperature as the tank before changing the water.

 

David B.

[jamal]

thanx for your help and for setting me straight. it just sux that the fish had to pay for my ignorance. well let the healing process began.