Help all fish dead!!!!!

[saltynewbie904]

I lost all my fish! They all died and I am curious to know why. The only thing that survived was the anenome, chocolate chip starfish, and little hermit crab. The only thing I changed was adding a water heater and raising the temp from 72 to 78 degrees in the past 12 - 16 hours. So my question is this, will raising the temp cause the oxygen level in the water to drop? The reason I ask is, my kids said all the fish were hovering near the surface trying to get air and I tested all the following parameters and they were normal.

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Salinity
Ph

I also called the LFS and they said I needed a filter that will filter up to 40 gallons of water. Is this true or can anyone offer some advice on this? I currently am running a Whisper filter for up to 20gal. Please help!

 

[SPotter]

ok....how big is your tank? how long has it been running? how many fish did you have? Why were you running the tank with no heater?

 

[mbemount]

Need more info on the tank. How much LR are you using? What fish? What equipment? When was it setup? As many details as possible will help.

 

[Tzwizzle]

I would be very suspect of that heater. Is it defective? Stray voltage or cracked ect? Was it brand new? Did you rinse it off? Contaminates from the factory possible? If that's the only thing you changed I would start there. I would imagine 5 degrees wouldnt make that huge of a difference over that time. What are you measuring temp with?

 

[saltynewbie904]

Tank Specs & Age

Tank Specs & Age

I have a 20gal tank and I set it up this past weekend. There is two live rocks and 4 white corals as seen in the picture below. I am measuring the temp with a glass thermometer. I have a Whisper filter rated for up to 20gal. The salinity measured at 1.028, which I know is about .002 higher than it should be. However, all the fish were doing fine when the tank was 72 degrees and all of a sudden they die after the temp increase to 78. The fish that died are 4 damsels of which three were yellow tail and one was a bi-tone black and grey.

Thank you all for your quick responses and help!

 

[SPotter]

your fish mostly likely died because your tank hasn't cycled or your salinity is too high. Im surprised nothing else in the tank has died. I suggest you start reading about setting up a reef tank and start over.

 

[saltynewbie904]

Tank Cycling

Tank Cycling

I agree with you totally, but the fish store gave (meaning free) me a bottle of Bio-Spira and I tested the water last night and today. In doing so, none of the levels were even remotely dangerous. Does the different parameters like nitrite and ammonia etc. spike and fall in that short a time frame? Will a salinity of 1.028 cause a problem being that it is only .002 higher than the max recommended? I appreciate all the advice very much! Thank you in advance!

P.S. I was told of all the fish I could buy that the damsels were hardy and would have a high chance (90%) of surviving the cycling phase.

 

[explorer07]

I think the salinity is fine in terms of not killing the fish. I think it has to do with your temp increase and maybe exchange rate of your filter. Is the outlet of your filter touching the top of the water in your tank. If so, you probably have very little oxygen in the system and also with the warmer water comes less oxygen. You could have starved them of air with the temp increase so fast as 6 degrees in less than a day is a pretty big swing. Especially in a smaller tank.

 

[rcmania]

your fish mostly likely died because your tank hasn't cycled or your salinity is too high. Im surprised nothing else in the tank has died. I suggest you start reading about setting up a reef tank and start over.

+1

sorry for your loss.

Looks like the only fish that survived is the fish known to be one of the hardiest fish in the hobby. The tank really needs to be cycled before adding a fish. I will also add that a smaller tank means less room for error. You will have to stay on top of it with top off water and water changes.

 

[explorer07]

And I would highly recommend a bigger filter.

 

[albano]

your fish mostly likely died because your tank hasn't cycled or your salinity is too high. Im surprised nothing else in the tank has died. I suggest you start reading about setting up a reef tank and start over.

+1... If you set up a tank, with all that livestock, 'this past weekend' based on advice from your LFS...it's time to find another LFS!

 

[saltynewbie904]

Powerheads!

Powerheads!

Okay, thank you all so much for the advice! I have another question though. Will a powerhead add oxygen to the tank? If so, I have heard of the air tubes that come with them and was against the bubbles in my display like most others said as well. Can anyone advise? Thanks in advance!

 

[rcmania]

You want a small powerhead and you want bubbles. I understand the bubbles in the tank thing but If I was you, I would by a hang on back skimmer and a small powerhead. The skimmer will help maintain your levels and add O2 to the water, without putting the bubbles in the main tank.

 

[DDon]

So sorry about the loss of your fish.
A powerhead will help with oxygenation of your water. No need for the air tube just needs to be directed in such a way that there is plenty of surface agitation.

 

[saltynewbie904]

Filter

Filter

I tried to raise the filter some to add more of a break in the water for aerating, but I don't think this design allows for it. I am sure that is why they call it a Whisper. I have included a picture in case anyone has any ideas. I am going to Petco tomorrow and purchasing a filter rated for a 40gal tank and a powerhead. I will look into the skimmer towards the end of the week.

Thank you all for the great information!!

 

[explorer07]

You could in the meantime take some water out of the tank so you have more surface aggitation. It will help with oxygen.

 

[gone fishin]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

Try this link it has quite a bit of info but worth the read. I would not add more until you have read the this.

That was a pretty significant bioload to put on a new uncycled tank and I would suspect that is the reason for the deaths.

To answer your question about the O2 and higher temps, yes O2 levels decrease with higher temps.

a small power head to keep the surface agitation should give you enough gas exchange.

I would look into a small Koralia powerhead they are fairly cheap, if you get something from Petco you will most likely end up replacing it. Just my 2 cents on that

 

[AdamSabina]

Ammonia is the most likely by far

 

[saltynewbie904]

Petco

Petco

Thanks for the advice! I will accept it and steer clear of the stuff at Petco.

I really appreciate all who have contributed to this post, as it makes me feel like I have gotten the answers needed to correct my mistake and have future success!

 

[gone fishin]

No worries there are many people who decide to get into the hobby. They stroll into the chain pet store or LFS get reassured this is all one needs to do, then blissfully walk right off a cliff. Meanwhile the LFS has made a great sale.