Help! Mystery Killer??
- Thread starter Tripspike
- Start date
Most soaps by far are not and you would need alltot and the tank would be foamimg like a giant skimmer. 
Check yourself Jon. Do a search on soap chemistry and then one on soap toxicity to aquatic life or Maine life and see what you find. Check out the various ecotox sites and see what you find there. Also put a drop of soap in a bucket of seawater and a powerhead or airstone and see what happens.
Tripspike
New member
The water tests I conducted were as follows:
Salinity: 1.020 refractometer
pH: 8.2 Salifert pH Profi Test Kit
Alakalinity: 15.7 dKH or 5.60 meg/L Salifert KH/Alk Profi Test Kit
(need to verify this as it does not jive with strip tests)
Temperature: 81.8 F digital probe
Ammonia:<.25 Salifert NH4 Profi Test Kit
Phosphate:.1
Nitrate:0
Nitrite:0
Water Hardness: Very Hard
Copper: Not detectable
Calcium: I have the Salifert Ca Profi Test Kit but I am confused with the instructions: it says to add drops until the pink-red changes to a clear blue. Does the clear blue mean that the "clor is clearly blue" or does it mean a "clear" blue, one you can see thru? Any help would be appreciated.
Trip
Salinity: 1.020 refractometer
pH: 8.2 Salifert pH Profi Test Kit
Alakalinity: 15.7 dKH or 5.60 meg/L Salifert KH/Alk Profi Test Kit
(need to verify this as it does not jive with strip tests)
Temperature: 81.8 F digital probe
Ammonia:<.25 Salifert NH4 Profi Test Kit
Phosphate:.1
Nitrate:0
Nitrite:0
Water Hardness: Very Hard
Copper: Not detectable
Calcium: I have the Salifert Ca Profi Test Kit but I am confused with the instructions: it says to add drops until the pink-red changes to a clear blue. Does the clear blue mean that the "clor is clearly blue" or does it mean a "clear" blue, one you can see thru? Any help would be appreciated.
Trip
Tripspike
New member
What would be involved in dismantling my tank. What would be saveable? What would not be saveable. Some tank items:
35 lbs newly bought live rock
35 lbs base rock from old tank setup
60 lbs live sand new
wet/dry filter system with bio bale media
What about sending a water sample to a local lab for analysis? Would a simple total water change be sufficient? Should I toss everything and start from scratch? (OUCH!)
Trip
35 lbs newly bought live rock
35 lbs base rock from old tank setup
60 lbs live sand new
wet/dry filter system with bio bale media
What about sending a water sample to a local lab for analysis? Would a simple total water change be sufficient? Should I toss everything and start from scratch? (OUCH!)
Trip
Tripspike
New member
Here is another not so good update. I ran the polyfilter and carbon treat for a couple of days. Tested the water again. Eevrything looked OK. I decided to try a few yellow tail damsels this time.
I acclimated the fish for 4 hours doing minor 5 - 10 ml adds. The temperature inside the bag was the same as the tank and aftr 4 hours I let them go.
They darted about checking the place out. Everything looked good. One hour later I noticed one of the damsels swimming funny indicating there was a problem. The damsel began laying upright on rocks and sand. One and half hours into it and they were all acting funny, laying on the bottom. One of them did the death spiral to the top of the tank. I scooped him out with a small hang on tank and began addding air to the water. He did not survive. One damsel lasted about two and a half hours before succumbing. There was a glimmer of hope with that one but in the end all of them expired.
I called a few labs today. Noone called me back. Not suprising considering I won't amount to much buisness wise.
I am going to continue with the polyfilter and the carbon. I am going to rip out all equipment except for the tank and reclean. I am getting frustrated (probably don't have to mention that). Oh well we keep moving orward.
Trip
I acclimated the fish for 4 hours doing minor 5 - 10 ml adds. The temperature inside the bag was the same as the tank and aftr 4 hours I let them go.
They darted about checking the place out. Everything looked good. One hour later I noticed one of the damsels swimming funny indicating there was a problem. The damsel began laying upright on rocks and sand. One and half hours into it and they were all acting funny, laying on the bottom. One of them did the death spiral to the top of the tank. I scooped him out with a small hang on tank and began addding air to the water. He did not survive. One damsel lasted about two and a half hours before succumbing. There was a glimmer of hope with that one but in the end all of them expired.
I called a few labs today. Noone called me back. Not suprising considering I won't amount to much buisness wise.
I am going to continue with the polyfilter and the carbon. I am going to rip out all equipment except for the tank and reclean. I am getting frustrated (probably don't have to mention that). Oh well we keep moving orward.
Trip
Tripspike
New member
Yes. The breathing was OK in the beginning and seemed to become more and more heavy. I noticed this with the other fish as well. I talked to someone about O2 and they said I should be OK. I have a protein skimmer, wet dry filter, and a powerhead in the tank.
Is there a way to test for oxygen levels?
Trip
Is there a way to test for oxygen levels?
Trip
No Christa it is not dumb. He has not stated where or what kind of water he is using. But chlorine levels in tap water do not get anywhere high enough to kill that quickly. Chlorine also dissipates quickly. So maybe then chloramine ? If so levels would have to way above stds to kill that fast. With that being said no, he is running carbon, which removes chlorine and chloramine.
Something else in the tap water doing that would be considered toxic to humans. Well water for non-human consumption, never seen but possible. Some water from a run-off ditch yes.
Something else in the tap water doing that would be considered toxic to humans. Well water for non-human consumption, never seen but possible. Some water from a run-off ditch yes.
