Help Nobody Has A Clue

[MRICKEN1012]

I NEED HELP WITH MY SALTWATER TANK. I JUST HAD ALL MY FISH DIE OFF OVER NIGHT. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME THIS HAPPENED TO ME.
IT HAPPENED ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO WHEN I MOVED FISH FROM A 55G TO A 60G AND IT HAPPENED IN ABOUT 2 HOUR TIME. THE FISH WERE FINE ALL NIGHT, WHEN I WOKE UP IN THE MORN EVERYTHING LOOKED GOOD. I TOOK A NAP IN THE AFTERNOON (ABOUT 2 HRS) WHEN I AWOKE EVERYONE WAS DEAD EXCEPT A SNOWFLAKE EEL, AND ONE TRIGGER WHICH WAS ON HIS SIDE BARELY BREATHING.I QUICKLY MOVED HIM TO MY HOSPITAL TANK. THE NEXT DAY HE WAS FINE. A FEW DAYS LATER I PUT HIM BACK IN THE TANK AND HE IS DOING FINE.
MY MAJOR PROBLEM IS WHAT JUST HAPPEND IN MY OTHER TANK. I HAVE A 55G, AND HAD 2 CLOWNS, JAWFISH, SCOOTER, CARAL B SHRIMP, 2 DAMSELS...ALL WHICH DIED OVERNIGHT. THEY HAVE ALL BEEN ADDED OVER ABOUT A 4 WEEK TIME. NONE HAD ANY SIGNS OF PROBLEMS.
THIS IS WHERE IT GETS TRICKY. I HAVE MANY CRABS, A FEW SNAILS, CC STARFISH, MUSHROOM CORAL, HAMMER CORAL, FROGSPAWN CORAL, AND NEWLY FOUND SERPENT STAR, ALL OF WHICH ARE STILL ALIVE. I WILL SAY THAT THEY ARE NOT LOOKING GREAT (CORALS) BUT THEY ARE NOT DEAD.
THE FROGSPAWN, HAMMER, AND MUSHROOM CORALS WERE ALL ADDED THE NIGHT BEFOR THE FISH DIED. ALL WATER TESTS CAME BACK FINE (DONE BY MYSELF, AND 2 DIFFERENT FISH DEALERS).
ONE DEALER GAVE ME 2 DAMSELS TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. THEY DIED WITHIN AN HOUR OR SO.
WE ALSO TESTED FOR I THINK IT WAS IRON BC MY LIGHTS ARE METAL AND I JUST NOTICED THERE WAS A SMALL AMOUNT OF RUST ON THEM. THAT TOO CAME BACK FINE.
NOBODY HAS A CLUE WHAT COULD BE THE PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP ME OUT IF YOU CAN.

MY EMAIL IS MRICKEN1012@YAHOO.COM
ALL PERAMETERS IN BOTH TANKS ARE GREAT!!!

 

[MRICKEN1012]

ok my par are ph 8.0..alk 2.5 mepl...ammonia 0..nitrate 5.0 ppm...nitrite 0.15 ppm...sal 1.022...temp 78.5....I just did a 50% water change today when I found the dead fish......rena xp2....super skimmer 33000, but that was put on the night befor they died, befor that I was running a sea clone skimmer..300 watt heater... 660 power head with no air tube...im not sure about the lights they are ocean sun, one bulb is white, one is blue each 48 inches (lighting confuses me, they were just to get me by untill I got my new setup which is tomorrow). also the tank gets no direct sunlight, and I have no top, but the lights cover about 2/3 of the tank. My gf sprayed furbreese,and lysol the night befor, but it was at least 17ft away and I have no fans in that room, also I dont think that would just kill fish and not everything else.

 

[luke33]

Well, my thoughts, you need to raise your sg to .025 otherwise your corals will die, but that wouldn't kill your fish. Your lights are insufficient for those corals as well. I think one of your corals died and poluted the water. It would be undetectable to tests but most your fish would die, except for the real hardy one's like your trigger and moray. The rust on your lights wouldn't have killed anything that fast.

 

[Percula9]

There shouldn't be any nitrite in that tank. I think the nitrite did your fish and coral in. You have alot going on in there for a 60 gal tank. When you add so many things in such a short time the biofilter can't adjust fast enough. That's why nitrites showed up, which are toxic to fish and corals. Don't add anything for at least a month untill everything stablizes.

 

[Grins]

How long has the tank been set up? Sounds like a new one.