HELP!!! Reef Crisis!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11933272#post11933272 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp
If your tank is in great shape from readings to no algea to not overstocking or over feeding and proper flow with nothing wrong basicly. Then theres no need for anything that high anyway.

Changing more then 33% to solve an out of control problem may only increase this problem.Removing mature water base and benifictial bacteria will cause your system to work harder to replace adding unwanted stress.
Then if your water source is the problem then it will never help and only increase again.
Click to expand...

The amount of bacteria in the water column relative to the amount of bacteria on the surfaces of the aquarium and everything else is insignificant. Even Calfo mentioned doing 100% water changes in his nano.

There's no mention of any water source related problems in his posts.

Could be a bacterial bloom of some kind from the sound of it too.
 
There are still a few questions that I have that haven't quite been elucidated. First of all, how will I know when things begin actually dieing? Will they disintegrate rapidly? This is the first time I've ever had anything like this happen. I really need you all to help me understand the gravity of the situation. The corals all look pretty bad, but I'm not sure they are dead yet.

I need hope lol. At this point, I've determined there isnt much I can do but wait. I'll perform another water change tomorrow. I'm just hoping that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and all of the fish will be dead too because the corals all died and rotted over night....
 
Also, to anyone's knowledge, if there was indeed an electrical problem, is there any reason it would affect the corals/inverts and not the fish?

I'm trying to narrow it down to certain possibilities. As I've stated, there isn't any evidence of electrical issues, but if I could eliminate that as a remote possibility, that would help.
 
I feel for you man, we all do. This is crazy that we can't figure out whats happening. but with everything in ths hobby, patience may help. I'd go to bed, if you can sleep at all and then check status and update us all tomorrow.
Does the tank smell bad, like fishy death(or RBTA dead, so gross)??
the filter pads and carbon should do alot overnight but I would do another 20-30% water change tomorrow, make sure the salinity stays the same, to not stress the fish any farther. As for the corals, they have alot of defense mechanisms, one of which is relasing toxins/slime to protect themsleves and also to close up/whither. I'd give them time and take notes on their progress, singly not the whole group as one.

I would not do another water change tonight. let the filtration do its job.
 
I would say that the tank has slightly more of a bad smell then normal. Then again, that could be my imagination. Honestly, I've never consciously smelled the tanks water when it was healthy so I couldnt tell you definitively if it smelled any different.

Thanks for the advice, i'll give everyone an update in the morning. In the meantime, if there is any insight or advice anyone can give me on this matter, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
you would know, the room would stank. I would just try and relax. just don't blame your girl for this because unless she ****ed in it or dumped something in the tank there is no way what she did last night was part of this. You might want to lessen the time the lights are on tomorrow to help the corals heal, i think that is best for them when they are stressed.

It will be interesting to hear what the conditions are in 8 to 10 hours.
 
It was posted once before and i didn't see if you answered but, ask your girlfriend if she was wearing any perfume that nite she fed them and if she put her hands or part of her arm in there. If she had any perfume on her wrists or fingers or anything else on her hands that could have set it off. Make sure to let her know to always always rinses your hands well before putting them into your tank. Sorry for your loss!
 
We always feed with a turkey baster. She's the girly girl type, doesnt like to touch the water. Fortunately.

haha.

As for blaming her for whatever happened, I dont. Initially, the over feeding was the only thing I could think of. (still is, but I realize the chances of that being the cause are unlikely.) Even still, I wasn't blaming her per say, I was blaming the excess of food. The only thing I want to blame is whatever caused all of this, that way I'll know how to fix it lol.
 
Could be a bacterial bloom. Bloom will deplete the tanks O2 causing the strange snail activity, drop in pH, coral death, strange smells, etc... Skim heavy. Skim wet. Boost the pH with some calcium hydroxide. Good luck!
 
Well, I woke up and the tang had died. The clownfish is sitting at the bottom of the tank breathing hard. I cant find the 6 line wrasse. Flame angel still looks happy, as does the bubble tip anemone suprisingly. The Galaxea is dead. As is my colony of torch coral. I cant tell if the others are dead. Zooanthids are all still packed tightly away (is that a good sign?) and the clove polyps, although they look like crap are still solid (I guess thats a good sign too?) I still have yet to see the star polyps (they're shrunken away in their little holes or what not.)

Ammonia shot up to .5 ppm. I performed another 25% or so water change. Not sure if there is much else I can do... Any ideas?
 
if it were me i would go get some poly filters and run the s**t out of em in as high as flow as possible
also run a ton of carbon
and with all the water changes you are doing keep a close eye on your ph and salinity
sorry for your losses and good luck
 
To answer your question about coral death-
Zoos take 2 days to a week to disappear and they become a thin spot on the rock first. They loose their shape.

LPS can pull WAY in and not died so be a little patient on them.

Rics are pretty hardy I had one that got dropped in the rock show up 2 months later unhappy but alive.
 
How is the skimmate??? any change since the tank started crashing??? Maybe try to run a UV sterilizer at low flow to kill any potential water-borne colonies??? ammonia spike is probably due to fish deaths, IMO I'd get them all out and into QT ASAP and observe them separate from your corals. see if their condition improves...


Sucks to hear man, keep fighting it though.
 
honestly, sounds like a classic case of a HUGE bacterial bloom and poor water quality. once this starts it is hard to reverse.
you've overstocked and overfed a small tank and now you can see what happens. yes it can happen overnight.
IMO any thing that looks just about dead or mush I'd remove it.
you can always start over having learnt a valuable lesson from this. I'm not trying to be harsh but I see these posts often.
WATER CHANGES
CARBON
POLY
SKIM
LESS FISH
LESS FEEDING

and you'll be back on track.
 
There isnt a skimmer... I had been told through various sources that corals would to better in the nano without a skimmer running because there would be more nutrients.

I'm currently running a bag of carbon. I've got to go to class now. I just hope everything is still alive by the time I get back...
 
Dude i am so sorry to hear about your fish ... i couldn't imagine if that happened to mine. Good Luck with the recovery!
 
a few other possibilities.... Check for copper in the water. The symptoms you describe could possibly be copper toxicity, which would effect corals and inverts first, then fish. Not sure how it would have been introduced, but sure sounds like it to me.


Also, any aerosal sprays used in the vicinity of the tank?



I agree that Poly Filters should be used ASAP. They take out a lot of different things and will certainly not hurt.


Good luck.
 
went out and bought a big *** skimmer which is now running on the tank. Also bought ammo lock, a crap load of carbon, and the filter media that filters out ammonia. The water seems to be clearing up a bit. The corals all still look like hell. Assuming they are still alive, how long would it take for them to recover?
 
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