I just killed my fish

heathlindner25 said:
Might consider giving the livestock away before leaving.
Click to expand...

The current living stock are the fishes that are in the QT.

Im still trying my best to see what happens, but everytime I look... looks even worse.

Its not the animals or the corals (which are are great loss) its just the way I lost it, thats what is so upsetting. And the time... oh god. All the time inverted. I think this might be my most expensive "toy" without a doubt. I just keep messing up.

Anyway one step at a time. Will do another water change.

My question is. If I condition tap water and just let it cycle wouldnt that be faster?
 
We all make mistakes. And yes, salt water is expensive, you are saying what I think every time something dies. I've lost a lot of fish and corals learning my way around this hobby and I'm sure I'm not done losing them yet.
 
Please look at my last post. You're not going to fix this with water changes. I know how painful this is (been there, done that) but attempting to fix this without a full restart is either futile or a very low probability of success.
 
Yes we all done stupid things.

I am SURPRISED at how nice everyone is to YOU BRO!! What's up with everyone, so goddamn nice.

I mean what the F do you expect, even you yourself felt guilty. Anyways, pay attention to the details, don't skim and most of all don't RUSH.

ART cannot be rushed, KAPISH?

Most of all - did you cycle your new tank for 60-90 days WITHOUT fish?
 
no reason to leave the hobby over a mistake... we all have done it. ive read a ton of horror stories that people have had. ive flooded my entire basement because I forgot to shut off my RODI and went on a weekend vacation
 
Yeah everybody is really nice around. But shouldn't they be?. Anyway still fighting this. Will try as soon as I get some time to do 100 % water change.

I can't remove the rocks or structure because one of it it'd glued to the bottom glass and it'd made of expansive foam.

Thanks again to all of you.
 
I'm so glad I got the water factory set up before I dropped a sw box!!! Preparation station meng!!!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
If you don't mind me saying, it is a little disturbing, your lack of attention, and " getting around to it" attitude when you know all of your animals are suffering from ammonia. If this were to happen to me it would have been corrected in hours. Not trying to be harsh, but in my mind these are basically dogs trapped in a burning house....save them now.
 
heathlindner25 said:
If you don't mind me saying, it is a little disturbing, your lack of attention, and " getting around to it" attitude when you know all of your animals are suffering from ammonia. If this were to happen to me it would have been corrected in hours. Not trying to be harsh, but in my mind these are basically dogs trapped in a burning house....save them now.
Click to expand...
True.. people get ahead of themselves.. best intentions aside.. bad advice in your ear vs. On your screen can pose a problem ?? Hah....

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heathlindner25 said:
If you don't mind me saying, it is a little disturbing, your lack of attention, and " getting around to it" attitude when you know all of your animals are suffering from ammonia. If this were to happen to me it would have been corrected in hours. Not trying to be harsh, but in my mind these are basically dogs trapped in a burning house....save them now.
Click to expand...

Not harsh at all, I was extremelly stressed about having that issue. But I do have other responsabilities, I cant just torn everything apart. I work 10-14 hours a day (be your own boss is great haha).

In the beginning I tried to capture them but they went into hiding, I was trying to fix the problem as in the beginning I was hoping its was not so bad.

Then again I have to leave to work, even if I can be absent for a few hours. I cant go away for a whole day. And even like that I didnt knew where to begin without making everything worse. Sadly Im at the point where I just have to restart. I saved what I could. Those fish and corals were under my responsability, I feel awfull about it.
 
It's a learning curve, what's critical, what's not; and sometimes you have to choose between two very hard things. If you own your own business you can call the shots, but if your job and livelihood depend on being there while a crisis is developing, you have to make a choice.
The answer is---bulletproof your tank. Automate. And test every weekend (or whatever day off is) without fail, writing down the answer, taking any corrective measures needed. I can leave my tank on a day's notice, and leave it for a month with no help. It's not a good choice, but it can be done, with lights on timer, with an ato, with a 32 gallon ato reservoir that can be moved into place at need, and with enough experience at forestalling problems. We can talk about that. But I think it needs to be in another thread. EVERYBODY needs to solve their automation and stability problems, and figure the best way for them to do that. So, juanmanuel, if you would like to start another thread on Bulletproofing your tank, I'd be happy to help, and perhaps other experienced members will help out.
 
Thanks for sharing your story. I know it's painfully, but it helps us new guys to remember to be extra careful on our tanks. I am sorry for your problem, but we have all had one of those "what the *ell was I thinking" moments. Just look at it as an opportunity to reset your tank the right way.
 
I wanted to point out something. You epsom salt is normally is magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO4·7H2O). But if it is not lab grade (or high quality, analyzed epsom salt), it can be a mixture of MgSO4 with varying degrees of water. So say, if your had more than usual amount of MgSO4.4H2O, 2 kg of epsom salt would have far more Mg and SO4.


Also you mentioned that there is rotten egg smell. That is hydrogen sulfide. I think all that SO4 you introduced o the tank is boosting sulfide reducing bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide (from pictures I see you have a relatively deep sand bad, that is where these bacteria live). Do you happen to see gas bubbling from the sand? Hydrogen sulfide is very toxic. At this point, I am thinking that is what killing your tank is H2S.
 
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hi all. Yesterday was a really long day for me. Lots of work and trying to fix the problem in the few hours I was able to get out.

I did a 95% water change yesterday. Due to the nature of the emergency. I used water tap, a conditioner and salt. Mixing all this in a container and then to the tank.

I also added bacteria, which I hope can help me out with the cycling.

Today before going to work I took another measure. Ammonia is still high. Nearly 2 ppm. No nitrites or nitrates.

So I suppose the tank is cycling somehow. I do see a lot of microfauna in the glass, swimming around. Which means its not a total wipeout.

My lawnmoner which was hiding, I was able to pick it. After 2 days in those conditions the guy was almost in a hibernation state. Took it out and put it in the QT. He made it... I cant beleive the guy. Life is something to admire.

There is no rotten eggs smell in the tank, it smells more salty than usual, like when you can smell the beach when you are going near it.

I will check the sand bed, but in the morning I didnt see anything out of place.

Im still at work. I will go back at night. Lets see how everything goes from here.

Any other advices are welcome.
 
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Sk8r said:
It's a learning curve, what's critical, what's not; and sometimes you have to choose between two very hard things. If you own your own business you can call the shots, but if your job and livelihood depend on being there while a crisis is developing, you have to make a choice.
The answer is---bulletproof your tank. Automate. And test every weekend (or whatever day off is) without fail, writing down the answer, taking any corrective measures needed. I can leave my tank on a day's notice, and leave it for a month with no help. It's not a good choice, but it can be done, with lights on timer, with an ato, with a 32 gallon ato reservoir that can be moved into place at need, and with enough experience at forestalling problems. We can talk about that. But I think it needs to be in another thread. EVERYBODY needs to solve their automation and stability problems, and figure the best way for them to do that. So, juanmanuel, if you would like to start another thread on Bulletproofing your tank, I'd be happy to help, and perhaps other experienced members will help out.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the advice. I do have some grade of automation in the tank (ATO, dosing pump, lights). But thats pretty much it.
 
That's all you need. If you are smelling rotten eggs from this tank, that's a problem and you may need to re-start your sandbed, but not likely the rock. Rock's probably fine, given a rinse.
Get it cleaned out, and start it preparing and cycling. At this point a new cycle can't hurt.
Once it's through that, get a little notebook, test as close to every 7 days as you can manage, and try to hit the parameters in my sig line. They're not the only thing that will work, but they will work. Don't add any fish until a cleanup crew has worked it over for about 4 weeks. And quarantine, which can begin in that same 4 weeks. No fancy chemical additives, just a little pinch of fishfood to keep the CUC alive and well, as needed. Then you can start adding your quarantined fish, one at a time, until you are back in operation.
 
Well today ammonia is a little lower. My question would be. Should I keep trying water changes? Add prime to existing water? Or just wait for it to cycle?.

By the way there are no bubbles in the sand bed.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
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