Ice formed in freezer

[Mekaeel]

Hi guys

I was just wondering, the ice formed in a freezer, is it in any way toxic?
Reason I ask, whilst I was at work this morning, the wife calls me to say the fish are dying one by one and some are breathing very heavily, the SPS are sliming and polyps withdrawn. So I rushed home to investigate... By the time I got home, all fish were dead and SPS looked highly stressed out. I asked her what she did she do, and she said, she just fed the fish the usual frozen food which we always do, and a few minutes later, the fish began to die. I did query if there was any insecticides or chemicals used today and she said no.

I carried out a 90l water change on my 400l system and I am running GAC heavily.
I realized that the frozen food container was left open in the freezer, and due to the power outage experienced yesterday, the ice that formed on top of the freezer defrosted and ended up in the food.
Could the this be the possible cause , bearing in mind this all occured a few minutes after feeding? Water parameters all appear to be fine.

Thanks in advance
Mekaeel

 

[jroovers]

Really sorry to hear about this, that sounds awful. Could it be that the fish food thawed out a bit, spoiled, and then was the source of the problem? I"m not an expert in refridgeration, but the defrosted ice in your freezer should NOT be toxic... if so, I think you would have a problem on your hands.

 

[Mekaeel]

Really sorry to hear about this, that sounds awful. Could it be that the fish food thawed out a bit, spoiled, and then was the source of the problem? I"m not an expert in refridgeration, but the defrosted ice in your freezer should NOT be toxic... if so, I think you would have a problem on your hands.

Many thanks for your input. The thought did cross my mind and could be the cause. Im highly confused and stressed out, as its the first time I have experienced this. It was a mix of mysis, brine, nori and prawn.

 

[d-man]

Even then I doubt it would kill the fish that quickly. They eat rotten stuff all the time in the ocean.
I would say more of a toxin but then again unless there was a leak in some refrigerant I doubt it contained chemicals.

 

[jda]

At some time, or another, nearly every frozen food that I have used has gotten freezer burn and ice on it. I would look somewhere else for the root of your issue.

 

[Reef Bass]

+1 for ice not the problem.

 

[Mekaeel]

Thanks for all the input guys. I am really puzzled and cannot seem to find out what went wrong. All fish are dead and corals are very pale. Looks like an overdose of Zeospur, but i don't dose Zeospur. A the moment I am feeding corals with Coral Vitalizer, hopefully this will assist. Will try and upload some pics later today.

 

[jener8tionx]

Did your wife do any cleaning? Oven cleaner?

 

[Mekaeel]

Did your wife do any cleaning? Oven cleaner?

I checked with the wife as well as the maid, no cleaning aid or insecticides were used. Still trying to figure out what went wrong. Coral colours are still pale and washed out, hopefully things will settle and not get any worse.

 

[bogg]

I would do a massive water change imo change carbon too

 

[Softhammer]

Did your heater and or chiller go nuts with the power loss? Sound like you have cooked fish!

 

[Softhammer]

Could have suffocated too if the pumps crapped out for a period long enough to thaw your freezer.

 

[Mekaeel]

Hi All!

Just thought i will let you guys know that the cause still remains a mystery, and everything is now back on track. New fish are all healthy and corals regaining color.
Iphone pics...

 

[OllieDog]

Thats a great looking setup, Im glad you didnt totally crash and its pulling through.

 

[coral102]

Looking good mate. Best of luck!!! :beer:

 

[ryeguyy84]

beautiful tank, what size is that?

 

[Mekaeel]

Thats a great looking setup, Im glad you didnt totally crash and its pulling through.

Looking good mate. Best of luck!!! :beer:

Thanks guys

beautiful tank, what size is that?

Thank you!
The tank is 1.2m x 550mm x 550mm
Total water volume including sump is +- 380 liters.

 

[Icefire]

I realized that the frozen food container was left open in the freezer, and due to the power outage experienced yesterday, the ice that formed on top of the freezer defrosted and ended up in the food.

Seriously I think the power outage left you with no water movement, dissolved oxygen droped and a die-off ensued.

I would look at your Nitrate it's probably got higher than normal.

If I were you I would look for a cheap generator (2-3kW, 4-900$), I got a 17kW whole home automatic generator myself and it's a good investment for the price (3000$).