Inadvertent Fish transfer fiasco

[JZinCO]

So I'm in the process of transferring livestock to a larger tank. The older, smaller tank has been running for 9 months, the larger, newer tank has been up for 2 months. I set the new tank up with dry rocks and sand. Over the last three weeks I have introduced rocks from the old tank into the new tank as well as some hermit crabs. Over the past week I have introduced LPS, softies and zoa (About 7 frags worth). Everything is doing great (minus a chalice). Water quality is amazing too.

So, last night I was moving one large rock from the old tank to the new tank. Guess what came with it? My starry blenny. Cool, I thought. I'm 95% confident there will be no issues but I'll just monitor ammonia. He was hiding but darting around last night and seemed fine.

This morning he was sitting on the sand bed in the open and not very responsive. Breathing was normal, I didn't see any signs of damage. His rear end didn't want to move at all. He is now back in the old tank and a little better..
I hope he makes it. He looks 100% fine aside from not being very motile. Perhaps this was in response to suddenly being dunked into a new tank. Or perhaps he got internally squished in the bucket during the rock transfer..
Anyway fingers crossed for a recovery.

 

[Sk8r]

poor fellow. How's the relative salinity?

 

[JZinCO]

poor fellow. How's the relative salinity?

I didn't read anything but salinity in the old tank recently.

Comparing the water quality, the nitrates in the new tank are barely readable (probably higher in the old tank), the pH is 8.4 in the new tank, probably 8.6 in the old tank. Other than that water quality and salinity is the same.

I'll look for internal bleeding when I get home. If he was injured, are there any treatments to consider to prevent secondary bacterial/fungal infections? If this was just a response to not being acclimated should I still treat?

 

[Sk8r]

Nothing much can be done for an acclimation accident: the cells in kidneys flat explode from the pressure difference, but I'm not sure about kidney recuperative ability. If he survives 4 days, that isn't what happened; maybe just colder water, which would be too much of a problem.

 

[JZinCO]

Ah geez. Looking at your other posts on this topic, looks like I should have tried my damnedest to try and get him out as soon as I noticed him in the new tank.
stupid lesson to learn. I'll update on his condition and hope he is kicking in 4 days time.

 

[Sk8r]

I'm hoping it was close enough: fish can take .002 UPWARD change with no damage, but it is increasingly dicey as the percentage goes up. They're much more tolerant of a DOWNWARD change, ie a drop in salinity. Here's hoping he's ok!

 

[JZinCO]

If there was a mismatch it would have been downward.

Thanks for the support.

 

[JZinCO]

Well I can rule out that it was the transfer. I drip acclimated a different fish that reacted the same way as the blenny did. Somethings amiss in the water and it isn't something tested in a hobby kit..
The fish did the same thing and acted lethargic. Added some air into the tank but that didn't help so I don't believe the issue is low oxygen.
I have a filter pad that is supposed to change color depending on the pollutant and am awaiting results.
Btw the starry blenny is acting 100% fine in the old tank.

 

[Sk8r]

Good for the starry! Love those guys.
Could there be stray current in the new tank?
You could also try putting a piece of PolyFilter into the flow. It can pick up (and remove) weird things including metals. I always keep some on hand just in case.

 

[JZinCO]

I'll test for stray current and pick up a DO kit tomorrow. If I don't find out what's going on I will break down the tank starting with the reef wall. I used great stuff and hadn't heard anything bad about it in the past. Also did an 75% water change.
Don't know if I should put activated carbon in the sump or not

 

[JZinCO]

Dup

 

[JZinCO]

Okay Sk8r...

The day after my coral looked a bit healthier. All the fish are good and accounted for in the old tank. I am convinced there was a foreign chemical in the water. Hence the improvement from the water change.

I broke down the new tank and rinsed everything. Right now my sand and rocks are in a holding tank with fresh mixed saltwater to keep the bacteria alive.

I put the tank back together. Filled it with water. A fellow reefer gave me a good deal on some coral covered rocks. Having no place for them, I figured I would put them in the new tank as an indicator. It's been only 12 hours but everything looks fantastic.

My SO suggested putting one Anthelia in the new tank and one in the holding tank as an indicator (Anthelia seemed to do the worst in the new tank last week). That way we will know if the rock wall in the new tank is still leaching the chemical or if the sand is.

If we get the green light, I will powerhead the hell out of everything in the holding tank while I drain off the water and then transfer the sand and rocks to the new tank.

 

[Sk8r]

Good luck! PolyFilter is real good at picking up stray nastiness, as is carbon. A combo of both might help, and PolyFIlter color can tell you what it's absorbing. Carbon just sits there not saying a thing.

 

[JZinCO]

So, I just decided to rinse the sand with cold freshwater. Instead of my original plan. Tossed it in the new tank, got some ammonia for a day. But all is good now.

The new tank's coral are healthy as is a fish I put in yesterday. So with that I can say this fiasco is officially over. I'll never know what went wrong. I suspect the adhesives or chemicals used in my build. It set me back a few weeks but no aquatic lives were lost and I can't be more satisfied than I am now. Thanks for listening and sending me your thoughts Sk8r.

I needed a new filter in my sump anyway so I threw in a polyfilter.