Massive fish die off. Corals fine

[shav0123456]

So all my fish died last night and i cant figure out why. I have some ideas but not sure. Fish that died were 2 square back anthias, 2 bangai, 1 clown, 1 chromis and 1 lawn mower blenny. So my fish were acting funny on tuesday, laying down on sand breathing heavy. Skimmer went crazy and dumped its contents and bubbles were not popping.my wife told me she sprayed fabreeze not near the ttank but closer than my comfort level so i chalked it up to that. Everybody survived and seemed fine. I had also just created a diy filter that used pillow stuffing from walmart at the same time. It was hypo allergenic so i didnt think it would cause any issues. Well last night my fish were kind of acting funny again but the lights had just went off so i thought maybe they had just bedded down. Well this morning all were dead. Shrimp snails crabs and corals all fine going about their business. Im thinking its either the pillow fiber or maybe i had something on my hands from work. I always wash but sometimes not my entire arm and its a 90 gal so i have to reach deep sometimes. I work as a manuf engineer so its around alot of metals and chemicals. Sorry this is so speratic kinda bumbed right now. Guess its a coral only tank now...

 

[Pond Boy]

Sorry for your loss. I try to tell my wife not to spray near the tanks just falls on deaf ears. lol

 

[Sk8r]

THat's way bad. I've never had a problem with pillow stuffing, but you never know when some manufacturer is going to 'improve' a product.
There is a disease that can cause massive swift death: uronema marinum, but you didn't mention any new fish.
A scrub to the elbow and gloves are the best defense against something carried in; a canopy is the best against household accidents.
So sorry!
To possibly both detect the nature of and remove the problem, you might put in a piece of PolyFIlter. It turns informative colors as it cleans the water.

 

[shav0123456]

The last fish added was the lawnmower blenny about 3 weeks ago i think. The tank has a canopy but the base has slits in it that i thought allow air flow and the skimmer sucks in so much air. Im really thinking it was the filter even though there is nothing on the package that sticks out. And it seems to meet the time line. I changed the media three times. Once when the initial incident happened. A secod time but i put carbon right below it. No issues. And a third time no carbon and they died the next day.

 

[shav0123456]

Im thinking it had to be chemical as my skimmer went crazy and overflowd and the bubbles in my sump would not pop even if you poked them. Only other chemical that could cave caused issues is the purple primer i spilled in the next room. Every time i think about it there is another thing that it could have been. Just curious how it didnt affect any corals or inverts.

 

[Pond Boy]

Man that's shame mebbe the Fabreze is what did them in. I have never had a problem with the polly fill from walmart...

 

[shav0123456]

Well i went to the lfs and bought some regular filter floss and decided to try and start a fire outside with both as a test to see if the pillow from walmart stuffing would not light. Well neither wanted to light at all. If anything the pillow stuffing seems to have butned better than the fish safe stuff. So now im not so sure. The thing with the fabreeze is my wife sprayed it on tuesday, fish acted funny on tuesday but then were fine after i added carbon and did not die till friday. Wife swears she didnt spray anything near tank

 

[Salty Waffles]

Very sorry for this unfortunate event.

I had also just created a diy filter that used pillow stuffing from walmart at the same time. It was hypo allergenic so i didnt think it would cause any issues.

The hypo allergenic part concerns me. That would tend to make me think it's treated for mold resistance. Maybe its nothing.

Well i went to the lfs and bought some regular filter floss and decided to try and start a fire outside with both as a test to see if the pillow from walmart stuffing would not light. Well neither wanted to light at all. If anything the pillow stuffing seems to have butned better than the fish safe stuff.

Were you testing for a fire retardant chemical?

 

[shav0123456]

Yea that was my thought. Figured if the fish safe caught on fire and the pillow stuffing didnt then that was a clear indicator. Of course it didnt work out that way.... Never easy.

 

[DancingShark]

I have told my wife about spaying stuff around the tank as well. I have even told her about her perfume.
Well that's why i run a big bag of active carbon.