Ok what now!

[BobthePhotoGuy]

I woke up this morning to see my turbo snails trying to escape their shells. Most were on the bottom and extended from their shell with some still hanging on the glass while extended. They are still alive as they are moving and a couple have now gone back to looking normal. Also some of my coral, mostly LPS, are acting wierd. Favia is flat, Lobo is shrunk polyps/zoas are closed. Shrimp seem fine. One blue/green Chromis is acting weird and has since died (other 4 chromis seem fine).

I performed a quick parameters test, everything was good with the exception of ammonia almost to .25 and PH was 8.0

First thing was to do a water change, about 20%. While doing this I was trying to think of what I had changed in the last day or two. I remembered I did put a piece of metal screen in my sump. I thought maybe there was copper leaching from the screen so I did a quick copper test of the removed water. Test showed 0 copper.

I did remove the screen since that was the last thing to change.

Any ideas from the "Wizards of the SaltWater World"?

Bob

 

[Beefy_Reefy]

Ok what now!

Not a wizard but I'd be worried about the ammonia. I'm sure that's the cause.. Is this an established tank or new?

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

Tank has been running for a year. Well established, no issues for a while. Last livestock added were a couple peppermint shrimp to the sump a couple weeks ago.

I am going to retest the ammonia later today.

Bob

 

[xanthurum]

Salinity???

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

salinity is 1.023

I have lost the 2 smallest chromis and I found one of my brittle stars dead and I haven't seen the other brittle. The rest of the fish seem to doing fine and are eating good.

Doing a bit of research I am wondering if I am getting the mysterious white slime. I seem to have a slime emanating from coral and the rocks.

I am going to get some bacteria and see if that will help.

 

[xanthurum]

Your salinity is too low. Fish dont mind so the death of your fish is a mystery but the inverts should improve if you raise your salt level. I keep mine at 35-36 ppt or 1.026-1.028. Corals deflate and snails come out of their shells at lower salt levels.

 

[LivingStrong08]

Agree - Salinity is too low. Also, maybe you lost a turbo or two which caused the spike in Ammonia. This, plus low salinity, may be causing unhappy citizens.

I would do a water change and slowly bring your salt levels up.

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

I have already done a water change and increased the salinity a bit.

The tank has been at 1.023 for 8+ months. The only change I've seen in the last 8 months is this recent spike in ammonia.

Remember, corals closed up, a slime appeared on the rocks and corals, two small fish died and at least one brittle star is dead. Too many things at once in a stable tank for it to be salinity.

 

[LivingStrong08]

Slime? Hmmm...I know some corals will emit white "slime" when ticked...Did you complete the water change before our after the fish were found dead too?

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

One fish was acting funny before the water change. Put him in qt where he died. The other started acting weird after the change.
The slimy stuff was coming off both corals and rock. Was reading about a bacteria that can cause this issue.

 

[TX-BJ]

I agree, salinity is too low. The metal screen in the sump sure didn't help either.
Do another water change, get ammonia back to 0 asap.
Check your RO/DI water it's numbers may be too high. I keep mine under 2.
Do you add prime or something similar to get the chlorine out of your RO/DI top off water?
Do you have kids that might have put something in the tank?

 

[schristi69]

Metal and saltwater DO NOT mix......unless the metal is titanium. What possessed you to put a metal screen in your sump????

 

[LivingStrong08]

Do you have kids that might have put something in the tank?

Oh boy....these are never any fun.

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

No Kids.

Point taken about the metal. I was copying a stainless steel filter basket that an old friend ran for many, many years.

Things are looking better. Corals (except zoas and toadstool) have opened up. Going to get some bacteria and do another water change tomorrow.

Bob

 

[vincent92]

I say it was a chain reaction from the death of the snail that released that smelly crap after dying.. Strange enough I keep my salinity at 1.023 as well and 10-20% water change every week. Never have any of my turbosnails died in my reef DT. (More like double size in a few months.

 

[vincent92]

Could it be your temp had a swing? Cold to warm or warm to cold. I know they struggle in warmer water and try to escape the shell when they feel hot. Just like removing clothing in the summer

 

[rollinnoland]

I have read 1.025 Is as high as you want it in full reef true or no

 

[vincent92]

Yea I've heard 1.025 is max. No need to have it higher

 

[BobthePhotoGuy]

No temp swings.

I think the ammonia swing is from pods and mysis dying off. I am seeing very few now. This was probably caused by whatever contamination that is making turbos act weird.

Another water change tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

 

[vincent92]

Good luck