Opinions: major issue with all my fish

Would this happen if there were fumes getting into the water? Any possibility there is food or anything dead rotting anywhere inside/under your rocks?

if a good enough concentration of drain cleaner got in the tank it would cause any organic matter to burn up which could cause the skimmer to go nuts. Also if any soap got in the tank it could cause excess foam in the skimmer.

Is the simmer going nuts with foam or is it spitting water?
 
It was my impression the drain cleaner was being used in the tub in the bathroom, not the room the tank is in.

I saw the same thing, but was just offering an option. Drain cleaner fumes can carry enough of the active ingredients to cause issues elsewhere. That is why it should always be used in well ventilated areas or in areas with exhaust fans.
 
the drain cleaner was used in the bathroom, except that bathroom is in the hallway next to my living room. I can see how the fumes could have been carried over to the living room since i have central ac/heat and all doors and windows are closed. the skimmer cup gets full with water it then starts amassing a giant foam column, i have not checked yet but i lost one fish last night, im afraid.....
 
Jose, sorry did not check the board yesterday.

If situation is holding as was yesterday, I'd head to Coral Reef or somewhere else that carries Chemi-Pure and run that. Better than carbon. In fact, I'd run that at Purigen. And I'd float them in bags in the tank with the fish, in high flow areas.

That in addition to water changes. You may never know if it was a spawning or the drain stuff. I find the drain thing unlikely, but who knows?

I'm not sure I'd go the massive water change route. Well, I'd do that first, then frequent (every few hrs) 10% changes if possible.

good luck.
 
I would absolutely get that "toxic" water out of the system with large, daily water changes. I have 33g of SW ready to go right now. Bring your buckets! I agree, Purigen is better but with the amounts you'd need, it could get $$$.
 
ill get the purigen when i get out of work, this morning my fish looked a little better, i hope i dont come home to more dead ones. Thank you Jeni and rcgogo for offering help, i have about 5 hob filters running carbon right now and im good on saltwater, thankfully water change was due today so i had made enough water to do a couple changes.
 
i did not try to feed the fish this morning as they still look very stressed out, just a bit better than last night. Im hoping for no more casualties when i get home.
 
things are still not looking..... pretty sure ill be losing one more fish before i go to bed, at least the other 2 ate some food.
 
If you want I have a container of Chemi-Pure that I can spare, I've not used it before and you're more than welcome to it. I'm in the city, just west of UIC campus. Let me know if you'd like it. I also have a lot of carbon if you're running out, they would need to be in sleeve, or sock but you're welcome to that as well.
 
situation seems to be stabilized, no more deaths today. Im hoping for a full recovery for my remaining fish but i know im not out of it yet.
 
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