RIP Tank Crash

[agruetz]

So....yea title says it all. I just lost all my fish in nano. I do not know exactly why but I suspect it is because I was forced to move my tank and the biological filtration crashed.

The entire tank was ok then all the sudden 2 hours later I look over and all the fish were dead and the entire tank was hazy.

RIP (6 months) - Crazy uncle Fred (as the wife named him) - my powder brown tang rescue that was getting a 400G tank in 4 months.
RIP (2 1/2 years) - The Bishes (again as my wife named them) - Bonded pair of black and white clown fish. Poor guys had been with me a while, they survived an entire tank move from Dallas.

I do not know if the corals & anemone are going to make it or not. They look rough but their mouths have closed back up and what not. I have them in a brute trash can right now with a poly filter and some power heads, a heater and one of my AI Hydra's above them.

Corals still alive include an elegance and a lot of zoa's some GSP.

Corals lost were a few SPS, Torch Coral, Galxea and probably some Zoa's.

I am willing to give the remain corals as rescues to anyone who is in Houston and is able to properly take care of them.

What a horrible week it has been, have been moving since thursday finally finish and my tank crashes...this sucks...

 

[pinguinoroja]

Sorry to hear that agruetz.. I always dread the day I move for this reason.. moving everything is hard enough.. I'd be devastated.

I guess on the bright side.. at least you can start over fresh.. New place.. New reef. Nothing but open doors and possibilities from here. I think once you start it all back up you'll feel a bit better. Condolences.

 

[agruetz]

Hope so, right now I do not even want my new tank I ordered. I am sure that will pass but meh....rather it would have toasted all the coral's (still might), than the fish...they would eat out of my hand.

 

[MickeyDime53]

I dont think the bio filtration crashing would murder fish that seemed perfectly healthy in two hours.

My detective senses are tingling and I really want to help you figure out what other possibilities there are.

I was always under the impression that inverts are more sensative than fish to ammonia, so they would have died first and not have made it at all through the deal.

How did you move the tank? Did you keep filter pads and live rock wet through the move? I just used wet paper towels on my LR during a 4 hour move and didnt even have a mini cycle. In a 10 gallon.

I think thats whats really making me wonder. If my kove went fine in a tiny tank.. yours should have been okay too regarding bacteria.

 

[gveng]

When you moved the tank did you reuse the sand? If yes, then that's your problem. You stirred the sand bed, released all the crap inside of it, causing the tank to go through a mini cycle. You didn't catch it in time (fish breathing heavy, cloudiness, etc...) and thus everything died one by one. Pretty sad.

Good luck with the come back!

 

[diveredd]

Stirring sand bed is never good during move.

When you moved the tank did you reuse the sand? If yes, then that's your problem. You stirred the sand bed, released all the crap inside of it, causing the tank to go through a mini cycle. You didn't catch it in time (fish breathing heavy, cloudiness, etc...) and thus everything died one by one. Pretty sad.

Good luck with the come back!

 

[bobbravo2]

Hope so, right now I do not even want my new tank I ordered. I am sure that will pass but meh....rather it would have toasted all the coral's (still might), than the fish...they would eat out of my hand.

It will pass. Hang in there! Sorry to hear about the loss of your fish friends.

 

[Dendro Dude]

Stick with it the worst is probably over.

 

[agruetz]

When you moved the tank did you reuse the sand? If yes, then that's your problem. You stirred the sand bed, released all the crap inside of it, causing the tank to go through a mini cycle. You didn't catch it in time (fish breathing heavy, cloudiness, etc...) and thus everything died one by one. Pretty sad.

Good luck with the come back!

No I threw all the sand out. Same way I did with the last move.

 

[agruetz]

I dont think the bio filtration crashing would murder fish that seemed perfectly healthy in two hours.

My detective senses are tingling and I really want to help you figure out what other possibilities there are.

I was always under the impression that inverts are more sensative than fish to ammonia, so they would have died first and not have made it at all through the deal.

How did you move the tank? Did you keep filter pads and live rock wet through the move? I just used wet paper towels on my LR during a 4 hour move and didnt even have a mini cycle. In a 10 gallon.

I think thats whats really making me wonder. If my kove went fine in a tiny tank.. yours should have been okay too regarding bacteria.

Something happened, I concur it was not ammonia after the fact I tested a small sample of the water I kept trying to save them. It came back clean. The poly filter also shows no signs of ammonia or any other chemical for that fact.

Yea I kept all the filter pads I could, I did lose about 1/2 my live rock due to a leak in a cooler it went completely dry. However I did not add it back.

I am starting to think the hazy was a bacteria bloom and it just took all the oxygen out of the water causing the fish to suffocate.

The coral's in the brute can are iffy right now, however the hazy water seems to have returned, and all that got moved over to the brute can was rocks with coral. Not a single drop of the other water and this was all fresh new salt water.

 

[cyclenut]

You mentioned you have an anemone in the tank. Although they are known to crash a tank when they melt and die, you stated that it is still alive.

Also know that anemone's are known to stress spawn. This produces a milky substance that clouds and pollutes the water. Just a thought.

I'm sorry for your loss.