Tank crash - All fish dead

[Jonny3009]

Hey everyone,

The worst has happened for me. Went on holiday and 2 days in the mother who was checking the fish daily messaged saying she had found them all dead.

Only have a small 55 litre tank so only had 5 fish - all of which are gone - 2 clowns and 3 chromis.

Before I went on holiday I did a 50% water change and added a new bag of purigen so I honestly have no idea what has happened.

55 litre tank - no sump.
koralia wavemaker
fluval filter

Tested the parametres as soon as I got back
Temp 26.5 degrees
Nitrates 10ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Ph 7.8
SG 1.025
dKh 8.2
Calcium 420 ppm
Mag 1300

My clean up crew (4 turbos, 6 hermits and 2 nas snails ) are all fine.

I have noticed when looking at the tank there is a a lot a lot of what I think are bristle worms. Probably 30 plus. Also there seems to be a lot of amphipods. Again I'm not sure if that's what these are. Kind of clutching at straws wanting to know what killed my fish.

My clowns were a good pair and I was sure they were clearing an area for some eggs which again is so disheartening it makes me want to quit.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

https://vimeo.com/226212419

https://vimeo.com/226211513

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Cheers,

Jonny

 

[Kadee]

So sorry for your loss! It is painful to put so much time and effort into this hobby to get wiped out without a clue as to why. Is it possible that you had an extended power outage? I would give yourself some time before pulling the plug. If you loved it enough to get this far, it would be worth it to let it sit fallow while you decide which direction to go. Maybe the cause will present itself again.

 

[Gweeds]

So sorry! This is why I don't go on holiday!!

All fish dead... cuc ok, params ok, lots of bristleworms and a pod explosion... my best guess would be massive overfeeding.

How long between your mother finding the fish dead and you checking the params? Did she take all the fish out?

Could be that the fish died from overfeeding, the cuc cleaned up the worst of the excess food, along with the bristleworms and pods... with no fish to eat them they multiply quickly. That would explain the worm population too. With all fish gone and food being consumed, a week or so later all the nutrients would be locked up. Another clue would be nitrate... did the tank measure 10ppm before you left?

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[Bma1972]

Wow, bummer. You have a ton of pods from what I could see, and with lights on. No worries on the pods and bristles. In going to guess it was the 50% water change somehow. damsels (Chromis and Clowns) are pretty hardy though. Maybe the caretaker while you were away, contaminated container used for H2o change, a bad ground on heater (would kill snails first though). How long have you had fish, maybe a piscavorian parasite? To many options. How did fish look when you finally saw them dead?

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[Jonny3009]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I think I am going to wallow in self pity for a while and will continue Kadee! We don't get power outages around here so I'm pretty sure that's ruled out.

Gweeds/Bma when I did the 50% water change params where pretty much the same except nitrates where closer to zero.

Did the water change and param check on the Saturday and went away Tuesday morning. She found the fish dead on Wednesday night which is crazy fast because I saw them at 6am on the Tuesday before leaving.

Yeah she took all of the fish she could find out. Said she couldn't get to a few and the hermits ate the rest. Never saw any of the fish bodies which I'm slightly glad about but would have been nice to inspect them.

So i wouldn't have thought it was her caretaking less she emptied the food pot in haha.

Overfeeding sounds possible on my part tho. Ive only done this for around a year with pretty much no issues but still class myself as a noob as there is so much to learn. Normally drop a pinch of flakes in daily so could this maybe have mounted and mounted?

 

[Kremis]

sucks, i have had fish die while i was gone for apparently no reason multiple times before. when your not home you just dont know what went on....

 

[Gweeds]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I think I am going to wallow in self pity for a while and will continue Kadee! We don't get power outages around here so I'm pretty sure that's ruled out.

Gweeds/Bma when I did the 50% water change params where pretty much the same except nitrates where closer to zero.

Did the water change and param check on the Saturday and went away Tuesday morning. She found the fish dead on Wednesday night which is crazy fast because I saw them at 6am on the Tuesday before leaving.

Yeah she took all of the fish she could find out. Said she couldn't get to a few and the hermits ate the rest. Never saw any of the fish bodies which I'm slightly glad about but would have been nice to inspect them.

So i wouldn't have thought it was her caretaking less she emptied the food pot in haha.

Overfeeding sounds possible on my part tho. Ive only done this for around a year with pretty much no issues but still class myself as a noob as there is so much to learn. Normally drop a pinch of flakes in daily so could this maybe have mounted and mounted?

I'd say massive overfeeding... sorry mum! The nitrate spike to 10ppm is indicative of the whole cycle getting a boost from the front end (ie more ammonia from decaying food). As mentioned, the pod and bristleworm explosion would make sense too. However, it is just guesswork... without being there you'll never know for sure.

Don't worry about the flake... you won't overfeed over time, it's a more sudden thing than that.

Do you feed other things other than flake? Good idea to mix food up, helps general health and can be the difference between life and death in the event of something catastrophic happening.

Ime it's better for the last feed to be live foods that will survive in SW... pods / mysis etc. That way a few will still be around for a couple of days after you leave. You could invest in an auto feeder or buy a pill box and fill each compartment with a days worth of food... that way whoever is looking after them doesn't have to judge the quantity themselves.

Another way to look at it, at least you can go fish shopping again now

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[Jonny3009]

Haha I'm trying not to blame her after all she doesn't know its such a delicate thing to keep.

I feed with 2 diff types of ocean nutrition flakes and then drop in a pinch of new era pellets now and again too. I have used live mysis probably only a handful of times.

The pill box is a very good idea tho i will take that into mind.

I like your way of thinking about the shopping :lmao: now what kind of fish will go after those pods!

 

[Jonny3009]

Sorry for your losses in the past Kremis!

Blood fish whod have them eh haha

 

[Mishri]

yeah, 55 litres isn't very forgiving. 1 very large feeding could have nuked them, especially if you were giving just a small pinch before. I've seen people to do it before..

the other possibility would be contamination.. poisoned by some sort of chemical, something entering the tank.

 

[ComforablyNumb]

Its often best not to do any feeding if you are going to be gone for less than a few days. They don't need to eat everyday.

Over a few days, yeah. Do a quick demo for the temp caretaker and hope for the best.