Tank Crashed Yesterday...

[carfac]

I did my normal water change on Sunday- 5 gallons on my 24 gal nano. Noticed it was a bit dirty inside, but I always seem to work up a bit of something into the water when I change. Monday morning, still cloudy.

Wife calls me at work Monday afternoon that the snails are all turned over dead, the anenome is gone, etc. I come home, and my nh3 is through the roof. Couple snails are gone, but the anaenome is just buried itself in the sand.

Well, 15 gal water change right away. All filter materials pulled and replaced with fresh (Chemi-Pure, Piri-Gen, floss and a fresh sponge). Ammonia down to acceptable levels, coral starting to come back in limited fashion. Pulled the dead snails, one fish also dead. Everything else not happy, but looking like they will return.

So, why did this happen? I do not know. I did a normal water change. I - as normal- rinsed my filter material (Chemi-Pure Charcoal, Puri-Gen) real well, and put it back in. Replaced filter floss. Rinsed out a sponge I use, but used another sponge (I rotate those). I did use the head to blow off the rocks- but I do that fairly regularly.

Also, today my ammonia is .1 or so- so OK. But my water is VERY cloudy. ANy ideas what I can do???

Thanks!

Dave

 

[rustybucket145]

how long has the tank been setup?

 

[carfac]

One year plus. Started it last fathers day.

 

[Savas]

I have an AQ 24 and when my anemone died it totally skunked my tank and it released a ton of white stuff. I ended up doing two complete water changes to remove the debris over a 2 day period. I changed 12 gallons twice a day.

I will never have another anemone.

 

[carfac]

My anenome did NOT die. It shrivelled up a LOT, and burried itself in the sand... but today it is back. Not as big, nor as colorful, but it is out today. That was not the cause.

I did loose a Watchman Goby Saturday, and pulled it out Sunday- he was in the overflow. But he had not decomposed or anything...

 

[Savas]

Ok, then there goes my theory. I would still do the water changes as described though.

 

[carfac]

Just checked with my wife- stuff is slowly coming out, but with a major loss of color. But the water is still very milky asnd cloudy. Any ideas there?

 

[PrivateJoker64]

What water did you rinse those all things in - saltwater or fresh?
Was the water you put in aged a bit, or freshly mixed?

 

[rustybucket145]

did you use tap water?

 

[carfac]

Always- ALWAYS RO water. Mixed for 2-3 hours...

 

[carfac]

Sorry- missed one. I always rinse things in fresh water. Nevber (in a year) had a problem. Is this risky?

 

[rustybucket145]

nah, shouldn't be....

 

[Randall_James]

It could be an ammonia spike caused by the Anemone..

When they dump their "load" it can contain a lot of bio matter and cause a spike in the ammonia. This is one of the reasons smaller tanks are rather difficult when it comes to Anemone.

Provided you did not have anything else in the tank that could have died, I would be looking this way.. The cloudiness is probably a bacterial bloom trying to deal with all the ammonia in the water column.

 

[Zann]

you could use a micron filter to clean it up will help make the water clear
you dont have to run it all the time but some do

i dont have a skimmer so i run one it helps alot

 

[carfac]

Yah- no skimmer here either.

Things are looking better- not like they were, but better. So I am guessing I will wait the rest out.

 

[carfac]

I went on vaca two weeks ago. Had someone feed the fish, but I let the ananome go. I came back and over-fed the anenome... instead of 1/2 silverside, I fed a full one- twice. COuld that have cause a big, uh "load" as Randall called it?

 

[Randall_James]

Yes it could..

What happens is that the waste is pushed back out into the water column and then the spike in waste creates the ammonia spike.

This damages the fish and Anemone (why it buried itself). The "cloudy" tank will not clear by any filter as it is a bacterial bloom from the excessive ammonia levels. As the bacteria run out of food, the cloudiness will pass (do make sure you have good surface agitation as these bacteria consume a lot of oxygen.

Do not be surprised if the Anemone splits pretty quickly here. It is a response to survival.

As far as feeding goes, most Anemone can do very well with little or no feeding. The exception is if you are breeding and propagating, then feeding with finely minced foods helps.

I only rarely feed the Anemone's in my Anemone tank. And when they do get fed, it is with "spectra grow" food that is enriched dried krill. Seems to be a lot of bad information about feeding these guys lately.

If you are going to feed silver-sides, they should be finely minced as well

In the wild, they feed on tiny bits of food that make it to the bottom of the water column and only rarely catch errant fish in their tentacles.

Again I think if you are going to feed, every 2 or 3 weeks is going to be more than sufficient for most of these animals provided the lightning is sufficient for them.

 

[carfac]

Randall:

Thank you so much for getting me on the right page. I wasdoing about 1/2 a silver every 3-4 days (Wed and Sun).

On the positive side, the anenome is fully back out, but not as colorful. The Kenya looks OK, xenia looks poor, but those are weeds. Frog spawn looks like he will make it.

Sad news- lost 3 more snails... my fungia I have had 8 months or so... and my wifes clam. Damn, I have lost a lot this week.

I have a "something that starts with an M" that is a plate, and green. It is now brown. How hardy are those?

 

[Randall_James]

Well sir, does sound like you had A LOT in that tank. The problem can be when things are that loaded, the slightest issue turns really bad.. Clams, Anemone, softies, montiporas, LPS all in the same tank (*much less a 24) is really pushing the limits.

The "M" thing sounds like a Montipora of some kind and they are pretty hardy..

I am a firm believer in "Species" tanks and especially when it comes to animals like the Anemone that can live 200 years in the wild. I think they deserve dedicated attention to assure their happiness (no group hugs here ) The same could be said about softies, LPS and SPS corals. Mixing them all is pretty tricky stuff... But this is only my way of doing it, many do things differently and do fine. The best part of this hobby is that there are many ways to succeed. I just try to keep it as simple as possible for myself.

I would take this as a chance to regroup and bring the tank back as a more manageable biotope.. (read not mixing softies, LPS and stony corals). Just let what is in there recover for a few months before you try anything else..

Sorry for all your losses anyway...

 

[carfac]

Thanks Randall.

I just kinda kept adding one thing I liked every couple months. Most are pretty small... the clam was 2-3 inches, the fungia was pretty bug- maybe 4 inches across. It did not seem to be crowded, but I guess I shall have to do some more thinking and learning, regrouping as you say.

Ilike the anenome, especially with the clowns, so I will probably start with that... especially since that is what I have left! When tings mellow out, I will regroup with some snails and crabs.


Well, I tested my ammonia again, and it was .6 to about 1.0... so I did another 10 gal change, cleaned all my filter stuff, scrubbed out the back, pulled all the dead stuff. I am testing again now, see where I am at.