Why did all of my fish die?

[angler25]

Hello,
On Sunday, April 27, 2008, I decided that it was time again to get rid of the unwanted population of aiptasia plants that were overtaking my tank. This is something that I had done before and which I had success with. I filled my syringe with concentrated lemon juice and carefully injected it into each plant. Later that night, I shut the lights off on my aquarium and went to bed. The next morning my wife and I left for work. We both leave before 7:00 a.m., so the lights are on a timer.
My wife came home at about noon that day, and when she looked at the tank she didn't see any of the fish. Upon closer inspection of the tank, she was horrified, as she saw that every single fish had died. All of the snails and crabs survived, however. When I came home I checked all of the water parameters and they were fine. These fish were like family members to us, and we feel terrible about what happened.
We are writing because we don't know why this happened. Can you offer us any explanation as to what may have happened to cause their death? Further, we don't know what to do with the tank now. We would like to "re-build" our aquarium but don't know how to proceed after this tragedy. What should we do with the water and the rocks? Is it advisable to boil the rocks to kill the aiptasia? The aiptasia are now overrunning the tank--even growing on the glass. If you can help us in any way, we would appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Derek DeCapua
customrod1@aol.com

 

[asm481]

My guess as to the deaths is the lemon juice lowered the Ph quickly shocking the fish. Would depend on how much juice vs how much water in the system. Sorry for your looses.
Boiling the rock would kill everything on the rock way before the aiptaisia. Wouldn't be my choice. I would try either some bergia nudibranch or a butterfly fish such as a copperband or even a dozen peppermint shrimp. Then follow with kalk paste but only a few per day.

 

[Percula9]

I agree, the lemon juice dropped the pH to an unacceptable level. You should have used Joe's juice to kill the Aiptasia. Sorry for your loss.

P.S I grew up in Sheepshead Bay.

 

[ssavader]

Make a super-concentrated mix of kalk, turn off your circulation, inject just a little on each aptasia (animal, not a plant). The kalc. is heavier than the water and will settle on the aptasia, "burning" and killing it. Just use a little on each aptasia. The kalc will supplement your ca++ and alk and will not upset your parameters if you are careful.

 

[angler25]

Hello,
Thank you for your replies. I didn't know that the aptaisa are animals and not plants. I appreciate the information. I have decided against boiling the rocks and will take into consideration all of the advice and suggestions that you have given to me. I have never heard of Joe's Juice but will look into it. I like the idea of using live fish, etc., to combat the problem, as this seems to be what would happen in their natural ecosystem. The kalk paste sounds like a good idea as well. I must research this.
I will write again once I have started to get my tank going. I hope that I am able to manage the problem and once again have a thriving saltwater aquarium. I still feel terrible that it was my fault that my fish died. And my wife is still sick over discovering all of our fish dead on that day. As I said in my initial post, they were like family members. Thanks again for your support.
Derek

To Percula 9: I used to fish out of Sheepshead Bay.

 

[Percula9]

Joe's Juice basically is kalk paste. It will kill aiptasia safely. If you need any help you can PM me any time. I'm glad to be of any help to a fellow Brooklynite.