HELP. WOKE UP TO ALL OF MY FISH DEAD

StephO

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
22
Reaction score
4
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I woke up this morning to find this in my tank. Why are all of my fish dead
4f8793dc1952516ad17a811d98ddc152.jpg
Do you have a UV sterilizer? If not you might want to get one. Helps to keep some of the bacteria down that can make your fish sick. I've noticed great improvement in my tank from adding one and I've had no more dead fish.
 

Brew12

Electrical Gru
View Badges
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
22,488
Reaction score
61,020
Location
Decatur, AL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yes the ammonia is high, but the corals would be the canarie in the coal mine. Corals are usually the first thing to show stress with ammonia. Like most are saying it's most likely velvet and with the ammonia it was the perfect storm for the fish. I am very sorry for your loss. Just take a deep breath and push forward with the new knowledge.
I would have thought that is the case but I'm trying to dig into it and what I am finding is surprising me. It looks like fish are much more susceptible to ammonia than coral. Lower levels of ammonia damage the fishes gills preventing them from releasing the ammonia they produce. This raises the level of toxic ammonia in their systems to much higher levels than found in the water.

Corals only seem to be impacted when ammonia levels get high enough to cause burning. I just can't find a credible source that says what level of ammonia that would occur at.
 

Daniel@R2R

Living the Reef Life
View Badges
Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
37,363
Reaction score
63,247
Location
Fontana, California
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Slot if people are saying ammonia. There's a acro next to that dead tang that looks fine. High ammonia would melt it. Has to be some sort if infection
A very good point
 

Chrispaul

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
19
Reaction score
13
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ph 8.0 phosphate 0 nitrate 40 calcium 500 kh 214.8. Just took these levels five minutes ago. Had the fish for like 3 weeks. Now the tank has been set up for about 2 going on three months
Sorry but that tank looks way too clean for three month the sand heater the corners they all look brand new! To me it's looks like a fresh setup not one little bit of alge we all know a few weeks into setting up
 

Sabellafella

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
11,868
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
So sorry, it truely is heartwrenching. Unfortunantly, youll have to pull them out and just start at a clean slate. W.e the problem may be, get some more live rock, and make sure the water is saturated with oxygen at all times.
 

Brew12

Electrical Gru
View Badges
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
22,488
Reaction score
61,020
Location
Decatur, AL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Sorry but that tank looks way too clean for three month the sand heater the corners they all look brand new! To me it's looks like a fresh setup not one little bit of alge we all know a few weeks into setting up
If he added nothing to start the cycle for the first 2 months it is very possible to look like that. Where would the nutrients come from to get the tank to grow algae? Then he adds fish, ammonia builds, possible velvet outbreak, and the fish are dead.
 

justingraham

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
5,348
Reaction score
6,709
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you have a UV sterilizer? If not you might want to get one. Helps to keep some of the bacteria down that can make your fish sick. I've noticed great improvement in my tank from adding one and I've had no more dead fish.
Ur just lucky the uv sterilizer makes water clean but it will not kill disease the only thing that could possibly rid the tank of ich or parasites is a diatom filter
 

bsfmaximus

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 18, 2015
Messages
240
Reaction score
79
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just to throw in my two cents because it happened to me... double check temperature. I woke up one morning to find several fish dead, I discovered temp had dropped drastically overnight thanks to faulty heater (albeit winter time).
 

SLOMOE

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I woke up this morning to find this in my tank. Why are all of my fish dead
4f8793dc1952516ad17a811d98ddc152.jpg
It looks like you had an ammonia spike as it looks like a new tank. Other possibility is electric shock, make sure you don't have any stray currents in the tank
 

Brew12

Electrical Gru
View Badges
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
22,488
Reaction score
61,020
Location
Decatur, AL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok, found a few very interesting articles and the fish dying during a relatively high ammonia event while the coral survives makes perfect sense.

Fish generate ammonia and release it through their gills. Even low levels of ammonia over time can damage the gills preventing the ammonia from being released. This causes the toxic ammonia to build up within the fish until it is poisoned and dies.
The polyps in corals also produce ammonia. This ammonia is then used as food by the zooxanthellae within the coral. Some corals will actually absorb ammonia from the water in order to grow the zooxanthellae faster.

This is why a lower level of ammonia will kill fish and yet it can actually cause corals to thrive up until it because caustic enough to damage the cell structure of the polyp. I still can't find what level this would occur.
 

justingraham

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
5,348
Reaction score
6,709
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok, found a few very interesting articles and the fish dying during a relatively high ammonia event while the coral survives makes perfect sense.

Fish generate ammonia and release it through their gills. Even low levels of ammonia over time can damage the gills preventing the ammonia from being released. This causes the toxic ammonia to build up within the fish until it is poisoned and dies.
The polyps in corals also produce ammonia. This ammonia is then used as food by the zooxanthellae within the coral. Some corals will actually absorb ammonia from the water in order to grow the zooxanthellae faster.

This is why a lower level of ammonia will kill fish and yet it can actually cause corals to thrive up until it because caustic enough to damage the cell structure of the polyp. I still can't find what level this would occur.
Man did u just retire or something like the last week or two u have been helping everyone out with research and just wanna say thanks for everything
 

Brew12

Electrical Gru
View Badges
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
22,488
Reaction score
61,020
Location
Decatur, AL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Man did u just retire or something like the last week or two u have been helping everyone out with research and just wanna say thanks for everything
lol I only wish! I'm really just a research junkie who is starting my first tank. Because of that I want to learn everything possible and these forums are great when it comes to that. If you look, the vast majority of what I do is refer people to the work that people like Humblefish and Melyper have done. I'm just linking people to information, not really creating any new info. In this case, it was a few research papers on corals and ammonia. Made perfect sense once I read them.
 

Jonathan Dignon

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 1, 2015
Messages
14
Reaction score
9
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Tangs and angelfish are not good fish for a newly started tank anyway. New tanks lack the stability needed for those delicate fish.
 

Sabellafella

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
11,868
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Theres live rock and tons of surface area to be sufficient enuff to hold ammonia down to a safe level fellas unless he added a few fish or done something on accident. i dont think it has to do with any cycle, also there "appears" to be no fin rot witch wouldve shown up way before the fish died if the tank was still in cycle. op get a better picture of the fish.
 

Deaf clown

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
201
Reaction score
196
Location
Waterloo, Iowa
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
That's not an acro that's nepthea tree coral...just throwing that out there.

Nonetheless, this sucks really bad.
 

Ali350z

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
38
Reaction score
24
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Sorry for your loss. I would take the coral out and put them in your other tank you mention you had. And I would suggest never buying anything live from petco!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 63 36.6%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 34.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 24 14.0%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 15.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top