00W's AIO Smorgasbord

[kingranch2003]

I understand brother. You'll bounce back my friend! On a positive note, your corals look great!

Thanks Keith. The positivity helps. I won't lie.

 

[00W]

Then...
Moving on to here...

Construction zone...

 

[kingranch2003]

Anything wet with water, like things from other people tanks with fish in them. Corals, CUC, live rock, sand, macroalgae, etc.

Oh gotcha. No nothing like that buddy. Didn't you have a bloom not too long ago? Im surprised the water isn't more cloudy.

 

[kingranch2003]

That shouldn't have affected the fish, more so the corals would be affected by that I would think.

With that said, stagnating water can have some definite temperature fluctuations throughout, but if your corals are happy it's really a tough thing to figure out.

Agreed brother.

 

[00W]

Not too swampy today...

Before construction...

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Oh gotcha. No nothing like that buddy. Didn't you have a bloom not too long ago? Im surprised the water isn't more cloudy.

Yes, but I believe it was an algae bloom. I did keep aeration up JIC it was a bacterial bloom.

 

[kingranch2003]

I would think if the cause would have effected your corals they would have shown signs before the fish. I think what ever the cause, I don’t think there will be any detrimental effects to your corals.

Thanks for this insight Kevin. That makes perfect sense to me.

 

[00W]

Think we'll go with this today...

 

[00W]

I woke up this morning to all of my beautiful fish being dead. I checked salinity and temp. All fine there. The water looks like it might be a bit hazy. Not 100% sure. I did a test strip real quick just out of reaction and have detectable nitrites!?!

What??????
Oh no John I just read this

 

[tharbin]

I woke up this morning to all of my beautiful fish being dead. I checked salinity and temp. All fine there. The water looks like it might be a bit hazy. Not 100% sure. I did a test strip real quick just out of reaction and have detectable nitrites!?!

John,

Sorry to hear this my friend. I believe Tim and Keith are right on. Keep aerating and running carbon for now and do whatever water change you can.

Losing all of your fish in 12 hours or so is catastrophic which indicates either oxygen depletion or a large ammonia spike. Your corals all look fine and neither of those events should affect your corals much if at all, in fact they may actually be happier.

Very few diseases would take out all of the fish overnight, so I doubt it is disease.

The nitrites are, like @tbrown said, probably caused by the dead fish and it says you have a healthy bacterial filter to have converted the ammonia spike from the fish to nitrite so quickly.

Were any of your fish really large? It is unlikely but losing a large fish can cause enough of an ammonia spike to affect everything else and lead to a bacterial bloom that starves the tank of oxygen, kind of a double whammy.

 

[Rocks reef]

First...

Need more of this...

Hello Joel!!

 

[kingranch2003]

John,

Sorry to hear this my friend. I believe Tim and Keith are right on. Keep aerating and running carbon for now and do whatever water change you can.

Losing all of your fish in 12 hours or so is catastrophic which indicates either oxygen depletion or a large ammonia spike. Your corals all look fine and neither of those events should affect your corals much if at all, in fact they may actually be happier.

Very few diseases would take out all of the fish overnight, so I doubt it is disease.

The nitrites are, like @tbrown said, probably caused by the dead fish and it says you have a healthy bacterial filter to have converted the ammonia spike from the fish to nitrite so quickly.

Were any of your fish really large? It is unlikely but losing a large fish can cause enough of an ammonia spike to affect everything else and lead to a bacterial bloom that starves the tank of oxygen, kind of a double whammy.

Tom, I appreciate the thoughtful response my friend. The fish were two fairy wrasse and a tailspot blenny. I still haven't seen the scooter blenny. Im wondering if I lost a turbo snail and haven't realized it. Ill have to check. I just thought about them.
Ill get a good water change in ASAP. Good point about the nitrites being an actual good sign overall. Do you think oxygenation and water changes will be the way to tackle a bloom like this?

 

[kingranch2003]

Usually small blooms are caused by a snail (think large - turbo maybe?), crab, or fish death. Conches, turbos, urchins, or several smaller snails die and decay quickly and bacteria numbers shoot up exponentially to consume the new addition of food source. Sometimes you get slimy snot looking strands on the rocks, other times you end up with the water column type. Any increase in bacteria causes a decrease in DO and an increase in CO2 which can drop pH. Small scale usually won't affect most tanks, larger scale could affect small/medium size tanks more rapidly.

Just thought about the turbo Tim. Im about to go diving. That's the only thing I could attribute it to at this point.

 

[VintageReefer]

Looks like a flatworm on the green tiger.

I would agree

My system has a few stragglers. I’ve treated the tank twice with flatworm exit. When corals scrunch up, the flatworms sometimes get protected. I’m keeping an eye out to see if I need a third round

I woke up this morning to all of my beautiful fish being dead. I checked salinity and temp. All fine there. The water looks like it might be a bit hazy. Not 100% sure. I did a test strip real quick just out of reaction and have detectable nitrites!?!

dang man, I’m so sorry to hear this. This is devastating!

There’s only so much that could do this. Main one being temperature

Most of the parameters we test are for corals and don’t affect fish

Nitrite? What about ammonia? If so probably from fish losses How many fish?
Next logical suggestion - a contaminant.

Any cleaning done near by? Something sprayed in the air? A new candle or “room freshener” spray like febreeze? Dusting spray ? Hands in tank after dishes, laundry, lotion, or anything that could leave a residue?

Any oil on the surface? Skimmer going nuts?

Did any corals die that could have decayed and polluted the water?

 

[Rocks reef]

Thanks Keith. The positivity helps. I won't lie.

I'm serious about the Inkbird. I'll even order one from Amazon and have it sent to your house brother.

 

[kingranch2003]

I don't want to sound repetitive, John, but if you could check your parameters to see where we are, and from there we can clear up possible situations. We already ruled out temperature and salinity, right?
A jump in any parameter ( especially alk ) can cause a series of events.
I'm also wondering if this is the first time you've turned off the powerheads all night or have you done it before?

I have done it often since I got the berghia. About 2 weeks or so. Im still fighting this flu garbage so I fell asleep. Im definitely going to test buddy. I agree and I appreciate you man

 

[tbrown]

Tom, I appreciate the thoughtful response my friend. The fish were two fairy wrasse and a tailspot blenny. I still haven't seen the scooter blenny. Im wondering if I lost a turbo snail and haven't realized it. Ill have to check. I just thought about them.
Ill get a good water change in ASAP. Good point about the nitrites being an actual good sign overall. Do you think oxygenation and water changes will be the way to tackle a bloom like this?

Yes. Aeration keeps the DO up and water changes helps keep the bacteria numbers in check and decrease nutrient load/organics in the water.

 

[Rocks reef]

Then...
Moving on to here...

Construction zone...

Glad I'm not the only one that keeps buckets!

 

[Rocks reef]

Not too swampy today...

Before construction...

Even with that aptasia Joel, I still love your tank. I has a very natural, reef appearance. Oh, and I now I know where you hide the Vodka!! I'll bring some O.J. and help with tank maintenance.

 

[Rocks reef]

I would agree

My system has a few stragglers. I’ve treated the tank twice with flatworm exit. When corals scrunch up, the flatworms sometimes get protected. I’m keeping an eye out to see if I need a third round

dang man, I’m so sorry to hear this. This is devastating!

There’s only so much that could do this. Main one being temperature

Most of the parameters we test are for corals and don’t affect fish

Nitrite? What about ammonia? If so probably from fish losses How many fish?
Next logical suggestion - a contaminant.

Any cleaning done near by? Something sprayed in the air? A new candle or “room freshener” spray like febreeze? Dusting spray ? Hands in tank after dishes, laundry, lotion, or anything that could leave a residue?

Any oil on the surface? Skimmer going nuts?

Did any corals die that could have decayed and polluted the water?

Hey Andrew!! Sorry for that short message about the flatworms. I was going to post a longer message but one of my Veterans walked in, so I had to go work... I know right!
Do you have a wrasse in that tank? Lemon or Springeri damsels are flatworm eating machines as well