5 year tank crashed over night

[tbrown]

I'm not saying it's for sure the problem but, to echo what others have said - cloudy water sounds like a bacterial bloom potentially. The Chromis may not have been the whole cause but it definitely could have jump started/contributed to a bloom especially if your cleanup crew didn't "dispose" of it quickly.

 

[AMG63Addison]

melanarus wrasse is still alive! I have water but its not ready to add for water change

 

[AMG63Addison]

what should I do to try and keep him alive, can add salt to water and let it mix for an hour and do a water change?

 

[AMG63Addison]

the cloudiness is more of a white for sure. I removed dead fish and have waterchange water mixing. other than that all equipment seems to be fine and nothing forgein was thrown into sump

 

[Tahoe61]

what should I do to try and keep him alive, can add salt to water and let it mix for an hour and do a water change?

If you have charcoal I would run a moderate amount. Definitely proceed with WC and see how practical it is to start the skimmer. Add supplemental O2 via skimmer or other means, surface agitation or simple O2 pump with air stone.

 

[AMG63Addison]

got skimmer running, I have some chemi pure blue?

 

[zbrusko]

got skimmer running, I have some chemi pure blue?

Chemipure will work for carbon

 

[lmfbs]

what should I do to try and keep him alive, can add salt to water and let it mix for an hour and do a water change?

I'd definitely be focusing on making sure your oxygen exchange is good - if it's a bacterial bloom, that will really help. Water movement, skimmer, that kind of thing

 

[i cant think]

melanarus wrasse is still alive! I have water but its not ready to add for water change

This is 100% oxygen deprivation - Halichoeres and other sand sleeping wrasses naturally live and sleep in almost anaerobic conditions, adapting towards the low oxygen water under the sand bed.

Best thing to do;
Get an air stone and the skimmer up and running - pumping oxygen into the water. Also, aim any wave makers you have towards the surface (without removing too much flow for any corals that may be in the tank) for optimal gas exchange. Do a water change as usual (don’t increase nor decrease the amount of water, this can potentially kickstart the bacterial bloom again).

 

[Paul B]

What did the dead fish look like, besides being dead? Did they have their mouth wide open? Were their eyes cloudy? Fins ragged?
Did the water smell?

 

[areefer01]

Here is a clue . After 30 plus years I got Aiptasia. the guys that breed the Berghia are PhD and masters trained in this field. He said its common for 4 year old tanks to crash due to leaching from the substrate.

You may want to clarify this statement...

Why the 4 year mark?
What is leaching?
Why is it leaching?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Did you have a bunch of people over? I gave someone Corals in early September. Their Tank Crashed Thanksgiving Weekend. They had a house full of people and pets. I think the CO2 went way up, pH dropped, with his tightly sealed house. He of course blamed me for giving him bad corals.

 

[areefer01]

in morning and tank was visibly extremely cloudy.

A few above mentioned bacterial. What corals and what snails do you keep? Do you have any bubble tip anemones? What type of snails? Trochus? You mentioned cloudy water, is there a color or substance type (can you tell if it is thick at all?).

It may help the squad here triage the issue if you can expand a bit more about what you are keeping. I only mention this because I have rose bubble tip anemones and they spawn regularly. When they do the tank gets extremely cloudy. Milky white in color, thick. One is ok and the tanks is fine. When multiple spawn at the same time it can get so bad that I have to do an emergency water change.

I've actually had a similar issue with Trochus snails which is why I no longer keep them. Well, only the ones that I have had over the past 9 years. I do not add anymore after a similar incident but on a smaller scale.

Just trying to bring the cloudy water comment to the front. Also Paul B's comment on what the fish looked like. Torn flesh, fins, details like that.

 

[Freenow54]

You may want to clarify this statement...

Why the 4 year mark?
What is leaching?
Why is it leaching?

Yes I posted later that when I talk to them again I would do that very thing. The 4 year statement was from him after he thought I said mine was 4 . He said about 4

 

[Kooma]

Yes I posted later that when I talk to them again I would do that very thing. The 4 year statement was from him after he thought I said mine was 4 . He said about 4

This likely has more to do with complacency than it does an scientific answer.

That would be the point where habits and general care often change as people’s interest change and biomass begins to build.

 

[AMG63Addison]

This is 100% oxygen deprivation - Halichoeres and other sand sleeping wrasses naturally live and sleep in almost anaerobic conditions, adapting towards the low oxygen water under the sand bed.

Best thing to do;
Get an air stone and the skimmer up and running - pumping oxygen into the water. Also, aim any wave makers you have towards the surface (without removing too much flow for any corals that may be in the tank) for optimal gas exchange. Do a water change as usual (don’t increase nor decrease the amount of water, this can potentially kickstart the bacterial bloom again).

got air stone, skimmer going and water change done, added chemi-pure blue and water looks clear again. wrasse is swimming around and looks good

 

[AMG63Addison]

What did the dead fish look like, besides being dead? Did they have their mouth wide open? Were their eyes cloudy? Fins ragged?
looked fine other than there eyes were cloudy

 

[AMG63Addison]

A few above mentioned bacterial. What corals and what snails do you keep? Do you have any bubble tip anemones? What type of snails? Trochus? You mentioned cloudy water, is there a color or substance type (can you tell if it is thick at all?).

It may help the squad here triage the issue if you can expand a bit more about what you are keeping. I only mention this because I have rose bubble tip anemones and they spawn regularly. When they do the tank gets extremely cloudy. Milky white in color, thick. One is ok and the tanks is fine. When multiple spawn at the same time it can get so bad that I have to do an emergency water change.

I've actually had a similar issue with Trochus snails which is why I no longer keep them. Well, only the ones that I have had over the past 9 years. I do not add anymore after a similar incident but on a smaller scale.

Just trying to bring the cloudy water comment to the front. Also Paul B's comment on what the fish looked like. Torn flesh, fins, details like that.

no bubble tip anemones, just a few baby mushroom corals. I do have a few trochus snails in tank though i dont think there are many left, with a few other snails and hermits.

 

[Lasse]

I´m sorry - late to the party

I have a tricky question - Do you know what your NO3 concentration was before and what it is now and how large was your WC. I´m near 100 % sure that you have had an oxygen depletion that start the entire sequence of events. The trick question is if this also lead to a H2S formation, Did the water smell rotten egg? If you know it - what was your NO3 concentrations before everything happens? High NO3 concentration will delay and slow down H2S formation.

I run my skimmer 100 % only during no photoperiod - it is on at 10 % when light is on.

An aquarium without a skimmer runs normally at below 80% oxygen saturation during night time. It is important to know that 100 % saturation in saltwater is lower in mg/l (ppm) compared with fresh water. Temperature and atmospheric pressure (hence altitude) will also effect the 100 % saturation in ppm. The graph shows 100 %, 80 % and 60 % saturation of oxygen in ppm of oxygen in seawater at sea level. If you live higher up or there er a storm going on - each 100 m up from the sea level reduce 100 % saturation with around 0.1 ppm. 4 ppm is causing stress among many fish species - even for wrasses if they are active. The reason why they are able to survive in the sand when sleeping is that they shutdown their metabolism very much - they do not need much oxygen in that situation - when they are awake and active - they need as much oxygen as other species. You can use this calculator if you want to calculate 100% saturated seawaters oxygen concentration in different situations

This with crashes after 4 years was new for me - here in Europe we seems to be more skill because here is the saying about crashes after 7 years And its just a saying whit no scientific facts behind it. By the way - mine is 10 years and have passed both the US and EU limit for aquariums hence

Sincerely Lasse