All my fish are hyperventilating and my corals are shrinking in HELP!

[ReefJake123]

ammonia at 2ppm can be fatal to fish. It’s a good thing you have water ready/almost ready to do a water change with. That will help but you need to figure out what caused that spike. Any dead snails? Or other fish that are in the tank decaying?

see that’s the thing nothing is dying well.... except my tang and angel fish[emoji17][emoji17]

 

[ReefJake123]

Any unusual tank inhabitants? Thinking toxic stuff like a sea apple, boxfish, seahare that inked, etc?

No sir

 

[ReefJake123]

I think fishy meant .2. At .2 it can be dangerous to fish. At 2 it is toxic. Do you have an ammonia badge? Wondering also what you ph is at. Weird that an ammonia would spike in an established tank without something driving it.

Already stated my ph is at 8.2

 

[ReefJake123]

Did you disturb the sand bed?

Nope never do

 

[ReefJake123]

Ammonia would have to be the culprit if it's present. You have lots of live rock, so biological filtration shouldn't be an issue in a 3 year old system.
Have you made any changes lately to this system? Large water change would help big time. How many gallons is your tank?

No changes and it’s a 55gal and I have already added in 5gallons to the tank hoping it will help I’m mixing another 5 gallons rn

 

[musicreefer320]

Is there anyway someone could have put something in your tank without knowing? Like a kid?

 

[ReefJake123]

Is there anyway someone could have put something in your tank without knowing? Like a kid?

Nope not a chance no children live here it’s just my 46 year old dad me 16 and my stepmom 49

 

[rkpetersen]

Sorry that this is happening.

I don't see why you'd have any ammonia; the reading of 0.25 may not be accurate, esp if taken with the API test.
You could check it again with another test like Red Sea but I think it's a false alarm probably.

Any new tank inhabitants at all? Even CUC can bring in crypto and velvet.
Conversely, has anything died or in particular, is anything missing? Something decaying in the sand can get nasty.
If something had died then an elevated ammonia could maybe be possible.

Any change in food fed? Could they have gotten something that was spoiled?

If no recent changes and no recent new fish or other critters, I'd be wondering about toxins and also checking all my hardware.
Make sure everything is working as designed, no rust or anything else leaking, no electricity in the water, no rusty magnets.

I don't recall if you mentioned carbon, but I'd add some GAC for sure if you don't already run it.

 

[ReefJake123]

I don't see why you'd have any ammonia; the reading of 0.25 may not be accurate, esp if taken with the API test.
You could check it again with another test like Red Sea but I think it's a false alarm probably.
Any new tank inhabitants at all? Even CUC can bring in crypto and velvet.
Conversely, has anything died or in particular, is anything missing? Something decaying in the sand can get nasty.
Any change in food fed? Could they have gotten something that was spoiled?
If no recent changes and no recent new fish or other critters, I'd be wondering about toxins and checking all my hardware.
Make sure everything is working as designed, no rust or anything else leaking, no electricity in the water, no rusty magnets.

See my most logical theory I have right now is a chemical warfare between my corals causing my two fish to die bc of the toxins released but no I haven’t gotten anything new for months now and I’ve checked it multiple times its consecutive on 0.25ppm

 

[ReefJake123]

Guys trust me I’ve gone over everything i know my tank is perfect that’s why it doesn’t make sense only thing plausible is a chemical warfare in the tank that’s all I can think of

 

[Mariette]

See my most logical theory I have right now is a chemical warfare between my corals causing my two fish to die bc of the toxins released but no I haven’t gotten anything new for months now and I’ve checked it multiple times its consecutive on 0.25ppm

If it’s chemical warfare, a big water change would help. I know you’ve done some already. Did that help at all?

 

[ReefJake123]

If it’s chemical warfare, a big water change would help. I know you’ve done some already. Did that help at all?

It seems to be working my zoas are semi coming out finally and my blue tang is out of the corner but still hyperventilating

 

[Maacc]

Were there any cleaning products or scented candles used near the tank? I can't tell from the pictures, is the water at all cloudy? It seems like a toxin of some kind, I would definitely get some carbon in use.

 

[ReefJake123]

Were there any cleaning products or scented candles used near the tank? I can't tell from the pictures, is the water at all cloudy? It seems like a toxin of some kind, I would definitely get some carbon in use.

Nope all three of us know not to put anything near the tank except ourselves the water is cloudy rn but that’s bc of the water change but I think it was a tad cloudy when I first saw it

 

[ReefJake123]

Also I just changed my carbon out for new carbon hopefully that will help

 

[Dom]

That ammonia can’t be good. Any prime on hand to help along with the water change?

I attribute the ammonia to the fish he's found dead in the tank. With water changes, he'll be fine.

 

[ReefJake123]

I attribute the ammonia to the fish he's found dead in the tank. With water changes, he'll be fine.

The issue is the fact that my ammonia may have increased bc of the fishes deaths but what caused them to die?

 

[Dom]

Is there anyway someone could have put something in your tank without knowing? Like a kid?

Good point! Run carbon.

 

[ReefJake123]

Ur a little behind Dom lol[emoji23]

 

[Dom]

Nope not a chance no children live here it’s just my 46 year old dad me 16 and my stepmom 49

Any recent visits by an exterminator?