Came home from a 2 day trip and everything is dead.

Thiggbiggus

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Well, walked through the front door just to see a very cloudy tank and a bunch of dead fish behind rocks.

Only things that are alive are just the snails and a few coral...

Sudden bacteria bloom that happened while I was out?!?!

32 gal that had 2 clowns a goby and 3 chromis, "had"

20250119_191515.jpg
 

VintageReefer

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Test ammonia

Bacterial bloom usually isn’t fatal. Possibly chromis faught and one got picked off, died and started polluting the tank. They get along until one day they don’t.
I have a 75g tank. Over the 10 years I tried
3 chromis - ended up with 1
4 chromis thinking bigger school is better - ended up with 1
3 chromis - ended up with 1

All these groups were bought together at the same time and introduced together. They all got along but after a few months
One becomes dominant and started taking them out, starting with the smallest one then moving on
 

Seancj

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Sorry to hear this! Vacations are the bane of all reefers!
 
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T

Thiggbiggus

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Sounds like dying coral shedding flesh.

Do a water Water change - Big one.
oh yeah my torch coral got completely melted into brown purple-ish goo underneath, I rinsed it off in the old water and used a turkey baster and it got 100% liquefied, the bloom must've happened the same night I left for the weekend :(
 
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Thiggbiggus

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All my urchin's spines fell off and he died, my feather duster left it's tube but I poked it and he moved so he's still alive.
 
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Thiggbiggus

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Test ammonia

Bacterial bloom usually isn’t fatal. Possibly chromis faught and one got picked off, died and started polluting the tank. They get along until one day they don’t.
I have a 75g tank. Over the 10 years I tried
3 chromis - ended up with 1
4 chromis thinking bigger school is better - ended up with 1
3 chromis - ended up with 1

All these groups were bought together at the same time and introduced together. They all got along but after a few months
One becomes dominant and started taking them out, starting with the smallest one then moving on
One of my chromis was in half, I'm thinking maybe he swam into the wavemaker while I was gone-
 

JonoH

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Test ammonia

Bacterial bloom usually isn’t fatal. Possibly chromis faught and one got picked off, died and started polluting the tank. They get along until one day they don’t.
I have a 75g tank. Over the 10 years I tried
3 chromis - ended up with 1
4 chromis thinking bigger school is better - ended up with 1
3 chromis - ended up with 1

All these groups were bought together at the same time and introduced together. They all got along but after a few months
One becomes dominant and started taking them out, starting with the smallest one then moving on
I have heard this with Chromis for ages, i have 5, and have no issues with fighting - they all school together and have for a few years now.

220 Gal tank which may help?

Sucks to lose everything when your away though, i regularly leave my tank for a few days at a time and its always one of those things coming home you worry about!
 

gbroadbridge

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oh yeah my torch coral got completely melted into brown purple-ish goo underneath, I rinsed it off in the old water and used a turkey baster and it got 100% liquefied, the bloom must've happened the same night I left for the weekend :(
Well, one dead fish wont nuke a tank - it just becomes food for other fish.

Something else happened here, but you may never know exactly what happened.
 

VintageReefer

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I have heard this with Chromis for ages, i have 5, and have no issues with fighting - they all school together and have for a few years now.

220 Gal tank which may help?

Sucks to lose everything when your away though, i regularly leave my tank for a few days at a time and its always one of those things coming home you worry about!
220g is likely the contributing factor - plenty of dart spots and things to break line of sight
 

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