*EMERGENCY* Back from Vacation and nitrates levels through the roof

[Manda0597]

Please help! We just got back from a week vacation. Brother in law was taking care of the tank for us and was shown and given detailed instructions. Today yellow Tang is almost dead and Koran angel died. Our tank was perfect before we left. Oh is 7.9, ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrate is about 80-90. This is AFTER 15 gallon water change and adding Prime earlier. Yes I use RODI water

 

[Caseyoidae]

Change lots of water!

 

[Pistondog]

Please help! We just got back from a week vacation. Brother in law was taking care of the tank for us and was shown and given detailed instructions. Today yellow Tang is almost dead and Koran angel died. Our tank was perfect before we left. Oh is 7.9, ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrate is about 80-90. This is AFTER 15 gallon water change and adding Prime earlier. Yes I use RODI water

Sorry about the fish.
Maybe the high nitrates are from the dead fish?
1 week does not seem like enough time to raise nitrate that much.

 

[Manda0597]

Change lots of water!

Even though we changed 15 today?

 

[Caseyoidae]

Total volume?

 

[Manda0597]

Sorry about the fish.
Maybe the high nitrates are from the dead fish?
1 week does not seem like enough time to raise nitrate that much.

We have been watching them all day and took it out right when it passed

 

[Manda0597]

Total volume?

90G plus 15G sump

 

[Caseyoidae]

depending on inhabitants I’d change more. At least another 15 gallons. What was nitrite before you left? Sure nitrate is the only thing off? Changing water will lower nitrate and anything else that could be wrong. A newer tank and someone feeding like crazy could do that to nitrate I’d guess. Only thing that will lower it Quick are water changes. If nitrate is 90 in a 90 gallon tank and you put in 15 gallon of nitrate free new water you’ve only lowered them to 75. This logic doesn’t work in real life and it may test exactly the same but at least you’ll have diluted them some.

 

[Pistondog]

Even though we changed 15 today?

How do you normally export nitrates?
Water changes
Refugium with algae
Algae scrubber
Carbon dosing

 

[Manda0597]

How do you normally export nitrates?
Water changes
Refugium with algae
Algae scrubber
Carbon dosing

Water changes. All the stores near me are closed so I can't get anymore salt. Can I out a carbon bag in the sump and will that help a little at least until tomorrow?

 

[Caseyoidae]

It won’t hurt anything but won’t help much. Nitrate has to be consumed or exported by water changes. Carbon is more for impurities and water clarification

 

[Pistondog]

Water changes. All the stores near me are closed so I can't get anymore salt. Can I out a carbon bag in the sump and will that help a little at least until tomorrow?

Yes, that's all you could do.
Make sure to keep the skimmer running for oxygenation for least stress on fish.
Some fish only tanks run nitrates that high, but they get there gradually, so the fish are acclimated. I think the change over week is bad.
Did the tank lose power while you were gone?

 

[Pistondog]

Water changes. All the stores near me are closed so I can't get anymore salt. Can I out a carbon bag in the sump and will that help a little at least until tomorrow?

How close is the gulf?
Have you ever used that in your tank?
Parameters like salinity should be close, or add rodi if too high.
Just another thought.

 

[laverda]

High Nitrates are not what killed the fish. Fish can tolerate nitrates much higher. Ammonia however defiantly would. Ammonia should be zero. Ammonia is very toxic. Were eat fins rotted on the fish that died. If so that can be a sign of ammonia burn.

 

[Manda0597]

Update to this post. We got in contact with a coworker who also has a tank and he sold us a bucket of his reef crystals and we did a 30 G water change that night, followed by 20 the next day and 20 the day after that and Nitrates are now at 5. I have no idea what happened to my tank over the week but that was a nightmare.

 

[schuby]

I'm sorry for your loss. I've lost multiple fish at the same time. It hurts.

Can you give us a time-line of your observations and actions, starting when you got home from vacation? What prompted you to measure Ammonia, Nitrite, & Nitrate? Cloudy water, fish acting lethargic, ...

Maybe you could also tell us what you do for nutrient export. (skimmer, macro-algae, ATS, GFO, carbon, carbon-dosing, water changes, ...)