Emergency Tank Cloudy and extremely high nitrate! Need advice/help ASAP!

[Thomas Jedlicka]

TANK EMERGENCY 270 Gallons.

Hello Everybody. Close to a month ago I had a pump failure and my entire tank died apart from a puffer and 3 eels. after dealing with the tank and removing all fish cleaning it allowing it to get back to a normal state I started to restock the tank. The tank was fine until I got a large Koran angel. After I got this fish it started to look sickly and my tank started to turn extremely cloudy. Since then the fish has died and my tank has only gotten cloudier and cloudier. Also, the tank has been skyrocketing in Nitrate. Went from about 80 Nitrate to 200. I have been doing daily water changes of about 70 gallons. and it makes a tiny dent in the nitrate. I have not been running the protein skimmer because I have been treating for parasites with copper power and after I did the copper treatment I did a Prazi Pro treatment. Neither changed anything. My main reasoning for treating is because small, white, copepod like creatures have appeared in my tank and are mainly seen on the acrylic of my tank and sometimes floating in the water. Through all of my efforts, No change has been made and tank appears to only be getting worse. Most of my fish still eat however my groupers, eels, and a large hippo tang have been a bit finicky with eating. they look like they try to eat but either jab at the food and don't eat it or just don't bother at all. Currently in the tank is 1 large 2' snowflake eel, a 20" jewel moray, a 5-inch slender grouper, a 5 inch Blue and yellowfin grouper, a 6-7 inch blond Naso, a 4-inch squirrelfish, a 8-9 inch hippo tang, a 4-5 inch striped dogface puffer, and a 6-inch porcupine puffer and a 2-inch porcupine puffer. Please help me out I have no idea what to do and am panicking. at the time of this post, I am doing a 120-gallon water change. The water looks milky and looks almost like a milky trail being spread around the tank. At the top of the water, the tank looks almost brown like the aftereffect of a protein skimmer. I have photos below. I am aware 80 ppm is still very bad for a tank and that conditions are quite poor but I just want to know how I can fix this. Any help is appreciated. (I have Fritz Turbo Start 900 If that will help in any way I just wanted to make note of that.)

200 ppm Nitrate
0 ppm Nitrite
(Hard for me to tell) Ammonia (Photo Included)
160 ppm Total Alkalinity
7.6 Ph

 

[mitch91175]

You have a bacteria bloom for sure going on. For NO3 to skyrocket you have had a lot of die off more than likely or decaying food which is causing the bloom. To not worry about ammonia you can dose the tank with Prime or Amquel. With those inhabitants sure they are messy eaters so you are likely adding in more nutrients than the tank can handle ATM.

I wouldn't treat the tank like you are because of stuff on the glass. It is likely some type of pod or maybe even flat worm.

If you have a UV sterilizer that will help with the bloom. You could also skim slightly wet, but only time will completely cure it (days not weeks).

The 120g water change will help make the water a little more clear, but not gonna solve the problem. The bacteria just has to do its thing.

Diagnosing & Eliminating Cloudy Aquarium Water - ReefBum

A bacterial bloom is a common cause of cloudy water in a reef tank. A UV sterilizer is a good way to solve the problem and clear up the cloudiness.

reefbum.com

 

[DriftN201]

Are you dosing copper in the main tank? I believe it is toxic to all invertebrates. The cloudy water is likely some type of algae bloom especially with nitrates that high. I wonder if you have some type of large die off with microfauna caused by the copper. Did any of your snails or CUC die during the copper treatment?

 

[mitch91175]

Are you dosing copper in the main tank? I believe it is toxic to all invertebrates. The cloudy water is likely some type of algae bloom especially with nitrates that high. I wonder if you have some type of large die off with microfauna caused by the copper. Did any of your snails or CUC die during the copper treatment?

If she had inverts in the tank and treated with copper, that will likely be the reason for the cycle occurring. He'll have inverts die for sure if any are in the tank.

 

[Thomas Jedlicka]

If she had inverts in the tank and treated with copper, that will likely be the reason for the cycle occurring. He'll have inverts die for sure if any are in the tank.

I had no inverts only treated copper because of the copepod like things on the glass. I treated prazi pro so I don’t think it is flatworms either.

 

[mitch91175]

I had no inverts only treated copper because of the copepod like things on the glass. I treated prazi pro so I don’t think it is flatworms either.

Yeah really only treat with copper if you suspect a fish disease on the fish that requires copper. You essentially upset your fish more than likely with the copper. Did you test with a good test kit the copper level? Hanna Copper checker seems the standard for the hobby.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Unfortunately if you have sand and rock in the tank, it will absorb the copper and will be difficult to remove later, especially if you plan on ever adding Inverts or coral.

What type of copper product did you dose? Certain copper products don't do well with puffers and eels.

 

[Thomas Jedlicka]

Yeah really only treat with copper if you suspect a fish disease on the fish that requires copper. You essentially upset your fish more than likely with the copper. Did you test with a good test kit the copper level? Hanna Copper checker seems the standard for the hobby.

I can’t find Hanna around where I live. I’m doing a smaller water change to help with nitrate but apart from that what should I do. Would dosing bacteria help or would that initiate the full cycle. Also this is a separate question but does it hurt to dose extra bacteria if a tank is already cycling? I have a separate tank cycling at the moment and it is in the nitrite phase.

 

[Thomas Jedlicka]

Unfortunately if you have sand and rock in the tank, it will absorb the copper and will be difficult to remove later, especially if you plan on ever adding Inverts or coral.

What type of copper product did you dose? Certain copper products don't do well with puffers and eels.

I used copper power

 

[mitch91175]

Read this about copper: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FA/FA16500.pdf

Once you added copper you essentially kicked off a cycle in your tank. Just dose Amquel or Prime everytime you feed the tank to help out with any ammonia. Not too much else you can do (besides water changes) unless you can move the fish to another tank suitable for them that's already cycled.

Instead of copper, your best bet in FOWLR is to go hypo salinity for a few weeks then bring back up before treating with copper.

 

[DriftN201]

I had no inverts only treated copper because of the copepod like things on the glass. I treated prazi pro so I don’t think it is flatworms either.

I would think copper would be bad for all inverts including copepods, bristle worms etc. A mass die off of all microfauna could cause a spike in nitrates and cause the tank to start a new cycle.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I used copper power

Fish and Treatment Guidelines (with chart)

The following chart is a quick reference guide on what QT protocol should be used according to which type of fish you are running through QT. It will give you an idea of which methods are generally safest with certain species but is not meant to...

www.reef2reef.com

I'd do some large water changes. Copper power is chealted copper.

 

[Thomas Jedlicka]

Fish and Treatment Guidelines (with chart)

The following chart is a quick reference guide on what QT protocol should be used according to which type of fish you are running through QT. It will give you an idea of which methods are generally safest with certain species but is not meant to...

www.reef2reef.com

I'd do some large water changes. Copper power is chealted copper.

One thing I failed to mention is i pulled out as much copper as I could with a media reactor. And I’ve probably changed the entire water volume twice over the past week or so. But at this point I’m just doing water changes to keep nitrate in control?