Everything died, how to start over?

[Lalaallieu]

Had my first tank crash. All my corals are dead/getting there with an exception of a few. No clue what happened. Alk swing is what I thought. Black friday I bought some acans and a sky blue hammer. As soon as I put two of the acans in they started retracting/dying. I got some snails, and thats when everything went to hell. I had total polyp bailout of my 7 headed frogspawn. Had it over 1.5 years. Then it moved to all my other euphyllia despite very regular multiple times a week wc's. Now it's moved to my huge acans. I'm depressed not knowing what it is. I did go today and bought a new salt. Nothing I do seems to be working. Ammonia is 0, nitrate was 40 before wc today. Alk was 8.3 and cal was 430. Salinity I hadn't topped off today when I was testing was 1.027. The only thing I couldn't get an accurate reading on was mag. I did a 50% wc today. All fish are fine. I'm so upset. This tank was my passion and somehow I've failed. I just bought a 75 gal and have zero desire to carry on with the hobby. How did you get back into it after your tank horror stories? Also tips on salvaging what is left since Everything seems to be going to crap. My zoas, favias, toadstool aren't affected yet, so that is good.

 

[lapin]

Sounds like a bacterial disease. I doubt is was coral warfare. Are you running carbon?

 

[Lalaallieu]

Yep. Sure am! What would have caused that?

 

[RedFrog211]

Had my first tank crash. All my corals are dead/getting there with an exception of a few. No clue what happened. Alk swing is what I thought. Black friday I bought some acans and a sky blue hammer. As soon as I put two of the acans in they started retracting/dying. I got some snails, and thats when everything went to hell. I had total polyp bailout of my 7 headed frogspawn. Had it over 1.5 years. Then it moved to all my other euphyllia despite very regular multiple times a week wc's. Now it's moved to my huge acans. I'm depressed not knowing what it is. I did go today and bought a new salt. Nothing I do seems to be working. Ammonia is 0, nitrate was 40 before wc today. Alk was 8.3 and cal was 430. Salinity I hadn't topped off today when I was testing was 1.027. The only thing I couldn't get an accurate reading on was mag. I did a 50% wc today. All fish are fine. I'm so upset. This tank was my passion and somehow I've failed. I just bought a 75 gal and have zero desire to carry on with the hobby. How did you get back into it after your tank horror stories? Also tips on salvaging what is left since Everything seems to be going to crap. My zoas, favias, toadstool aren't affected yet, so that is good.

I’m so sorry to hear that.. that is so rough. I’d recommend sending in an ICP test to ensure there is no copper or metals killing your inverts. I had a nano back in 2014, but after moving, everything died. I gave up, and only got back into the hobby about 6 months ago. It was eating at me and I missed it so much- hopefully you can find a way to pursue your passion and enjoy this beautiful hobby without breaking the bank. Please keep us posted!

 

[Cell]

I'd run carbon and a poly filter and cut back on the aggressive water changes.

 

[Raege]

Sorry for your losses. It’s a funny hobby we pursue. The stories of mystery viral deaths abound and by folks with Tons of exp. You didn’t fail it’s a reefing curveball that you haven’t figured out yet and may never know root cause. Knowing makes it easier to carry on reefing nog knowing requires our love of the sea to persevere. Hopefully someone Cisneros chime in to help you find a root cause. Remember your success fish still healthy and happy give your self a pat on back.
you got this it’s tough bug love can win in the end I’ve lost everything and took time to bounce back. Feeling bad just shows you care about all creatures in your care. Best of luck
#reefsquad any helpful ideas?

 

[iamacat]

Sorry that’s very frustrating. It’s a long road and many of us have said we quit more times than they have cleaned their skimmers.

first thing I suggest is don’t make a lot of changes if you don’t know what it was. The suggestion of poly filter and carbon is good. ICP as well.

 

[GoVols]

Had my first tank crash. All my corals are dead/getting there with an exception of a few. No clue what happened. Alk swing is what I thought. Black friday I bought some acans and a sky blue hammer. As soon as I put two of the acans in they started retracting/dying. I got some snails, and thats when everything went to hell. I had total polyp bailout of my 7 headed frogspawn. Had it over 1.5 years. Then it moved to all my other euphyllia despite very regular multiple times a week wc's. Now it's moved to my huge acans. I'm depressed not knowing what it is. I did go today and bought a new salt. Nothing I do seems to be working. Ammonia is 0, nitrate was 40 before wc today. Alk was 8.3 and cal was 430. Salinity I hadn't topped off today when I was testing was 1.027. The only thing I couldn't get an accurate reading on was mag. I did a 50% wc today. All fish are fine. I'm so upset. This tank was my passion and somehow I've failed. I just bought a 75 gal and have zero desire to carry on with the hobby. How did you get back into it after your tank horror stories? Also tips on salvaging what is left since Everything seems to be going to crap. My zoas, favias, toadstool aren't affected yet, so that is good.

Sorry for your losses.

Have you seen any kind of brown gooey stuff on your dying lps corals?

 

[Lalaallieu]

Sorry for your losses.

Have you seen any kind of brown gooey stuff on your dying lps corals?

Nope. They just retract and usually when the light goes dark for the night and turn completely white and leave only skeleton.

 

[Gtinnel]

I can't help but I justed wanted to say sorry for your losses. I know how you feel, I felt the same way about 6 months ago when all of my fish died within an hour or so. I luckily only had a few cheap frags then. I was just about the take my tank down (actually if not for the mess I would've busted it up with a hammer) but after letting it sit for about 4 months or so I've started restocking it and it's looking better than ever.
If you feel like taking it down my advice is to wait a little while longer to make sure you don't hastily make a decision that you will regret later.

Again I'm sorry for your loss

 

[Jeffcb]

Sorry.

 

[Macbalacano]

Is it possible that there was some kind of contaminant introduced into the tank when you put in the new additions?

I just barely caught myself today for example - was about to put my hands in the tank and then remembered i had just splashed automotive windshield washer fluid all over my hands! I washed my hands thoroughly for a couple of minutes, but it occurred to me that something like that could happen to anyone anytime!

Any chemicals or scents being burned/consumed in the room? So many different possibilities, I know.

Its one of the main reasons I run carbon, its more of an insurance policy. I second that the poly filter is a good idea, and having an ICP test to see if there's anything else in the water.

I'm really sorry for the losses, I can only imagine how defeating it must feel. But we're all still in your corner and cheering for your future success. Hang in there!

 

[Brew12]

Had my first tank crash. All my corals are dead/getting there with an exception of a few. No clue what happened. Alk swing is what I thought. Black friday I bought some acans and a sky blue hammer. As soon as I put two of the acans in they started retracting/dying. I got some snails, and thats when everything went to hell. I had total polyp bailout of my 7 headed frogspawn. Had it over 1.5 years. Then it moved to all my other euphyllia despite very regular multiple times a week wc's. Now it's moved to my huge acans. I'm depressed not knowing what it is. I did go today and bought a new salt. Nothing I do seems to be working. Ammonia is 0, nitrate was 40 before wc today. Alk was 8.3 and cal was 430. Salinity I hadn't topped off today when I was testing was 1.027. The only thing I couldn't get an accurate reading on was mag. I did a 50% wc today. All fish are fine. I'm so upset. This tank was my passion and somehow I've failed. I just bought a 75 gal and have zero desire to carry on with the hobby. How did you get back into it after your tank horror stories? Also tips on salvaging what is left since Everything seems to be going to crap. My zoas, favias, toadstool aren't affected yet, so that is good.

I'm so sorry for your losses! Have you tried using a flashlight, preferably with a red filter, to see if a pest is potentially coming out after dark?
I've recently had a mini tank crash and lost a few acro's completely and parts of others to the point I filled a 2 gallon container with the skeletons.
In my case it was a failed part to my calcium reactor that caused an alk spike while I was out of town. For me, getting out of the hobby wasn't an option since I still had so much livestock to care for. It was very disheartening and finding motivation to even look at the tank was difficult.
You obviously had the skill it takes to keep coral for long enough that you became attached to it. Once you figure out the current problem and get it solved you can use that talent to get the system back to where it was. Overcoming obstacles is part of reefing, but if reef keeping were easy it wouldn't be so rewarding!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mag reading would be good to know. High salinity causes problems but some questions are:

How old is tank and did you cycle tank? How long and How did you cycle?
What test kits are you using
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
Nitrate and Phosphate readings?

Did you acclimate corals and how did you acclimate them

What type of lighting are you using ?

Pics of overall tank ?

recommended:

Temp 77-79
ph 8.2
salinity 1.025
ammonia < .03
Phosphate < .04
Nitrate < .04
mag 1300
alk 8-9
CA 440

 

[DonTavo27]

Sorry for your loss. I had this happen to me once. I had the magnetic shaft to the impeller on one of my return pumps rust, and basically wiped out most of the live stock in my 240g, then to top it all off, A seam split shortly after...
long story short I lost a lot, including a blue tang I had with me for about 8 years.
I went out the next day, bought a new tank, and started all over again. I was able to save my pair of clownfish from that big tank, and put them in the new set up.
Do your self a favor, and just get that 75 gallon up, just take your time and do it right.

 

[Nano sapiens]

That is disheartening. But, as has been said by others, it's a part of this hobby and can happen to anyone...no matter how seasoned.

I would strongly suspect that the new arrivals started the issue that affected your other LPS. I've had this happen twice and both times with Acans that were rather fresh cut (not healed completely). First time, it was the dreaded 'Brown jelly' infection. Second time there was no visible bacterial infection, but within a week the polyps simply shrunk from the outside away to nothing. And then all my other Acan colonies followed suit, so within two weeks I lost all LPS in the aquarium (Mushies and Zoas were unaffected).

What I did thereafter was to keep up with aquarium maintenance and such with what I had left and waited about 2 months before adding any LPS again. This time, I purchased LPS from a local LFS (as opposed to online) so that I could assess their health and make sure that they were fully healed before adding them into the system. No problems after that.

Don't give up, just keep imagining a time when it'll be back to it's old former glory

 

[Lightspeed]

Nitrate at 40ppm is that correct? With Ammonia at 0, something does not sound right, sounds like your tank cycled.

Are you using 0 tds rodi to top off and mix?

That totally sucks losing your tank, real sorry to hear it could not be arrested in time.

How to start over.......... new beginnings are exiting, new doors have opened for you to apply what you have learned, first port of call is to examine what went wrong, keep a log book of your tank parameters, test frequently, watch what you are doing even document it and see how the water chemistry reacts, chemistry is chemistry and one thing translates into another in the organic chain, find out what you can do to try to minimize its reaction.
Stay positive, we can research as much as we like, alas sometimes as humans we need to successfully find unsuccessful ways and apply the result in order to move forward.

Sometimes even the best of experience is challenged by a curve we did not anticipate, that is what makes life so exciting, how boring things would be if it were not for challenges to overcome.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Nitrate at 40ppm is that correct? With Ammonia at 0, something does not sound right, sounds like your tank cycled.

That totally sucks losing your tank, real sorry to hear it could not be arrested in time.

Means that all available ammonia is being used, both by tank inhabitants and nitrifying bacteria. However, insufficient denitrification activity to convert the available nitrate to nitrogen gas is the culprit.

 

[Crustaceon]

How you get back into it is by changing how you approach reefing. 99.999% of successfully keeping coral is doing things, or deciding not to do things to your tank. I used to have the same mentality of sticking to a rigid routine and I had similar failures. I started over but was a little apathetic the second time around, so some maintenance wasn’t done...as frequently. That tank had zero issues and grew coral like crazy. I had found the root problem. It was my efforts that were causing the issues. Since then, I test my parameters, look at the tank, observe what the coral, rocks & panels look like and THEN decide whether or not I need to make a small adjustment. IME, the less you mess with a reef tank, the better it does, so long as it has access to what it needs to thrive.