HELP...Everything has decided to die!

  • Thread starter Thread starter adetamor
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Our alk test doesnt have numbers on it lol. It just just has an acceptable range on it and the color is in the middle. I will ask around to borrow an alk test that has numbers. Did you mean 5% or 50% for water changes?
 
5% you don't want to swing any parameter too quickly or you will make things worse.

What test kit are you using? if strips you need to get individual test kits that will give you a number.
 
Under normal circumstances 5% might not be a bad percentage for water change, but you're literally burning your fish right now with ammonia and nitrite that high. Do as large a water change as possible up to 50%, then do it again tomorrow. 5% water change won't budge anything right now. It's much more important to focus on dropping NH3/NH4+ and NO2 than worrying about effecting Ca/Alk, etc.
 
good info guy's i think you might get him on track. alk test kit would be a good idea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Make sure your new water is lower in ammonia than what is showing in the tank currently whatever water change percentage you do.
 
Not a strip test. Its a drop test. Red Sea I believe. Note the Alk test to the furthest left of this pic:

base_media

I have RO running and salt mixing as I write this.
 
My concern is the coral over the fish right now. Hate to put a value on life but I have $50 worth of fish vs $2000+ worth of coral...Will a ~50% water change be too much stress on the coral?
 
Use microbacter from brightwell it rapidly reduces ammonia and nitrite its safe its just bacteria but you should continue use for a while.
 
I would also recommend a moderate water change I would def do one immediately then every other day just make sure temp, ph, ca, alk, mg, and salinity are all extremely close/exact to tanks parameters. Also carbon is good to run in emergencies it will detox pretty much anything.
 
You have to understand that the ammonia and nitrite levels are toxic to all animals in your tank. Normally I would not recommend such a large water change, but since they're toxic I am. The only thing you need to worry about "stressing" your corals right now is the toxicity of the water their in, not the size of the water change itself.
 
man oh man i feel HORRIBLE for all this happenin so darn quick. to be honest, with the list of things you told us in the first post, it pretty much explains the reason right there as to why so many corals died off so quickly. IMO, the tap water is one of, if not the, biggest issue in all of this like many have said. the lighting is def a concern as well, and if the corals already showed signs of not doing too well when you first switched over, then that was the tip-off right there to slow things down.

i wish you the best of luck with all this, and yes with time and patience, all will be well, even though it may not seem it ATM. i have dealt with many coral losses especially over the past month, mainly due to "over-stuffing" my nano tank (which i am finally upgrading), and have learned the hard way to do things slowly and take advice with a grain of salt, mainly because NO TWO REEF TANKS are the same. ever. but we all must follow SOME general rule of thumb to be able to keep coral alive, and that rule is don't do things quickly. i wish you all the best, and hope everythin turns out ok.
 
please please don't kill me if i am doing something wrong or breaking any rules by posting this, but a fellow reef2reefer posted regarding his beautiful zoa tank, and how he had it setup off and on for a number of years. well, this tidbit of info may prove to be somewhat helpful in what has gone on in your tank, especially with what is happening with the zoas:

"...I took it down last year to remodel the room it was in and moved all the zoanthids and palys to my 240 gallon tank. During that time I hada very large RBTA get chopped up in a seio 1500 powerhead. I lost about a 1/3 of my zoanthid frags and about 1/2 the colonies...."

i understand that this is def not the only reason things went bad in your tank, as stated earlier by myself and many more experienced reefers than myself. but as soon as i read this, it made me think of what happened in your tank. hope this helps. and again, i apologize if posting from another thread on reef2reef is a no-no. just wanted to help out.
 
Thanks again for the replies everyone. Did a nice whopping of a water change last night and plan to do another tomorrow. Good signs seem to be happening already. Orange Aussie wall hammer in the DT is starting to open back up. Also, a frag of Nightmares decided to grace me with their presence today!! Lets hope tomorrow something else decides to open their eyes tomorrow! Other than that...just taking it in stride right now. Again, thanks to everyone.
 

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