Help - Naso Tang died after regular cleaning

Fernando Parra · Mar 13, 2017

Hello Everyone,

I need your help to understand what might have happened in my tank this weekend.
So, I just had to clean my tank glass because some of the algae was getting in the way and the subtrate (sand). I didn't change any water this time but I swam a lot on the substrate leaving the water totally cloudy.
Ok, after the cleaning done, a few minutes later I realized that my naso tang was lying on the sand and after a few minutes he unfortunately died!
I did not understand what could have caused his death, only he died, my hepatus and my clown fish are super good.

Do you guys have any explanation or can you tell me what might have happened?

Thank you,
Fernando

dbassan09 · Mar 13, 2017

Did you see any bubbles coming up from the sand while cleaning? I'm no expert but I understand that decomposing matter in the sand can release toxic gases so it's never a good idea to stir the whole sand bed at once...

Water Dog · Mar 13, 2017

How deep is your sandbed? When was the last time you disturbed the sand bed? If it was a deep sand bed that hasn't been disturbed for awhile, it is quite possible that you released pockets of built up hydrogen sulfide into the water column.

Hipertec · Mar 13, 2017

Water Dog said:
How deep is your sandbed? When was the last time you disturbed the sand bed? If it was a deep sand bed that hasn't been disturbed for awhile, it is quite possible that you released pockets of built up hydrogen sulfide into the water column.

Following... is it better to disturb a deep sand bed? I've always just left my sand alone when cleaning due to it getting really dirty if I do.

Water Dog · Mar 13, 2017

I haven't run a DSB since my first tank almost twenty years ago, but when I did, I left it alone. My understanding from what I've read is to leave DSBs alone to avoid any release of hydrogen sulfide gas which is toxic. I currently run a shallow sand bed of about 1.5" and I vacuum it every week on water change day in order to avoid detritusbuild up and so far, so good. I'm considering bare bottom or at least a black starboard bottom for my next tank upgrade.