Mass die off

[AGWL]

Please don’t lay into me too badly. I am currently in hospital with my son who had surgery today. I was gone over the weekend as well and have been in hospital since yesterday. Please be kind because I am brokenhearted.

60 mixed tank. Last time I checked parameters, not this past weekend, but weekend before, everything was fine except potassium was high. I don’t have the exact numbers at hand right now. I did a 5% water change on Monday and a 5% the week before.

When I left yesterday everything was fine. Active, eating, etc. I’ve recently had a few losses, though: brittle star fish, BTA, some emeralds, an urchin, coco worm all within the past month. Corals seem to be fine: Duncan, candy cane, clove, goniopora. My clam and scallops seem to be okay.

Just talked to my husband who is at home with the other kids, and we’ve lost my tomato clown, my arc eye hawkish, and my mandarin. My blue velvet damsel is still alive but is hanging out near the top of the tank. He’s not sure if my coral banded shrimp is with us or not (he had a major molt earlier this week, so not sure if he’s seeing the molt or the shrimp).

Inkbird heater system was registering 67 for the top number, 80 for the bottom (sorry, I’m not home to look myself) but a separate thermometer is registering 77. Salinity is 1.025. That’s all my husband can really check right now.

We had a weird power fluctuation the other day, but never lost power. I’ve been fighting cyano lately. The filter is running, but there’s no output that my husband can tell. UV filter is running. Not sure about wave makers, but I don’t think so. I couldn’t see any water movement in the FaceTime call with him.

I am hysterically distraught right now. What in the world is going on???? I’m not going to get home until tomorrow or Friday, Husband said everything was fine this morning.

I am brokenhearted and on the verge of giving up the hobby.

 

[seawee]

try not to give it up try to get them a doser and auto feeder it will be costly but that should do it including a timer for your lights your husband just needs to watch out for them fighting and such

 

[lmfbs]

Can you reach out to reefers in your area? I have absolutely popped around to someone's place to troubleshoot an issue. I bet there's someone who can help, and unfortunately, it's going to be difficult to troubleshoot when we can't get information.

It sounds a bit like the 'filter' (not sure what you're running) isn't circulating, which could mean the tank is cold if you have a sump, or with no water movement, there's an oxygen issue. That could be why your damsel is hanging out up the top.

Sorry to hear about your son - hope things went well with the surgery, and hope we can help you work through your tank issues.

 

[AGWL]

Can you reach out to reefers in your area? I have absolutely popped around to someone's place to troubleshoot an issue. I bet there's someone who can help, and unfortunately, it's going to be difficult to troubleshoot when we can't get information.

It sounds a bit like the 'filter' (not sure what you're running) isn't circulating, which could mean the tank is cold if you have a sump, or with no water movement, there's an oxygen issue. That could be why your damsel is hanging out up the top.

Filter is a Fluval 307 canister. Lights are on a timer, but were turned off today; I had ordered some new stock which got delivered today. We weren’t sure when/if I was going to get home today, so hubs turned off the lights while floating the bags. He noticed the die off as he was acclimating and adding the new stock.

I’m wondering if there was an ammonia spike I missed; if something died and I didn’t notice. Or, I’ve covered all the intakes and wave makers with mesh to stop the ‘nems from being self-destructive; the mesh needs to be swapped out every couple of days because of the cyano bloom. I wonder if that’s messing with the parameters right now.

I love this tank but I cannot keep sinking money into it like this. My little mandarin was so friendly and would come to see me at feeding time.

I’m stuck here in the hospital with my poor boy and I don’t know what to do. I’ve only had like 6 hours of sleep since Monday night. I don’t know what to do.

 

[Nano_Man]

When you get home test your water.
Too me could be your water quality
How old is your reef is it new or mature
Give members your full parameters when you are back home also sometimes a full tank photo helps members in white light
And I wish your son a speedy recovery
Definitely check for ammonia
Other members will chime in to help

 

[Naekuh]

Im sorry to hear your situation.
But at this moment, id probably not even think about the tank, and focus more on your son, as depression will not be good for your son during recovery.

The tank can always be redone, and restocked.
So just write the tank off for now, and get your son back to 100%.

So take care of whats more important at this moment, and once you got some weight off your sholders, then you can focus on the tank.

But trying to balance out two, will probably be the straw that breaks your back.

I have been through a few surguries, and recovery was tough, but with lots of support from family / friends was a God Send.
That is what your son needs now.

God Bless, and good wishes goes out to your son.

 

[Cell]

A couple things stand out, you said parameters have been fine except for potassium, which we don't measure. What parameters do you measure and what are your target levels? Also, fish swimming at top of tank could indicate low O2. Make sure there is enough surface agitation and perhaps have your husband aim a powerhead at the surface if it already isn't. Lastly, inkbird top number is limit, bottom is current temp, the 10 degree discrepancy between inkbird and separate thermometer is concerning. Which is correct?

Have him take a full tank picture and send it to you to post here.

 

[Cell]

Sorry, I skimmed. He needs to get the pumps running asap. He should be able to figure that out assuming you have power. If the canister is running, but nothing coming out, turn it off. At least get the wavemakers going!

 

[Cell]

In lieu of getting the powerheads moving, he needs to get get water moving manually. Get a cup or pitcher and scoop up water and pour it back in and/or manually mix and agitate with a spoon or similar.

 

[Katrina71]

Agree about getting air into the tank. There is only so much you can do since you aren't there. If your canister filter is toast, have your husband get a regular hang on filter at Walmart. 2 would be better.

 

[Katrina71]

Maybe call your fish store and see if they could do a house call?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Filter is a Fluval 307 canister. Lights are on a timer, but were turned off today; I had ordered some new stock which got delivered today. We weren’t sure when/if I was going to get home today, so hubs turned off the lights while floating the bags. He noticed the die off as he was acclimating and adding the new stock.

I’m wondering if there was an ammonia spike I missed; if something died and I didn’t notice. Or, I’ve covered all the intakes and wave makers with mesh to stop the ‘nems from being self-destructive; the mesh needs to be swapped out every couple of days because of the cyano bloom. I wonder if that’s messing with the parameters right now.

I love this tank but I cannot keep sinking money into it like this. My little mandarin was so friendly and would come to see me at feeding time.

I’m stuck here in the hospital with my poor boy and I don’t know what to do. I’ve only had like 6 hours of sleep since Monday night. I don’t know what to do.

It sounds like the fluval filter has been turned off. Has it been unplugged?

 

[Cell]

Ugh I just saw this was in the middle on the night, hours ago. I hope he was able to get water circulating.

 

[AGWL]

A couple things stand out, you said parameters have been fine except for potassium, which we don't measure. What parameters do you measure and what are your target levels? Also, fish swimming at top of tank could indicate low O2. Make sure there is enough surface agitation and perhaps have your husband aim a powerhead at the surface if it already isn't. Lastly, inkbird top number is limit, bottom is current temp, the 10 degree discrepancy between inkbird and separate thermometer is concerning. Which is correct?

Have him take a full tank picture and send it to you to post here.

I should not type while sleep deprived and hysterical. Not potassium but PHOSPHATE. (Seriously, I just woke up from my longest chunk of sleep in 48 hours.) Anyway, phosphate was 0.32, which is way high, yes?

I’m hoping to be able to run home today and get a better sense of what’s going on. I had him do a 10% water change very early this morning.

I appreciate everyone’s help. I am overwhelmed and exhausted and very much on the edge. Kiddo has gotten almost 6 hours of sleep and if we can get him to keep food down, we’ll be going home.

 

[Cell]

Yes that's high phosphate, but not really your concern right now. All you need right now is heat and flow. If he got that stuff going, the deaths should have stopped unless there was an ammonia spike from stuff dying, in which case he should do more water changing.

 

[Readywriter]

If it makes you feel better, I understood what you meant by potassium. Everyone already gave you good advice regarding the tank, I got, maybe, some advice regarding you: we dont want to see animals in our care do poorly but, dont beat yourself up, your son is much more important than a fish tank. You got enough to worry about right now, adding the tank on top of that will make it harder to see the good in things and that leads right to depression. Even if he doesnt show it your son is going to need you at your emotional best. If the tank recovers, good. If it doesnt, its a good opportunity to start a new tank. Many people destroy tanks through negligence, you, however, have a pretty good reason for why that tank isnt doing well right now.

 

[AGWL]

Thank you, everyone. Kiddo was able to come home from hospital today, so I was able to assess the tank better.

As near as I can tell, this was a perfect storm of things going wrong. The filter intake was clogged, which is why that stopped working. (Backstory, I had the intake and wave makers covered in filter bags to keep the 'nems from destroying themselves. Huge cyano outbreak, the filter bags got gross, etc, etc.) This is also why the wave makers clogged up. If anyone has any suggestions for avoiding this in the future, please let me know. I've removed the bags and water is flowing again.

At the same time, the Inkbird failed for whatever reason and only one of the heaters was powering on. Temp when I got home today was 74. I've got both heaters working again and temp is up to 80.

I also think in my absence over the weekend, the tank got overfed.

Current parameters:
Temp: 80 (up from 74)
pH: 7.8
Salinity: 1.026
Nitrite: 0
Ca: 520
Phos: 0.1
Mg: 1440
Nitrate: Can't find the test kit
Ammonia: Waiting on the test kit to be delivered, but I'm assuming it's high

Livestock stats:
Losses: Tomato clown, blue velvet damsel, arc-eye hawkfish, mandarin. All the emerald crabs are gone. Brittle star fish. Pom-pom crab. Sally Lightfoot crab. Turbo snails. Coco Worms. Banded Coral Shrimp.
Survivors, so far: Hermit crabs all seem to be fine. Smaller snails. Conch snails. Clam. Corals seem okay (toadstool seems iffy). Macroalgaes are fine.
Unknowns: Two 'nems; probably going to lose them but they are still contracting and haven't bleached at this point. Tuxedo urchin; spines are dropping but isn't obviously dead dead yet.

Plan at this point, and please let me know what else I need to be considering:
Over the next few days, we'll be doing a 50% water change at a minimum and then back to weekly 5-10% changes. Clean out as much cyano as possible. Use this opportunity to build strong copepod population. Let tank stabilize for a few months and then start re-adding livestock.

Thoughts?

Again, thanks to everyone. It's been a really horrible week.

 

[AGWL]

Update 2:

Ammonia is testing at 0.5 and I don't know that I believe that. I would have expected it to be much higher.


'Nems, urchin, and turbo snails are definitely gone, as are my scallops.

Only currently survivors are hermits, smaller snails and conch snails, corals, and my clam.

This sucks.