Maxi Mini tank disaster

Steph72

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Yesterday something very sad and disturbing happened to my maxi mini tank. I just wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has had the same experience since I have no idea how this happened.
I’ve had this tank going for over a year and it’s been stable until last night. It’s a ten gallon all in one with a kessil light. Everyone has been happy until yesterday. Last night hubby noticed that it was “snowing “ in the tank. It looked like a snow globe that had been shaken up. Within minutes the snow flakes turned into an oily looking fog. I saw that the maxis were spitting out “smoke” from their mouths and so I did several aggressive water changes and added a carbon sock to try and flush out the contaminant. I flushed the entire volume of water through several times. Unfortunately it was too late. Every one of my maxis melted away within an hour or so. I’m utterly devastated and have no idea what got into the tank. Has anyone else had something like this happen? We don’t use chemicals around the tanks, I don’t have air fresheners or candles in the house since I have birds too. The only thing I can think is that maybe an insect landed in the tank...? Other than that I can’t imagine what happened.
 

vetteguy53081

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Its a bloom, BUT what bloom.
Did a filter fall apart?
Any sand dwellers that could have stirred up the sandbed and raised Ammonia/nitrate levels?
Any resins being used such As Matrix or PhosZorb ?
 
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Steph72

Steph72

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Its a bloom, BUT what bloom.
Did a filter fall apart?
Any sand dwellers that could have stirred up the sandbed and raised Ammonia/nitrate levels?
Any resins being used such As Matrix or PhosZorb ?
That’s what I was thinking too, but honestly I’m clueless about what could have bloomed. The fact that it happened so fast is the most disturbing thing. I’m using bio blocks in the sump area and nothing looked disturbed-blocks are still intact. The only inhabitants were the nems and a few astrea snails. There are small copepods in the tank also but they are still alive. No resins or other additives in the sump. I’m truly at a loss.
 

vetteguy53081

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That’s what I was thinking too, but honestly I’m clueless about what could have bloomed. The fact that it happened so fast is the most disturbing thing. I’m using bio blocks in the sump area and nothing looked disturbed-blocks are still intact. The only inhabitants were the nems and a few astrea snails. There are small copepods in the tank also but they are still alive. No resins or other additives in the sump. I’m truly at a loss.
Snails eggs are possible but offer no toxins.
 
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Steph72

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Snails eggs are possible but offer no toxins.
It’s so weird. I’m always careful to wear gloves in the tanks and avoid chemicals. I’m in Texas and it’s insect season (always! Lol). I’m wondering if something could have landed in the tank, but what could be that toxic to kill everything within hours. Hubby and I are devastated...any time life is lost it’s so difficult to see because we feel a tremendous sense of responsibility for their health and welfare. Sometimes this hobby is heart wrenching.
 
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Steph72

Steph72

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I'm very sorry to hear about this happening to your tank.

Although yes we do have a reasonability to those in our charge, sometimes we do everything right, and life throws a curve ball.
Thank you so much, I needed to hear that. It’s times like this that I’m truly grateful to have a supportive community to talk to.
 

BeltedCoyote

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It does sound like you did everything you could. Doesn’t make it less sad, but try and remind yourself that you were far more conscientious in your care of the nem than a lot of people would be.
 

TnFishwater98

Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
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What is your KH Alkalinity? If that gets really high people say it snows in the aquarium....These could also have a reaction on the nems.......Just throwing this out there
 

DeniseAndy

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I am so sorry.
I was thinking a spawn too. I have never witnessed my maxi minis spawn, but now that I have like 30 of them, maybe I will. I know when things spawn, the water can go haywire and cause damage. Especially in a small tank.
I wish you the best for the rest of the inhabitants.
 
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Steph72

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What is your KH Alkalinity? If that gets really high people say it snows in the aquarium....These could also have a reaction on the nems.......Just throwing this out there
The alk tends to stay around 8.5, but I didn’t test the water last night before beginning the water changes. I saw what was happening and just panicked.
 
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Steph72

Steph72

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Sounds like maybe the 'nems were spawning? I managed to capture one of my (new) rock anemones spawning when it was probably a bit stressed by the move: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-is-this-phenomenon.748803/
Omg, I’ve seen my RFAs do that too!!!!! They live in my main display tank and I’ve seen them do that recently. I checked parameters and they opened back up so I just thought maybe they were upset about something. Did you have babies after that?
 

TnFishwater98

Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
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I understand...Sorry it happened. Hope you have a quick recover and even a better tank in the near future ...
 
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Steph72

Steph72

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I am so sorry.
I was thinking a spawn too. I have never witnessed my maxi minis spawn, but now that I have like 30 of them, maybe I will. I know when things spawn, the water can go haywire and cause damage. Especially in a small tank.
I wish you the best for the rest of the inhabitants.
Thanks so much. Having a maxi mini spawn would be so cool! Keep me posted if you see them doing that. I’m probably going to break down the tank and focus on my other two for the time being.
 

TnFishwater98

Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
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I’ve seen my shrimp and snails spawn. Pretty cool to watch. Peppermint shrimp just started flipping backwards when it was spawning..
 
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Steph72

Steph72

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I’ve seen my shrimp and snails spawn. Pretty cool to watch. Peppermint shrimp just started flipping backwards when it was spawning..
That’s hilarious!!!! My peppermints are such idiots...every one of them got into the sump somehow and they’re living quite comfortably in the refugium! Lol. They get very upset and dance around when I’m tending the plants in there.
 

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Aww I’m so sorry to hear about this, and I agree about the heart wrenching part, I’ve had to take years away after natural disasters lead to complete system losses.

It sounds like perhaps some kind of precipitation event triggered a ‘spawn before dying’ response in the anemones. Could anything have caused a chemical imbalance?
 
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