- Joined
- Feb 3, 2019
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 4
Hello R2R.
So... I nearly wiped out one of my 14G Biocubes after an aggressive cleaning.
The system has been running and doing well-enough for about 6 years. It is home to a handful of "easy" corals, a couple of clownfish, and a few mobile inverts.
I bought an external filter (generic HD10 household filter) and decided to do a major sediment removal.
I thoroughly stirred up and blew-off the live rock and sandbed surface with a turkey baster.
The clownfish quickly became distressed but I ignored it, assuming they were just freaked out - or they were finally realizing they are not entirely in control of their domain (they're still struggling to come to terms with "the hand that feeds").
I don't recall the exact timeline but: within a few hours both brittle stars had died. A few hours later 1/2 of the corals had bleached (a few bird's nests, montis, and some caulastrea).
After a couple hours and a 50% water change later I pulled the clownfish out (bare-handed - they were finally giving in to that hand that feeds).
...
The clownfish (who were laying eggs the week before) are currently doing well in a sump from another system.
Ultimately, I lost all of the mobile inverts and about 1/2 the corals.
So what happened???
I'm well aware of the issues with hydrogen sulfide and sandbeds. There were no signs of hydrogen sulfide. No black sand. No smell. I was honestly surprised I didn't see more signs of a nutrient rich anoxic sandbed. - It's probably more agitated than I realized at only 1.5 to 2" deep and plenty of movement in the little tank.
I read on a few forums about releasing ammonia by stirring the sandbed. Honestly, that doesn't make much sense to me. In an established tank, the ammonia is quickly metabolized. It's not waiting around to be "eaten". In a well established tank, it's a quick journey from ammonia to nitrite to algae food.
Theory #3: the palythoa are still happy (smiling with an evil grin?)
Is there a chance the palys were ticked and ended up killing 1/2 of their tank-mates? I'm sure I have more than 1 cut on my hands and I didn't have any signs of distress. At least nothing that rose above my sensitivity to the careless indiscretion of the trees ) .)
Does anyone have any ideas?
I never did test for ammonia or nitrite.
It seemed like things improved after carbon filtration. Even more than after the water change.
Experience tells me it's probably hydrogen sulfide. Except there were no signs of it that I noticed.
The ammonia theory doesn't make sense to me - but what do I know.
The palytoxin theory is interesting but ... idk. (I periodically remind my wife that if I'm found unconscious near a tank with a bucket nearby, tell the paramedics it's either electrocution or palytoxin - electrocution is 1000x more likely but it's fun to keep her on her toes )
What does R2R think? Just another victim of a fine-sand dsb or an exotic toxin? Or just another idiot trying to recreate the ocean in a little glass box?
So... I nearly wiped out one of my 14G Biocubes after an aggressive cleaning.
The system has been running and doing well-enough for about 6 years. It is home to a handful of "easy" corals, a couple of clownfish, and a few mobile inverts.
I bought an external filter (generic HD10 household filter) and decided to do a major sediment removal.
I thoroughly stirred up and blew-off the live rock and sandbed surface with a turkey baster.
The clownfish quickly became distressed but I ignored it, assuming they were just freaked out - or they were finally realizing they are not entirely in control of their domain (they're still struggling to come to terms with "the hand that feeds").
I don't recall the exact timeline but: within a few hours both brittle stars had died. A few hours later 1/2 of the corals had bleached (a few bird's nests, montis, and some caulastrea).
After a couple hours and a 50% water change later I pulled the clownfish out (bare-handed - they were finally giving in to that hand that feeds).
...
The clownfish (who were laying eggs the week before) are currently doing well in a sump from another system.
Ultimately, I lost all of the mobile inverts and about 1/2 the corals.
So what happened???
I'm well aware of the issues with hydrogen sulfide and sandbeds. There were no signs of hydrogen sulfide. No black sand. No smell. I was honestly surprised I didn't see more signs of a nutrient rich anoxic sandbed. - It's probably more agitated than I realized at only 1.5 to 2" deep and plenty of movement in the little tank.
I read on a few forums about releasing ammonia by stirring the sandbed. Honestly, that doesn't make much sense to me. In an established tank, the ammonia is quickly metabolized. It's not waiting around to be "eaten". In a well established tank, it's a quick journey from ammonia to nitrite to algae food.
Theory #3: the palythoa are still happy (smiling with an evil grin?)
Is there a chance the palys were ticked and ended up killing 1/2 of their tank-mates? I'm sure I have more than 1 cut on my hands and I didn't have any signs of distress. At least nothing that rose above my sensitivity to the careless indiscretion of the trees ) .)
Does anyone have any ideas?
I never did test for ammonia or nitrite.
It seemed like things improved after carbon filtration. Even more than after the water change.
Experience tells me it's probably hydrogen sulfide. Except there were no signs of it that I noticed.
The ammonia theory doesn't make sense to me - but what do I know.
The palytoxin theory is interesting but ... idk. (I periodically remind my wife that if I'm found unconscious near a tank with a bucket nearby, tell the paramedics it's either electrocution or palytoxin - electrocution is 1000x more likely but it's fun to keep her on her toes )
What does R2R think? Just another victim of a fine-sand dsb or an exotic toxin? Or just another idiot trying to recreate the ocean in a little glass box?