NUKED TANK DON'T KNOW WHY

[Joe Tony]

Okay so I'll keep this brief.

I have had a 45-gallon tank going strong for a year now. Deep sand bed, lots of live rock, kept fish to a minimum of 4, vibrant CuC, corals growing and multiplying. I have more or less done 10%-20% water changes every week, and have been very careful with not overfeeding. I recently got an algae spike, but a new addition of snails took care of that in short order. I have shrimp, crabs, feather duster worms, bristleworms, stars, a tuxedo urchin, sponges, clams, you get me.

Then, after my latest shipment of critters, I made the mistake of mixing the LFS water with my tank (I know). I noticed a week later my red monti cap was starting to show white spots, so I did a water test and found my phosphates were 2-3 PPM. I did some aggressively water changes to get the phosphates under control. Come the next day, I find the following:

-My cleaner shrimp died
-My orchid dottyback was nowhere to be seen
-And my precious clownfish pair were breathing heavily on the bottom, looking extremely pale

Did more water changes to help, and more water changes again. That evening, ALL THE FISH DIED, plus the peppermint shrimp, emerald crabs, etc. The tank went foggy and started to smell.

As of now, ALL OF MY CRITTERS are dead or dying, and some of the corals are near extinction. I am doing my best to damage control, but it looks like my tank is now resetting its nitrogen cycle, and I don't know if anything's gonna make it.

Phosphates alone COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS. The only possibly explanation is, I did the initial water change the same day I came back from a pool, but I took a shower right after, and didn't do the water changes until later that night.

PLEASE HELP. I am heartbroken and I need to know what the heck happened to cause my ENTIRE tank to be nuked over night.

 

[DmitryB]

Oofff that's brutal, so sorry! Phosphates didn't do it, you're right. Some kind of contaminant did.

 

[The Farmer]

LFS normally have copper in there fish systems. It might be the issue

 

[W31Olds]

If I had to guess the DSB got you. You probably disturbed the Sand Bed when doing the Water Changes.

 

[Joe Tony]

LFS normally have copper in there fish systems. It might be the issue

But why did it kill the fish too? Isn't it only inverts that die from copper?

 

[Joe Tony]

If I had to guess the DSB got you. You probably disturbed the Sand Bed when doing the Water Changes.

But that doesn't make sense either. I have stirred the sand bed many times in the past to help feed the sponges and there wasn't any issue.

 

[Joe Tony]

Oofff that's brutal, so sorry! Phosphates didn't do it, you're right. Some kind of contaminant did.

Is it possible I didn't rinse the chlorine off my hands/arms thoroughly enough when showering? And that some chlorine water got into the tank? That's the only possible explanation I can think of.

 

[Red_Beard]

Is it possible I didn't rinse the chlorine off my hands/arms thoroughly enough when showering? And that some chlorine water got into the tank? That's the only possible explanation I can think of.

Nah, no way there was enough residual chlorine from that to do anything, let alone at that scale. All i can think of is some contaminant too, but you'd think if the lfs water had them, all their stuff would be dead/ dying too though. Man that really sucks, sorry to hear about it.

 

[Joe Tony]

Nah, no way there was enough residual chlorine from that to do anything, let alone at that scale. All i can think of is some contaminant too, but you'd think if the lfs water had them, all their stuff would be dead/ dying too though. Man that really sucks, sorry to hear about it.

Plus the bad stuff didn't start to happen until like a week after I mixed the lfs water in.

Thank you for the support.

 

[Joe Tony]

Nah, no way there was enough residual chlorine from that to do anything, let alone at that scale. All i can think of is some contaminant too, but you'd think if the lfs water had them, all their stuff would be dead/ dying too though. Man that really sucks, sorry to hear about it.

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

 

[Joe Tony]

If I had to guess the DSB got you. You probably disturbed the Sand Bed when doing the Water Changes.

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

 

[Joe Tony]

Oofff that's brutal, so sorry! Phosphates didn't do it, you're right. Some kind of contaminant did.

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

 

[Joe Tony]

LFS normally have copper in there fish systems. It might be the issue

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

 

[Kooma]

Im doubtful that the lfs water did anything.

Im also doubtful that its a contaminant from your person.

What is your water change source and how are you verifying temp and salinity?

Damage control would be removing anything that is alive to a holding tub/bucket/tank with a heater and air stone while you figure this out. Coral can be in a bucket with a heater and a light for a long time without issue.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Can we have a picture of the aquarium?

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I'm guessing an ammonia spike of some kind. Could be trapped H2S in the sand bed as well if you disturbed that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that looking into the aggressive water changes (chlorine/chloramine, for example) is worth consideration.

 

[ajhudson15]

could it be possible thats its a coincidence with the lfs water and be somehting else? i had a tank years ago that had something similar happened and found out i had a heater go bad and i didnt have a grounding probe in the tank so essentially the voltage in the current became to much and fried everything.

 

[Red_Beard]

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

Nothing like what you are going through, no. Did anybody spray anything in the house? Any exterminators spraying things in the neighborhood while you had a window open or anything? No pump or heater failing and spoiling the water?

 

[DmitryB]

Oofff that's brutal, so sorry! Phosphates didn't do it, you're right. Some kind of contaminant did.

Has this ever happened to you before? Where there is just a random tank crash and you have no idea why?

It has not happened to me, but people here have posted with crashes they did not understand reasons for.