NUKED TANK DON'T KNOW WHY

[Reginald Reefer III]

Could the heat wave have somehow triggered high ammonia?

Cities often use chloramines (which contain ammonia among other things) to disinfect piping systems coming from where they treat water to send to homes. High heat and other factors like rain and humidity often causes biofilms/organics to grow inside distribution lines and cause issues with acceptable water chemistries they have to abide by for human consumption and usage. These chemicals disinfect the piping systems but the caveat is that they can also very easily wipe out your reef tank also.

Your first line of defense for reef aquariums to prevent these types of chemicals from ever being introduced is to create your own 'pure' water which is why multiple stage RO + DI is universally recommended to always be used and never use tap water for saltwater reef aquariums.

 

[Red_Beard]

Based on the other comments I got, I am now starting to think it was the tap water. I live in Colorado and we endured a really long heat wave with air quality advisories. It is entirely possible the city or state dumped way more chlorine in the water than my dechlorinator knew what to do with. I am going to continue reefing, but there may be a setback, as I live in an apartment right now, which complicates the whole RO/DI thing.

They make some or you can get an adapter for almost any, that will thread into your faucet. Then you arent making any alterations.

 

[Joe Tony]

They make some or you can get an adapter for almost any, that will thread into your faucet. Then you arent making any alterations.

So my tank is situation in the kitchen, and is about 8 feet away from the kitchen sink. What kind of adapter would you recommend? Would I need to keep the RO/DI unit attached to the kitchen sink, or can I plug it into the guest bathroom's bathhead?

 

[Joe Tony]

Was the Prime bottle sealed in a way that you know it was not altered? Customers reportedly sometimes buy products, use them, replace with water, and return for a refund.

Yes, and I have used the prime bottle many, many times before. That same bottle and previous ones.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The picture in post 22 looks like a bacterial bloom that
May have depleted oxygen to cause fish deaths.

 

[Red_Beard]

So my tank is situation in the kitchen, and is about 8 feet away from the kitchen sink. What kind of adapter would you recommend? Would I need to keep the RO/DI unit attached to the kitchen sink, or can I plug it into the guest bathroom's bathhead?

you could use the kitchen or bathroom sink, put the waste water line in the sink to use the drain there, and the good water into a bucket or other container(***also in the sink so if you forget to turn it off it overflows to the drain, not the floor***). That would hook up to your faucet. Like this:

Or, if you were comfortable with a little teflon tape, you could put a push-loc TEE in line, right after the water shut-off under the cabinet, either in the bathroom or kitchen, and a waste water tee under the sink drain.

STOCK PHOTO - what it would look like installed, kinda:

 

[Issere]

What was the salt mix you used for the water changes?

 

[Joe Tony]

What was the salt mix you used for the water changes?

Instant Ocean Reef Crystals

 

[Dcloser12]

Tap water conditioner breaks chlorine down into ammonia. The more you do the more ammonia you are basically adding to your tank. If you did many agressive water changes im gonna say the process was you poisoned the tank with a spike, then a bacteria bloom from the ammonia spike. The foul smell is a byproduct of multiple dead animals in the water. Never.. ever add tap water. Regardless of what the conditioners do you have no idea of the actual iron or copper content of the water, the minerals in the water and the one of 6 chemicals they use to treat the water. You may neutralize the chlorine by turning it into ammonia but you do nothing for the trace minerals. Most places pull water from reservoirs or streams. Its already heavily contaminated.

 

[Joe Tony]

Tap water conditioner breaks chlorine down into ammonia. The more you do the more ammonia you are basically adding to your tank. If you did many agressive water changes im gonna say the process was you poisoned the tank with a spike, then a bacteria bloom from the ammonia spike. The foul smell is a byproduct of multiple dead animals in the water. Never.. ever add tap water. Regardless of what the conditioners do you have no idea of the actual iron or copper content of the water, the minerals in the water and the one of 6 chemicals they use to treat the water. You may neutralize the chlorine by turning it into ammonia but you do nothing for the trace minerals. Most places pull water from reservoirs or streams. Its already heavily contaminated.

I never heard of water conditioner breaking down into ammonia. This is news to me. Makes me wonder if people in the freshwater hobby should be using water conditioner as well (I used to do that as well).

Alright lesson learnt. No more tap water.

 

[Michael Hughes]

Makes me wonder if people in the freshwater hobby should be using water conditioner as well (I used to do that as well).

FWIW, in my 25 years of freshwater experience, I only use water conditioner in a pinch if needed. Usually I'd let the water sit out for 24 hours so the chlorine evaporates. (Doesn't work for water treated with chloramines though.)

 

[OnlyZoas]

Unfortunately it’s difficult to guess what went wrong without testing for possible causes. I’d start with tap water and tank water testing then go from there. Sometimes coincidences happen that make it seem like one thing, but is another. Like an electrical short, bio contamination from livestock, or other unknowns. The best I can offer is to start again using best practices. I hope you figure it out and continue to keep reefing though. It happens to most of us, and you aren’t alone.

Based on the other comments I got, I am now starting to think it was the tap water. I live in Colorado and we endured a really long heat wave with air quality advisories. It is entirely possible the city or state dumped way more chlorine in the water than my dechlorinator knew what to do with. I am going to continue reefing, but there may be a setback, as I live in an apartment right now, which complicates the whole RO/DI thing.

I have an AquaticLife(?) RO buddie and it takes up very little space. I think it was ~$70? I mounted mine to a very short scrap piece of 2x6 plank just to lean it up against the wall. It has the adapter that you could attach it to sink spigot, etc.

Worth looking into it for your apartment.

 

[Joe Tony]

I have an AquaticLife(?) RO buddie and it takes up very little space. I think it was ~$70? I mounted mine to a very short scrap piece of 2x6 plank just to lean it up against the wall. It has the adapter that you could attach it to sink spigot, etc.

Worth looking into it for your apartment.

Is this the one?

 

[Joe Tony]

FWIW, in my 25 years of freshwater experience, I only use water conditioner in a pinch if needed. Usually I'd let the water sit out for 24 hours so the chlorine evaporates. (Doesn't work for water treated with chloramines though.)

dang okay. I used to always use water conditioner w/ freshwater too and have had some trouble keeping certain fish/inverts. Maybe that was the issue then as well. This whole post has been quite informative for me.

 

[ScottJ]

I never heard of water conditioner breaking down into ammonia. This is news to me. Makes me wonder if people in the freshwater hobby should be using water conditioner as well (I used to do that as well).

Alright lesson learnt. No more tap water.

Is far as I know, conditioners break down chlorine (CL2) into salts, while chloramine (NH2CL) gives ammonia when broken down.

You can check with your water department to see if they use chloramlnes to treat the tap water.