Omg I got home most of my fish dead!!!??

[Nhjmc]

I tipped a small piece off the magic eraser and cleaned my glass. Total time in tank five minutes.

Ripped sorry spell checker.

 

[Nhjmc]

I doubt it was the candles. We pretty much have a Bed, Bath and Beyond seance going on 8 ft from my tank.
I do remember some kind of crazy reaction happening with Purigen to my uncle back in the 90’s where something similar happened, but I forgot the catalyst

Thanks. Idk honestly at this point I’m so discouraged and bummed out idk what to do. I removed the purigen did a small water change (as I’m mixing more water as we speak) and hoping for the best. All my corals and nems look great/same but lost two clowns, a purple and red firefish, two sexy shrimp. But what lived was my new blue mandarin (I call them “blue” probably not proper name) a filefish, a banggai cardinalfish, hermits and snails alive eating and look fine with no signs of stress or ich. One of the two clowns was my very first fish that bugger been thru everything. So sad right now.

 

[Nhjmc]

And btw salinity tested with Milwaukee ma887 and a brs handheld refractometer that I calibrate almost every time.

 

[Cell]

Stray voltage does not harm fish as they are not grounded.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I'm sorry to hear about this. super sad then this happens.

 

[Nhjmc]

I'm sorry to hear about this. super sad then this happens.

Thank u.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

If I have to guess, I would call the yankee candles the culprits here.

1) While the ingredients are undisclosed, a quick search reveals they use essential oils.
2) Essential oils contain methyl salicylate, a potent toxin for small animals notably (cats, dogs) as well as young children.
3) Methyl salicylate when dosed, can be used as an anesthetic for fish.

For the paraffin, I cannot find info, but toluene, a by product of the consumption of paraffin, could be toxic.

Now, a well aerated tank could have been exposed to it and cause death if prolonged.

Just a guess here, as I cannot find other examples in reef tanks.

This is irrelevant here but fwiw saying essential oils in general contain a certain ingredient is impossible. That's like saying all foods contain chocolate.

 

[Nhjmc]

Not enough info here. Low oxygen?

On my Fluval 13.5, the pump semi-failed without me knowing. It was pushing almost no water...by the time I figured out what the issue was, it was a little too late and I lost 3 fish.

Bacterial bloom could cause low oxygen as well.

However, I think it would take more than a day at work for oxygen depletion to cause death.

Stray voltage could be the culprit.

Doubtful on the low oxygen I have a a pretty powerful circulation/return pump with rfg that agitates surface quite well and a Jeabo wavemaker that agitates other side of tank surface. Also have a skimmer running. The culprit (more than likely)......yankee candles and febreze. Yep. That or the new bag of purigen I put in night before. But thank you for trying to help.

 

[Fernthereefer]

This is irrelevant here but fwiw saying essential oils in general contain a certain ingredient is impossible. That's like saying all foods contain chocolate.

Agreed, should have said some essential oils (one of which is wintergreen oil and sweet birch), which are used in candles.

Sorry if I generalized

 

[CMMorgan]

I feel like the candle and Febreeze are too obvious. I know very well that my husband has sprayed Febreeze in the room around my 90 gallon tank on more occasions than I can count. He used to light scented candles in our bedroom when I had a JBH AIO 35 gallon.
My gut says magic eraser. As they work my micro abrasion, those particles slough off like microdust. There is a ton of research about how microplastics are deadly in the ocean... feels like the same could apply here. It's not a natural substance that they can process through the gills, bloodstream, etc. Once ingested, these fibers break down into chemicals - causing toxicity, liver failure, etc. In an environment as small as a fish tank, the inhabitants have nowhere to go to avoid ingesting these microplastics. Keeping in mind that these pollutants can be small as a cell, small enough that even plankton are ingesting this in the ocean and this is disrupting the entire food chain.
Don't beat yourself up... you did not know. I am very sorry that this happened to you. RIP little fishies....

 

[JumboShrimp]

Meanwhile, water change. As the saying goes, “When the problem is ‘pollute’, the solution is ‘dilute.’”

 

[Gtinnel]

Sorry for your loss. I understand how you feel, I had the same thing happen to me about 5 months ago and still don't know what caused it.
Do you have an outside air intake for your skimmer that could've sucked in chemicals from outside?

 

[terraincognita]

Just my 2 Cents.

My 2 bedroom apartment is constantly having "contaminated air"

I'm a yuppie millennial living in L.A.

I burn 3-4 candles at a time in my living room about 12 feet away from my tank, incense, and other things.

I also smoke cigarettes, vape, and cali green. I'm sure it can irritate my tank, and I'm sure isn't HELPING at ALL haha. While far from animal cruelty, I genuinely believe the impact on my overall tank health is minimal. I'll smoke and stand in front of my fish tank looking at it for 15-20 minutes with smoke going all around..... Never ever ever had a problem.

I do open my balcony glass door for about 50% of the day also to get fresh air in before and after I ever light candles or smoke anything but I really really doubt that's what killed your fish.

Dropping a chemical into the tank sure I can see. But I highly doubt the air borne poison.

 

[josephxsxn]

Could it of been the purigen?

I have unfortunately killed fish before from not rinsing the purigen well enough after regenerating it.

 

[Bacon505]

Probably not enough co2 exchange in the tank. Stray voltage or anything happen in the water, the corals most likely to go first. Nh3 or bad water quality is a slow process and doesnt instantly kill your fishes in a short time. Alot of algae treatment really deprived the oxygen in the tank like chemiclean because of died off. Imo

 

[RVA REEF]

ive taken care of a few tanks where the owners went wild with yankee candles and essential oils, I always thought they would be bad for the tanks but the fish and corals were alive and well. I have also used magic eraser in the past to clean algae and had no problems, but they do breakdown in your tank.

 

[Kal93]

All my corals and nems look great/same but lost two clowns, a purple and red firefish, two sexy shrimp.

I think that we're missing something. If your corals and anemones look great (which should be more sensitive than clownfish IMO), maybe it's not a chemical contamination. OP, do you quarantine your fish? I've had a nasty bacterial outbreak that killed a few fish in a day and the rest over a week.

Just my 2 Cents.

My 2 bedroom apartment is constantly having "contaminated air"

I'm a yuppie millennial living in L.A.

I burn 3-4 candles at a time in my living room about 12 feet away from my tank, incense, and other things.

I also smoke cigarettes, vape, and cali green. I'm sure it can irritate my tank, and I'm sure isn't HELPING at ALL haha. While far from animal cruelty, I genuinely believe the impact on my overall tank health is minimal. I'll smoke and stand in front of my fish tank looking at it for 15-20 minutes with smoke going all around..... Never ever ever had a problem.

I do open my balcony glass door for about 50% of the day also to get fresh air in before and after I ever light candles or smoke anything but I really really doubt that's what killed your fish.

Dropping a chemical into the tank sure I can see. But I highly doubt the air borne poison.

Seconding this. There are many, many cases where candles/air pods don't affect the tank. We regularly burn scented candles 6-10' away from our tanks and our losses have been from disease, neglect, or equipment malfunction.

 

[JumboShrimp]

If this were a Homicide investigation, who was seen with the victim last? “Mr. Purigen.” Just sayin’. Lol.

 

[Nhjmc]

If this were a Homicide investigation, who was seen with the victim last? “Mr. Purigen.” Just sayin’. Lol.

Did the febreeze get into your tank somehow? Febreeze and those candles are both poison (to you and to the fish) but I would think it would have to really get into the water to cause death

Right I don’t get it it’s not like I have them Burning right near tank or spray right near tank but it is an open top with net cover tank. After researching all day it may have been possibly a sick or dying bta. It hasn’t been looking so hot for 4-5 days read they release toxins or can when die or dying. I’m going with that or maybe the purigen idk removed both hoping for the best at this point.

 

[Nhjmc]

I think that we're missing something. If your corals and anemones look great (which should be more sensitive than clownfish IMO), maybe it's not a chemical contamination. OP, do you quarantine your fish? I've had a nasty bacterial outbreak that killed a few fish in a day and the rest over a week.


Seconding this. There are many, many cases where candles/air pods don't affect the tank. We regularly burn scented candles 6-10' away from our tanks and our losses have been from disease, neglect, or equipment malfunction.

Well I’m sure I’ll get crucified for this but no I’ve never QT new fish. Not gonna lie. Hadn’t added any new fish for months till two weeks ago.....a mandarin which seems to be doing great colors bright and out and about grazing on/off live rock all day. The other two fish that survived don’t have ich but aren’t eating like usual. What do I do guys??