pH below 7.6 tank crash

[Tommy McDonald]

I moved my tank last night to our new house only thing different I did was I added tap water to my tank everything seemed fine untill tonight I fed my fish Everything was fine fish ate walked back into my fish tank room all my fish died on my red Sea reefer kit says my pH is below 7.6 what can I do to bring it back up or what should I do

 

[Snookin]

Your issue is most likely from a contamination due to the tap water or a spike in nitrates or ammonia from the tank move. A ph of 7.6 shouldn't cause a tank crash that fast. Test nitrates and ammonia

 

[Peter K]

Did you use your old sand in the tank move?

 

[Tommy McDonald]

Did you use your old sand in the tank move?

Yea but moved the tank month and a half ago without issue

 

[Peter K]

Have you been adding tap water for that month and a half?

 

[Snookin]

Yea but moved the tank month and a half ago without issue

Doesn't matter. You should not use old sand. It traps detritus and other organics that can be released into the water column and quickly raise nitrates and/ammonia and kill fish fast like you described.

 

[Cae]

My rain water is acidic so I put some bi-carb soda in the water till I get 8.4. I wouldn't have thought that low ph would kill your fish so quickly . I never get a ph reading from the petshop water and none of my fish have died. Might be worth looking into your bio filter. How long did you leave stuff out of water etc. It only takes about half an hour to kill bacteria if it's not submerged or airated. If you rinsed all your sand and rock in saltwater your biofilter should be fine .

 

[Tommy McDonald]

Gonna retest my nitrate it's off the charts the other thing when I moved the tank last time I only had 3 fish now have 5 with alittle bigger bio load the move probably did it I guess. Everything was fine all fish had color I fed them tonight right after that it was like they were gasping and lost all there color came back 20 min later all dead

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Doesn't matter. You should not use old sand. It traps detritus and other organics that can be released into the water column and quickly raise nitrates and/ammonia and kill fish fast like you described.

I’ve moved and reused sand 3times in a 29cube and had no issues or die off in any corals

 

[NowGlazeIT]

There’s a few ways to buffer ph I think @Humblefish knows of one using household products but ph swings don’t kill fish as easy as ammonia or diseases. I hear stories of people that stress fish then they die but don’t know why and sometimes it’s the weakened immune system from stress to blame. But in this situation I’m more worried about the tap water

 

[Tommy McDonald]

Nitrate was off the chart high

There’s a few ways to buffer ph I think @Humblefish knows of one using household products but ph swings don’t kill fish as easy as ammonia or diseases. I hear stories of people that stress fish then they die but don’t know why and sometimes it’s the weakened immune system from stress to blame. But in this situation I’m more worried about the tap water

My red Sea test kit give 0,2,5,10,20 and 50 I was darker color than 50 off the chart tested twice same results my ammonia is showing .04

 

[Tommy McDonald]

Can I use my test kit to test the tap water?

 

[Snookin]

I’ve moved and reused sand 3times in a 29cube and had no issues or die off in any corals

Good for you

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Can I use my test kit to test the tap water?

Yes

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Nitrate was off the chart high

My red Sea test kit give 0,2,5,10,20 and 50 I was darker color than 50 off the chart tested twice same results my ammonia is showing .04

Yea it sounds like your tank went through an ammonia spike most likely from the tap

 

[dealseer]

I’ve moved and reused sand 3times in a 29cube and had no issues or die off in any corals

Same here. I always laugh when people say not to reuse sand.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

If tap is the only source of water then I would advise you to use prime or some brand of dechlorinator/ammonia remover

 

[instareefer]

Oxygen could have been quickly depleted for some reason. Gasping and sudden death often results from such events.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Hard to breathe when the gills are going through ammonia burns too

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Ammonia breaks the gills down. impacting its performance to process oxygen.