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alddb

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I have a 150 gallon tank, 40 gallon sump.

Been running 8 years. Has algae scrubber in sump. We took out the filter socks and use filter fiber that we cut and replace every few days. Also have a reactor running phosguard and carbon in it.

Had a engineer goby (large), pea puffer, horseshoe crab, blenny, trigger and tang in tank.

I had surgery 3 months ago so tank been neglected… i know not a excuse but barely walking, let alone tank maintenance.

A week ago, I found the crab dead. When I went to move him, his body bubbled and floated in the water. Really stunk. No idea when he passed. Tang died later that day. Tang had color discoloration so figured he would.

Did a 20% water change. Moved rock. Went into sand bed. A really good cleaning. Added new sand to the tank. Cleaned the scrubber and changed out the floss.

Two days later trigger died. Trigger had no discoloration but had a swollen eye with the pupil missing. Did another 20% water change. Left rock this time and did not touch sand. Changed out media in the reactor.

Today, the blenny died. Had one white spot under body but otherwise looked normal.

Puffer and goby are eating and active.

Ammonia is at .15
Nitrites zero
Phosphates at .9
Nitrates 75 (always ran high).
Ph is 7.6

Any ideas? Figured do another water change today, maybe go into sand bed again.

I did buy bio pellets to try lowering the nitrates but hesitant to do more changes until this is figured out.
 
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.15 ammonia is a significant concern. I'd say significant water changes and ensure any dead/decaying physical detritus is removed ASAP. Sorry to hear about this, but life does happen!
 
1. The crab likely had trapped gas as it was dead.

2. Tang dying could have just been due to neglect or may have just been a coincidence that it died shortly after. Maybe infection or malnutrition and it was on its way out already?

"Did a 20% water change. Moved rock. Went into sand bed. A really good cleaning. Added new sand to the tank. Cleaned the scrubber and changed out the floss."

Did you monitor your ammonia?

Neglecting your tank for 3 months and doing a major deep cleaning. Especially moving around rocks and stirring and replacement sand can send a shock into your system. I wouldn't be surprised if you had an ammonia spike that caused other deaths.

I would keep an eye on the other fish and monitor ammonia levels. Ensure a good amount of supplement oxygenation for the tank.
 
Did you mean phosphates are at 0.09, or are you getting a value of 0.9 (which would be likely out of the range of most test methods)?
 
1. The crab likely had trapped gas as it was dead.

2. Tang dying could have just been due to neglect or may have just been a coincidence that it died shortly after. Maybe infection or malnutrition and it was on its way out already?

"Did a 20% water change. Moved rock. Went into sand bed. A really good cleaning. Added new sand to the tank. Cleaned the scrubber and changed out the floss."

Did you monitor your ammonia?

Neglecting your tank for 3 months and doing a major deep cleaning. Especially moving around rocks and stirring and replacement sand can send a shock into your system. I wouldn't be surprised if you had an ammonia spike that caused other deaths.

I would keep an eye on the other fish and monitor ammonia levels. Ensure a good amount of supplement oxygenation for the tank.
Ammonia was .21 when crab passed. Down to .15 now. Doing another water change tonight. Can only do 20% at a time due to using rodi water (container only holds 32 gallons).
 

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