Something killed all my fish?

Rtaylor

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Can contamination occur from the shells or the little water that transferred with the animals to the acclimation bucket and then to the tanks?


For ammonia we use API. But the nyos nitrate test is at 0.06 which is about what we normally have.

Also our salt water is all mixed using RODI which regularly tests at 0-1 tds.

I don’t think stray voltage could affect multiple tanks at the samr
It’s really unlikely. What about cooking? Did someone cook in oil or something else that could create smoke or airborn toxins? Were the tanks with issues close together or far apart? Near the kitchen (or other common room)? Near open windows? What do the affected tanks have in common that isn’t shared with the unaffected tanks? Location? Hands in tanks? Treatments (chemiclean, Nopox, etc.)?
 
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exalectric

exalectric

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The little bit of water can elevate ammonia but not at a drastic level. API test kit notorious for false reading which are generally higher than what you see.
I would take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does Not use API kits and have them test water for you ( Ammonia-ph-salinity-nitrate ) and see what readings they get and to compare with yours.
We use nyos for nitrates
 
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exalectric

exalectric

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It’s really unlikely. What about cooking? Did someone cook in oil or something else that could create smoke or airborn toxins? Were the tanks with issues close together or far apart? Near the kitchen (or other common room)? Near open windows?
Two are on the main floor, one bedroom and one living room. And the 75 gal is downstairs in the basement.
 

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I've never seen a reef cleaners package do this.
40 percent water change and everything fine. My guess is a water issue. Did bags have anything spilled on them that may have contaminated the water.
 
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exalectric

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I've never seen a reef cleaners package do this.
40 percent water change and everything fine. My guess is a water issue. Did bags have anything spilled on them that may have contaminated the water.
I don’t think so, but I suppose not entirely impossible that touching a bag then touching the inverts to put them in new container could happen
 

Rtaylor

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No open windows.
living room is next to kitchen but basement is not.
We made box Mac and cheese and that’s it.
ac on windows closed
What about the unaffected tanks? Where are they relative to the others? Do any have covers? Did anyone put hands in those tanks? Are there any children who may have put something in the tank without your knowledge?
 

Sharkbait19

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So sorry for your loss. Based on the sound of the symptoms, the new inverts probably introduced brook or velvet. I suspect that some parasites from Reefcleaners got introduced into the main tank via the shells. That would have to be a lot of them, though, to kill that quickly.

Another theory is that there were a lot of dead snails that fouled up the aquarium. I don’t know if this would kill fish so soon, but it’s a possibility.
 
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exalectric

exalectric

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What about the unaffected tanks? Where are they relative to the others? Do any have covers? Did anyone put hands in those tanks? Are there any children who may have put something in the tank without your knowledge?
No children here. Just me and the husband and some cats.
Unaffected -
10g quartine - no lid, next to 75 in the basement
20g with the puffer in it - acrylic lid, living room by the 40g
5G evo - half a lid, across the bedroom from the biocube
4g biorb- acrylic lid, next to 75g
 

Rtaylor

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No children here. Just me and the husband and some cats.
Unaffected -
10g quartine - no lid, next to 75 in the basement
20g with the puffer in it - acrylic lid, living room by the 40g
5G evo - half a lid, across the bedroom from the biocube
4g biorb- acrylic lid, next to 75g
So only 1 of the unaffected tanks had livestock in it?
 
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exalectric

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So sorry for your loss. Based on the sound of the symptoms, the new inverts probably introduced brook or velvet. I suspect that some parasites from Reefcleaners got introduced into the main tank via the shells. That would have to be a lot of them, though, to kill that quickly.

Another theory is that there were a lot of dead snails that fouled up the aquarium. I don’t know if this would kill fish so soon, but it’s a possibility.
It could be. I thought we were careful, but we got a LOT of cleaners at once, probably 100?ish across the tanks which might have had just enough ammonia or whatever else in it that tipped the scales.

We tried to check it snails were alive but I suspect a few dead ones snuck in. But I agree it seems odd so soon.
 
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exalectric

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So only 1 of the unaffected tanks had livestock in it?
There’s a clown goby in the biorb and a watchman goby in the evo. Not a lot of livestock I agree.

Oh. There’s a clarkii clown with the puffer at the moment cuz he was being a bully and is about to transfer to the 75g, but hasn’t yet.
 

JPM San Diego

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Are 100% of your snails up and moving around?
I had a nearly complete tank wipe out from a turbo grazer that had died but was still sealed up in its shell.
Worst timing. I was moving from Irvine to Long Beach California. A 30 to 45 minute drive at the most.
I moved all of my fish into a large lined trash can and threw in my turbo grazer.
During the move the operculum came loose and the dead turbo grazer, plus hydrogen sulfide, was released.
By the time I arrived in Long Beach most fish of my fish were dead or dying.
Hydrogen sulfide is extremely toxic and with no pump or filter going it was a disaster.
I doubt a disease process killed your fish. I believe it had to be a toxin that was release into your systems
 

Rtaylor

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Any chance your pumps stopped working (power outage) causing an oxygenation problem? Do you have a lot of surface agitation? Do you run skimmers? With covers on all the tanks, oxygenation can be a problem.
 
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exalectric

exalectric

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Are 100% of your snails up and moving around?
I had a nearly complete tank wipe out from a turbo grazer that had died but was still sealed up in its shell.
Worst timing. I was moving from Irvine to Long Beach California. A 30 to 45 minute drive at the most.
I moved all of my fish into a large lined trash can and threw in my turbo grazer.
During the move the operculum came loose and the dead turbo grazer, plus hydrogen sulfide, was released.
By the time I arrived in Long Beach most fish of my fish were dead or dying.
Hydrogen sulfide is extremely toxic and with no pump or filter going it was a disaster.
I doubt a disease process killed your fish. I believe it had to be a toxin that was release into your systems
In the 75g and biocube, yes. All alive.
In the 40 not sure, we keep a lot of empty shells and I can’t put my hands in, so when my husband gets home he can check them all.
 
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exalectric

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Any chance your pumps stopped working (power outage) causing an oxygenation problem? Do you have a lot of surface agitation? Do you run skimmers? With covers on all the tanks, oxygenation can be a problem.
I don’t think there was any power outage. And yes each tank has skimmers pointed acrosd the tanks toward the surface.
 

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