Urgent advice plz
- Thread starter ozanex
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Brew12
Electrical Gru
Wait to see if the cloudy water clears up, if it hasn't already. Make sure whatever caused the bloom has passed. Unfortunately, I've seen where fish have been lost because of carpet cleaning and someone making a batch of wine in the house. Stuff I would never have even considered dangerous.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
You said your tank had a lid.. is it vented/mesh or something that would block air flow?
Unfortunately, if you turned the skimmer off and have a non ventilated top, it wouldn't take much of a bacteria bloom to cause O2 issues. Many algae management products work like carbon dosing where they create a bacteria bloom to consume nitrates.
Deep dive coral
Well-Known Member
Sounds like stray voltage. And the cloudy water is from the death of the fish. I would check all of your powerheads and for any cracks in your heaters
Sounds a likely cause. Mistakes happen; they are sometimes sad, but we learn from them.
At this point, time and stability in the tank are what will serve you well. Make sure the tank is running as it normally would (including any water changes) and let things run for a bit. Algae and bacteria blooms are normal for newer tanks; they are part of the process of the mini ecosystem establishing itself. So long as they don't get out of control, waiting them out is generally the best course, IMO. Only if you don't see improvement in a few weeks would I suggest looking into more direct action.
Another Newbie Reefer
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I just spoke to my son. He put 2mg Red Sea algae management and fed them with frozen food but he forgot to open the pump and skimmer back on. That may be the cause of oxygen deprivation?
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That's probably it. I had something similar happen a few years ago with a cichlid tank. Don't go too hard on him, he was just trying to help.
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That's probably it. I had something similar happen a few years ago with a cichlid tank. Don't go too hard on him, he was just trying to help.
Combination of things, from the sound of it:
- Turning off the skimmer and pump removed a large percentage of the gas exchange that would normally occur with the tank.
- This is a covered AIO tank, so there isn't many other sources of gas exchange aside from the pump and skimmer.
- The addition of the Red Sea Algae Management introduced some bacteria "super food". This allowed the bacteria populations to grow quickly. Bacteria consume oxygen.
Alone, any one of these - likely even two of them - would not be an issue. It took all three (and perhaps even being inside a closed room with no open windows if that was the case) occurring at the same time to tip the scales into a dangerous area. The slightly elevated tank temperature also contributed; higher temps means faster metabolic rates, so everything was consuming oxygen slightly faster than might be the case in a cooler tank (even a few degrees matters).
Stuff like this happens. Reef tanks - even FOWLR tanks - are no easy thing to maintain. It's hard - but oh so worth it. ;-)
- Turning off the skimmer and pump removed a large percentage of the gas exchange that would normally occur with the tank.
- This is a covered AIO tank, so there isn't many other sources of gas exchange aside from the pump and skimmer.
- The addition of the Red Sea Algae Management introduced some bacteria "super food". This allowed the bacteria populations to grow quickly. Bacteria consume oxygen.
Alone, any one of these - likely even two of them - would not be an issue. It took all three (and perhaps even being inside a closed room with no open windows if that was the case) occurring at the same time to tip the scales into a dangerous area. The slightly elevated tank temperature also contributed; higher temps means faster metabolic rates, so everything was consuming oxygen slightly faster than might be the case in a cooler tank (even a few degrees matters).
Stuff like this happens. Reef tanks - even FOWLR tanks - are no easy thing to maintain. It's hard - but oh so worth it. ;-)
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In a closed system anything that kills algae can be dangerous. Nopox did the same to my tank. Please don't let your son be upset. It happens. It was the right set of circumstances. It caused a bacteria bloom.
NYCMikeM3
Community Member
So sorry that happened. If i were in your shoes, the next thing I'd do is is send a sample of the "bad" water off to get an ICP-OES test. I like ATI Labs b/c they report more parameters. You can get the kit on Amazon Prime in a day. TBH i'd spend the extra money to overnight directly to Germany. I've gotten results 2-3 days after sending with this method.
As everyone's mentioned, it's possible to 'nitpick' some of your parameters, but nothing even close to an event that should have nuked your tank. That's why I'd do the ICP-OES test -- clearly the standard numbers aren't giving us any clues as to what (if anything) is going on with your water. If your ICP results come out clean, then you can "at least" rule out any issues with your water. Then i guess you have to trouble shoot things like 'electric current' (and who knows what else). I think most things tend to be evident in comprehensive water analysis though.
I really think before you change the water, take out a sample -- get the read out and I suspect you'll see something that's amiss & helps trouble shoot. Very best of luck!
As everyone's mentioned, it's possible to 'nitpick' some of your parameters, but nothing even close to an event that should have nuked your tank
. That's why I'd do the ICP-OES test -- clearly the standard numbers aren't giving us any clues as to what (if anything) is going on with your water. If your ICP results come out clean, then you can "at least" rule out any issues with your water. Then i guess you have to trouble shoot things like 'electric current' (and who knows what else). I think most things tend to be evident in comprehensive water analysis though.I really think before you change the water, take out a sample -- get the read out and I suspect you'll see something that's amiss & helps trouble shoot. Very best of luck!
That’s very good idea I will do that first thing in the morning cheersSo sorry that happened. If i were in your shoes, the next thing I'd do is is send a sample of the "bad" water off to get an ICP-OES test. I like ATI Labs b/c they report more parameters. You can get the kit on Amazon Prime in a day. TBH i'd spend the extra money to overnight directly to Germany. I've gotten results 2-3 days after sending with this method.
As everyone's mentioned, it's possible to 'nitpick' some of your parameters, but nothing even close to an event that should have nuked your tank
I really think before you change the water, take out a sample -- get the read out and I suspect you'll see something that's amiss & helps trouble shoot. Very best of luck!
The pump and skimmer were off last night as my son forgot to turn it on after feeding and treating the water but normally I have a power head and pump which providing the water agitation.
NYCMikeM3
Community Member
Sounds like the skimmer + NoPOx could be an issue too.. but 2ml isn't "a ton" -- I dose 4ml/day on mine (Reefer 350) and i've played around with skimmer off to see what happens to my levels (trying to test growth rates of coral re: zooxanthellae growth vs. skeletogenesis). Point being: I've definitely run NoPOx without a skimmer with no ill effects. Maybe that'll help make your son feel less bad / like he didn't do something to hurt the fish.
In the meantime, maybe also consider running extra carbon (in a reactor) + the water change + a bottle of seed-bacteria. With those 3 things, you'll surely have hedged out almost any cause & make the tank safe again. Then when you get lab results you'll have a lot more closure on the cause/effect.
In the meantime, maybe also consider running extra carbon (in a reactor) + the water change + a bottle of seed-bacteria. With those 3 things, you'll surely have hedged out almost any cause & make the tank safe again. Then when you get lab results you'll have a lot more closure on the cause/effect.
Just a heads up that - while ICP testing can give you a lot of good information and are worth doing for many reasons - the test will not give you the oxygen levels of the water in the tank, which sounds like it's the most likely cause of the issue.
I would suggest adding in a practice (a "tank rule" if you will) of never having more than two of your three water movement vehicles off at the same time. So if the pump and skimmer are off, leave the power head on. If the power head and pump are off, leave the skimmer on. This practice of always leaving at least one gas exchange device running - if made habitual - can help to stave off mistakes down the road. Forgetting to turn things back on happens all the time (ALL the time around my tank), so being prepared for that is often an easier habit to establish than the (likely impossible) goal of never forgetting to turn things back on.
If ever you do need to turn all three off for some reason, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to turn everything on. I usually set this to go off in no more than 10min, since that's about the least amount of time I want my tank to sit idle if it must. I'm sure the tank can go longer than that, but the goal is to remind me to get them back on - even if that means clearing and resetting an alarm every 10min, it's better than the alternative.
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