Crash

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 03:59 PM

I went to bed and everything was fine. My husband woke me up this morning @ 7:30 am and said he had bad news, my tank had crashed. Luckily, (if there is such a thing) my corals and invertebrates are all fine. I was able to set up a temporary "tank" out of a storage tote, heater, pump, air pump, and desk lamp for my corals and inverts until I get home from work this evening and take care of everything. However, Jub-Jub (Coral Beauty), Mojo (Foxface), Homer (Tomato Clown), 50/50 (Orange Spotted Watchman Goby), P.J. (Cardinalfish), Sankey (Dottyback), and BL (Neon Goby) didn't make it. Now I'm in the process of finding the cause of the toxin spike. I just want to tell my poor little fishies how sorry I am that I didn't prevent this. Thanks for letting me grieve (sp?), guys!

Mr31415 · 02/28/2007, 04:04 PM

Sorry to hear... Sounds like something big died and caused an Ammonia spike??

seaduck · 02/28/2007, 04:53 PM

So all ur fish died and non of ur corals or inverts? Humm sounds like oxygen starvation to me...a toxin would most likely have killed everything.

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 04:59 PM

Yeah, I'm also thinking oxygen deprivation, but I assumed some sort of ammonia spike happened (that's what I meant by toxin, sorry, haven't been thinking straight since this morning). Nothing else was dead...The last time I tested my water, everything was fine, but that was a couple weeks ago...Should've done it recently, could've caught it....

vessxpress1 · 02/28/2007, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by seaduck
So all ur fish died and non of ur corals or inverts? Humm sounds like oxygen starvation to me...a toxin would most likely have killed everything.

+1. Just about any other cause should have killed the corals first, while the fish survived.

Saltwater has less oxygen than fresh to begin with. If something happened that would have dropped it further, your fish can die but the corals will survive. Your corals are growing by a form of photsynthesis, which produces oxygen as a byproduct. So your corals would have survived the scenario. Check out the Reef Chemistry forum stickys. There's bound to be an article on oxygen in reef tanks. Sorry about the loss.

BTW, Salifert makes an oxygen test kit. I have one on the way that I ordered just for the fun of it. I've never used one before.

cham · 02/28/2007, 05:12 PM

Another vote for 02 starvation.

And a Hello from a fellow PTL memeber!

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 05:24 PM

Thank you, Vess, for the test kit suggestion. I will definitely get one. Hello to you too, Cham.

cham · 02/28/2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sports Girl
Thank you, Vess, for the test kit suggestion. I will definitely get one. Hello to you too, Cham.

Now I shall sister city you for one weeks sleeper rental to pay for my valueable advice!

d4a2n0k · 02/28/2007, 05:32 PM

You dont happen to shut down some powerheads or your protein skimmer at night do you?

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 05:34 PM

No, but the ones I have now haven't been running as well as they had been...

d4a2n0k · 02/28/2007, 05:40 PM

Just wondering because I see a lot of people on Reef Central that shut down pumps/powerheads/protein skimmer at night so their fish can "sleep" in calmer water.

This is bad because night time is when you need it the most. When your lights go out, the PH starts to drop. When you shut down water flow, it does the same thing. Put the two together and you can be in for a real problem.

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 05:44 PM

That could have played a role, thank you for the suggestion. I am getting new ones today.

jimsta · 02/28/2007, 05:49 PM

A few things.........

Corals might produce some oxygen as a byproduct, but photosynthesis only occurs during the day. There are numerous "dark" reactions that occur during the night in photosynthetic organisms. These "dark" reactions must take place in the presence of oxygen, they don't absorb it but need it around for other reactions to take place.

Besides that, corals do need oxygen. Otherwise when we get corals shipped to us from retailers or wholesalers they would fill the bag with co2, instead of the currently used oxygen. POINT----Corals are animals and NEED oxygen.

--------there are many things that I would consider besides oxygen starvation though.

-It could have been a huge temperature fluctuation, from either cold to really hot OR warm to really cold......which usually happens at night in smaller tanks without heaters. (not sure if you have one or not).

-possibly the O2 deprivation......do you have a skimmer? sump? lots of surface agitation? If you have any of those than it shouldn't be O2 deprivation.

-Could have been a rapid change in pH due to a low alkalinity level. Test you alkalinity and see if thats the problem. Corals usually react to things much more slowly than fish do. Usually hours OR even DAYS later.(if the situation continues)

Whatever it is I am sorry to hear that you lost all your fish, sounds like you had a good variety in there. GOOD LUCK with the re-start.

Sports Girl · 02/28/2007, 06:06 PM

Thank you, Jimsta, for the suggestions and condolences. I do have a heater, no skimmer, small sump, not a lot of surface agitation.

jimsta · 02/28/2007, 07:48 PM

Like I said it could be one of numerous things, or multiple things together. It will be hard to do a water test now and find out whats wrong since everything already died and contaminated the water.

Make sure it wasnt a bad heater, I have seen that a bunch of times.

Also, if there were any types of sea slugs/nudibranchs in the tank that died then that could be it too.

Hopefully it was a freak accident and it doesn't happen again. Don't worry, I have come home from vacation and ALL the corals were dead. And I had someone watching the tank. GOOD LUCK!

Gimplar · 02/28/2007, 08:19 PM

looking at the fish, what are the signs? i know from oxygen starvation their gills/mouth tend to be wide open from the struggle to keep up with their oxygen needs.

02/28/2007, 03:59 PM	#1
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	Crash I went to bed and everything was fine. My husband woke me up this morning @ 7:30 am and said he had bad news, my tank had crashed. Luckily, (if there is such a thing) my corals and invertebrates are all fine. I was able to set up a temporary "tank" out of a storage tote, heater, pump, air pump, and desk lamp for my corals and inverts until I get home from work this evening and take care of everything. However, Jub-Jub (Coral Beauty), Mojo (Foxface), Homer (Tomato Clown), 50/50 (Orange Spotted Watchman Goby), P.J. (Cardinalfish), Sankey (Dottyback), and BL (Neon Goby) didn't make it. Now I'm in the process of finding the cause of the toxin spike. I just want to tell my poor little fishies how sorry I am that I didn't prevent this. Thanks for letting me grieve (sp?), guys!

02/28/2007, 05:34 PM	#10
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	No, but the ones I have now haven't been running as well as they had been... Last edited by Sports Girl; 02/28/2007 at 05:42 PM.

02/28/2007, 05:49 PM	#13
jimsta Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: West Palm Beach, FL Posts: 540	A few things......... Corals might produce some oxygen as a byproduct, but photosynthesis only occurs during the day. There are numerous "dark" reactions that occur during the night in photosynthetic organisms. These "dark" reactions must take place in the presence of oxygen, they don't absorb it but need it around for other reactions to take place. Besides that, corals do need oxygen. Otherwise when we get corals shipped to us from retailers or wholesalers they would fill the bag with co2, instead of the currently used oxygen. POINT----Corals are animals and NEED oxygen. --------there are many things that I would consider besides oxygen starvation though. -It could have been a huge temperature fluctuation, from either cold to really hot OR warm to really cold......which usually happens at night in smaller tanks without heaters. (not sure if you have one or not). -possibly the O2 deprivation......do you have a skimmer? sump? lots of surface agitation? If you have any of those than it shouldn't be O2 deprivation. -Could have been a rapid change in pH due to a low alkalinity level. Test you alkalinity and see if thats the problem. Corals usually react to things much more slowly than fish do. Usually hours OR even DAYS later.(if the situation continues) Whatever it is I am sorry to hear that you lost all your fish, sounds like you had a good variety in there. GOOD LUCK with the re-start. Last edited by jimsta; 02/28/2007 at 05:59 PM.

02/28/2007, 08:19 PM	#16
Gimplar Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 2,313	looking at the fish, what are the signs? i know from oxygen starvation their gills/mouth tend to be wide open from the struggle to keep up with their oxygen needs. __________________ T.B.R.C. Vice President The Gimp Current Tank Info: 60 gal cube. Specializing in bryopsis and cyano propagation

02/28/2007, 04:04 PM	#2
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	Sorry to hear... Sounds like something big died and caused an Ammonia spike??

02/28/2007, 04:53 PM	#3
seaduck Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Seminole, fl Posts: 724	So all ur fish died and non of ur corals or inverts? Humm sounds like oxygen starvation to me...a toxin would most likely have killed everything.

02/28/2007, 04:59 PM	#4
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	Yeah, I'm also thinking oxygen deprivation, but I assumed some sort of ammonia spike happened (that's what I meant by toxin, sorry, haven't been thinking straight since this morning). Nothing else was dead...The last time I tested my water, everything was fine, but that was a couple weeks ago...Should've done it recently, could've caught it....

02/28/2007, 05:12 PM	#6
cham Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Winter Garden, FL Posts: 3,632	Another vote for 02 starvation. And a Hello from a fellow PTL memeber!

02/28/2007, 05:24 PM	#7
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	Thank you, Vess, for the test kit suggestion. I will definitely get one. Hello to you too, Cham.

02/28/2007, 05:32 PM	#9
d4a2n0k Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,485	You dont happen to shut down some powerheads or your protein skimmer at night do you?

02/28/2007, 05:40 PM	#11
d4a2n0k Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,485	Just wondering because I see a lot of people on Reef Central that shut down pumps/powerheads/protein skimmer at night so their fish can "sleep" in calmer water. This is bad because night time is when you need it the most. When your lights go out, the PH starts to drop. When you shut down water flow, it does the same thing. Put the two together and you can be in for a real problem.

02/28/2007, 05:44 PM	#12
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	That could have played a role, thank you for the suggestion. I am getting new ones today.

02/28/2007, 06:06 PM	#14
Sports Girl Moved On Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Turlock, Ca. Posts: 369	Thank you, Jimsta, for the suggestions and condolences. I do have a heater, no skimmer, small sump, not a lot of surface agitation.

02/28/2007, 07:48 PM	#15
jimsta Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: West Palm Beach, FL Posts: 540	Like I said it could be one of numerous things, or multiple things together. It will be hard to do a water test now and find out whats wrong since everything already died and contaminated the water. Make sure it wasnt a bad heater, I have seen that a bunch of times. Also, if there were any types of sea slugs/nudibranchs in the tank that died then that could be it too. Hopefully it was a freak accident and it doesn't happen again. Don't worry, I have come home from vacation and ALL the corals were dead. And I had someone watching the tank. GOOD LUCK!