Help please all fish dead after tank move!

fellone · 07/16/2008, 06:08 AM

Hello guys I'm really looking for some help here

I've just moved apartments and decided this would be a good time to upgrade my tank from a simple 75gallon wet/dry to 105gallon with 40gallon sump.

In my old tank I was using a cheap salt brand "Marinuim' i was advised by may LFS (in thailand) that it was definitely worth changing to Oceanic. About 80% of my new tanks water was mixed with this and the remaining 20% taken from my old tank.

I have filled the new tank and sump with live rock from the old tank and added some cheato to the new sump.

The new tank had been running for 4 days and I added a blue damsel. The Damsel seemed fine so after another couple of days i added two clown fish. They were fine so after another 24 hours
I put in the rest of my fish (Juvenile yellow and hippo tang, Lawnmower blenny, and 6 line) I also added a bubble tip anemone cleaner shrimp, harlequin shrimp, some hermits and turbo snails.

Within 24 hours all the fish except the clowns are dead. All the fish dead fish have lost all colour around the face and gills. the shrimp, snails and crabs all seem fine a the moment but the tank is really cloudy?

What could have caused this and what should I do.... to make things in even stranger my house mate has his own tank which he moved and used the same water and salt as me and his fish are all fine.

My paramaters are taken with Tetra test kits

Nitrates untraceable
Amonia Untraceble
ph 7.6 - 8
KH 6'd
GH > 10'd
temp 82 (a little hot i know but the same as my old tank)

Thanks

MalHavoc · 07/16/2008, 06:54 AM

did you acclimatize your fish and livestock when you moved them to the new tank? did you move any sand from your old tank?

Tangs do not move well. Hippo tangs in particular are quite sensitive. Cloudy water suggests a bacterial problem of some sort -- are you doing water changes?

82 degrees is fine for a reef tank, by the way. It's not too hot. More important is temperature stability.

sassafrass · 07/16/2008, 07:35 AM

Your ph is very low at 7.6 as well as alk I would suspect that is the problem

Sk8r · 07/16/2008, 07:46 AM

Run carbon. If you moved sand, ammonia/nitrate could result.

Fizz71 · 07/16/2008, 08:32 AM

How did your anemone react? When I moved I had a stressed anemone wipe out all the occupants of the container I was holding them in.

stingythingy45 · 07/16/2008, 09:24 AM

KH 6'd

Your KH is 6???
Um.......there's your problem.
Should be 9-11.

fellone · 07/16/2008, 12:13 PM

Thanks for your responses... the waters is still cloudy but not as bad as it was. I have just noticed the top of the water in the output tank output section seems very bubbly.

Even though 80% of the water is a week old is it worth doing a big water change? I use tap water treated with chlorine down, but should be the same as the old tank because I have moved less than a a mile away from my previous place.

The two clown fish, hermit crabs, turbo snails, cleaner shrimp and harlequin shrimp all seem ok. Are they more tolerant than fish to low ph?

Also i have never seen a dead fish look the way mine looked... each fish had completely lost all colour around the face and the skin around the fins looked wrinkly and exposed. Even the hermit crabs did not go near them.

I have just redone the tests using tetra test strips

the kh is somewhere between 6 and 12 (these kits are not very clear)

I did dose two capsules of prodibio 'good bacteria' on day 3 and day 5 after the new tank was running. Could this have had an effect?

thanks

weluvfish54 · 07/16/2008, 12:23 PM

lack of oxygen?
the paleness is from stress...
a week seems soon to add all that livestock imo..

otrlynn · 07/17/2008, 06:53 AM

It seems like there are a lot of potential problems here, disturbing contents of a sandbed (ammonia/nitrate?), using tap water, low alkalinity, questionable test kits. It seems like this woud be a good spot to slow down and take a breath and decide what to do next. I think I would purchase some reliable test kits for ammonia, nitrate, pH, alk, and calcium, at a minimum. Many people here, including myself, use Salifert test kits. Aquarium Pharmeceuticals also makes decent test kits that are less expensive. I don't think the test strip kits are very accurate. Make sure you have really good water parameters so that your inverts don't die, and before you add more fish. When you feel your tank is ready for fish, quarantine them in a QT for a minimum of 4 weeks, to avoid bringing a diseased fish into the tank, and add only one or two fish at a time.

07/16/2008, 06:08 AM	#1
fellone Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 22	Help please all fish dead after tank move! Hello guys I'm really looking for some help here I've just moved apartments and decided this would be a good time to upgrade my tank from a simple 75gallon wet/dry to 105gallon with 40gallon sump. In my old tank I was using a cheap salt brand "Marinuim' i was advised by may LFS (in thailand) that it was definitely worth changing to Oceanic. About 80% of my new tanks water was mixed with this and the remaining 20% taken from my old tank. I have filled the new tank and sump with live rock from the old tank and added some cheato to the new sump. The new tank had been running for 4 days and I added a blue damsel. The Damsel seemed fine so after another couple of days i added two clown fish. They were fine so after another 24 hours I put in the rest of my fish (Juvenile yellow and hippo tang, Lawnmower blenny, and 6 line) I also added a bubble tip anemone cleaner shrimp, harlequin shrimp, some hermits and turbo snails. Within 24 hours all the fish except the clowns are dead. All the fish dead fish have lost all colour around the face and gills. the shrimp, snails and crabs all seem fine a the moment but the tank is really cloudy? What could have caused this and what should I do.... to make things in even stranger my house mate has his own tank which he moved and used the same water and salt as me and his fish are all fine. My paramaters are taken with Tetra test kits Nitrates untraceable Amonia Untraceble ph 7.6 - 8 KH 6'd GH > 10'd temp 82 (a little hot i know but the same as my old tank) Thanks

07/16/2008, 06:54 AM	#2
MalHavoc Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 10,850	did you acclimatize your fish and livestock when you moved them to the new tank? did you move any sand from your old tank? Tangs do not move well. Hippo tangs in particular are quite sensitive. Cloudy water suggests a bacterial problem of some sort -- are you doing water changes? 82 degrees is fine for a reef tank, by the way. It's not too hot. More important is temperature stability. __________________ Jason "Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated." -- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K Dick

07/16/2008, 07:46 AM	#4
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Run carbon. If you moved sand, ammonia/nitrate could result. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/16/2008, 08:32 AM	#5
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	How did your anemone react? When I moved I had a stressed anemone wipe out all the occupants of the container I was holding them in. __________________ --Fizz Current Tank Info: Current system is 8x2x2 240g peninsula setup with a single "chamber" 100g sump in the basement with an RDSB. All corals are 100% home grown from frags of fellow reefers (low natural reef impact).

07/16/2008, 09:24 AM	#6
stingythingy45 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: MA Posts: 3,296	KH 6'd Your KH is 6??? Um.......there's your problem. Should be 9-11. __________________ Bob Current Tank Info: 90 gallon,mixed Reef,2-250 watt Optix 3 pendants(Phoenix 14K)2-54 watt T5 Super actnics ,ASM G-2 Gate/recirc mods,70 gal. basement sump,20L ref

07/16/2008, 07:35 AM	#3
sassafrass Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: capitola ca Posts: 1,729	Your ph is very low at 7.6 as well as alk I would suspect that is the problem

07/16/2008, 12:13 PM	#7
fellone Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 22	Thanks for your responses... the waters is still cloudy but not as bad as it was. I have just noticed the top of the water in the output tank output section seems very bubbly. Even though 80% of the water is a week old is it worth doing a big water change? I use tap water treated with chlorine down, but should be the same as the old tank because I have moved less than a a mile away from my previous place. The two clown fish, hermit crabs, turbo snails, cleaner shrimp and harlequin shrimp all seem ok. Are they more tolerant than fish to low ph? Also i have never seen a dead fish look the way mine looked... each fish had completely lost all colour around the face and the skin around the fins looked wrinkly and exposed. Even the hermit crabs did not go near them. I have just redone the tests using tetra test strips the kh is somewhere between 6 and 12 (these kits are not very clear) I did dose two capsules of prodibio 'good bacteria' on day 3 and day 5 after the new tank was running. Could this have had an effect? thanks

07/16/2008, 12:23 PM	#8
weluvfish54 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: inland empire Posts: 771	lack of oxygen? the paleness is from stress... a week seems soon to add all that livestock imo..

07/17/2008, 06:53 AM	#9
otrlynn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Chester County PA Posts: 1,508	It seems like there are a lot of potential problems here, disturbing contents of a sandbed (ammonia/nitrate?), using tap water, low alkalinity, questionable test kits. It seems like this woud be a good spot to slow down and take a breath and decide what to do next. I think I would purchase some reliable test kits for ammonia, nitrate, pH, alk, and calcium, at a minimum. Many people here, including myself, use Salifert test kits. Aquarium Pharmeceuticals also makes decent test kits that are less expensive. I don't think the test strip kits are very accurate. Make sure you have really good water parameters so that your inverts don't die, and before you add more fish. When you feel your tank is ready for fish, quarantine them in a QT for a minimum of 4 weeks, to avoid bringing a diseased fish into the tank, and add only one or two fish at a time. __________________ Lynn 1 horse, 1 dog, 2 cats, small pond with a few koi. The fish tank is gone.