Major Disaster 6 Month Tank Crash!!!!

[68551]

AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS OF HAVING MY 75 GAL REEF TANK I AM UNSURE OF WHAT TO DO....This morning I just disposed of my final favorite occupant...A Purple Tang that was my favorite fish...He died last night after a 6 month decline of death after death....6 months ago I thought having a tank was easy....I had a Mandrin that lived 2 years, was fat & happy!!! I had a pipefish that was soooo cool to watch....I had a Divided Leopard Wrase that slept under the substrade every night, A Coral Beauty Angel & an awesome Lawnmower Blenny....It all started with an incredible show of all of my snails spawning....It was really cool seeing green eggs comming from the females & smoke from the males....I wasen't sure what I was witnessing....Suddenly within a week they all died & fish after fish started dying about one month apart....& a red velvet growth started to blanket the live rock....I looked at many ID posts & couldn't find the cause or cure...I have never been able to keep inverts or anything other than fish but now the fish were dying 1 BY 1.....
As I threw away my prized Tang I wondered if I should just move to fresh water....I've been awake & reading since 3AM & I need advice....I don't know how to start over.....Or even if its worth it...Its such a personal downer.....

[68551]

A little more....I had feather dusters, Cleaner Shrimp & watched as one after the other died....I never overstocked the tank...But muy nitrates were always high....Never seemed to hurt the fish....I have Tunze Pump & was so happy with the flow in the tank that I just spent $250 on a skimmer that I installed 3 weeks ago.....It is awesome!!!! I can't believe how much crap it pulled from the water but I think it was too little too late.....I am soooo sad....

[68551]

Does anyone have any info about starting over or giving up????

[FishNFun]

How high is high for your nitrates? If you knew your nitrates were "always high" then there's no mystery why your tank crashed. Sounds like all your critters just eventually died do to the long term nitrate exposure. What are your other params?

[68551]

Nitrates 80....Ph...8.3....Substrade was from CC...Currently don't have an overflow tank....Have a refugium....Even the pods & bristle worms died

[68551]

If I stay in the hobby I will get an overflow tank, put in sugar sand....have a sump & scrub the rocks & put them in a dark circulation tank for a month....

[reverendmaynard]

What kind of water are you using? Tap? RO? RO/DI?

[FishNFun]

Originally posted by 68551
Nitrates 80....Ph...8.3....Substrade was from CC...Currently don't have an overflow tank....Have a refugium....Even the pods & bristle worms died

If you don't have an tank with an overflow, how exactly are you getting the water to the refugium?

Nitrates at 80 is VERY bad. What about Alk, Ammonia & SG? Did you do any water changes to try to bring down your nitrates? How often did you feed?

[OneReef]

I have always read that crushed coral as a substrate is not good in a reef tank as it traps junk and leads to high nitrates. If you start over, you might want to use a finer sand. Good luck, sorry about your tank.

[68551]

Did many water changes weekly of at least 20 % tested water before & after & nitrates were the same with different test kits....SG 1.025-1.026 constant with refractometer....temp between 76.5 - 80....Vacuumed substrade....Have LR piled high with voids for fish & water to flow through....I can't believe the tank is absoliutely empty....I don't have the heart to shut off the pumps & flow....

[68551]

Did many water changes weekly of at least 20 % tested water before & after & nitrates were the same with different test kits....SG 1.025-1.026 constant with refractometer....temp between 76.5 - 80....Vacuumed substrade....Have LR piled high with voids for fish & water to flow through....I can't believe the tank is absoliutely empty....I don't have the heart to shut off the pumps & flow....

[68551]

Ps....Have RO machine to make water.....kept in 2/20 gal circulated contaiiners for top off & water changes....Only Parameter that was off was nitrates....I sucessfully cured the Tang of ICK when I first got him.....(Stress of being moved) He followed me around the tank all the time after that which is why he was my favorite fish....Seemed to know I saved him but was unable to do so this time....Could have been old tank sindrome....Bought the tank & inhabitants from person getting out of hobby transported all of the water & restarted the tank....Nitrates were high from the start....No Amonia or Nitrite problems...Inspected the tank numerous times daily....Removed anything before decay as death occured in past months...

[68551]

Refugium is a HOB & water is pumped to it & flows slowly back to tank...Even removed calerpa when I read of the hazards....Never went sexual but just to be safe went to Cheato instead....Pods died as soon as I put them in the fuge....

[useskaforevil]

you were never able to keep inverts and pods died as soonas they hit the fuge? do you have any copper pipes used in this setup?

[68551]

No copper except for plumbing in the house....Really looking for the cause....I don't want to keep killing animals.....I have always wanted a reef tank & spent more time in front of it than the TV....I am considering getting an overflow tank....5 inches Oolic live sand....Putting all of my LR in my 25 gal tubs covering & adding a heater & keep covered with a skimmer running for a month.....I am desperate not to quit this facinating hobby but I am devastated at the loss after so much time & money was invested....Need to do it right without the previoud owners old CC substrade this time....

[manofcoral]

Well if the levels are good, my guess is not enough oxgen in the water. Without a good overflow churning the water, it could just be a matter of time before the O2 get too low for life in your tiank. Just my 2 cents.

[Sk8r]

That's scary...pods dying. How is water pumped to fuge?
Copper or brass anywhere, any Y connector of brass, etc...?
Where did you get this HOB fuge? Sure it wasn't in a tank where copper was used?

Recommendations: first: run polyfilter pad in tank waterstream as is, and see if there is ANY blue coloring turning up on pad. (copper).

Discard sandbed. Discard water. Put rock in tub with discard water until you resolve copper issue.

If clear of copper, clean tank in straight vinegar and do re-setup.

My slight suspicion is that the snail spawn tipped the tank over the edge chemically, re nitrates, not a strong enough skimmer to handle it.

But we need to know why pods couldnt' live. That's alarming.

I would recommend on re-setup that you start clean, new sand; rock needs to be proved copper-free.

I would recommend you install some hardy coral species like green star polyp and discosoma mushrooms--early, esp. the gsp, to react to water problems by closing up. It's like a smoke alarm in a house.

Be sure you've got inverts to live and gsp happy.

Then start thinking toward the tank you want to have: we can walk you through a clean, good setup that will hold up, plus maintenance procedures that will keep this from happening again.

[papajojo]

couple of questions

what are your plans for battling your nitrate problem?

are you running carbon?

do you have any marco to help with the nitrate reduction?

how much were you feeding?

what is your flow in the tank?

what were your ammonia levels?

sory for your loss if you can learn from it though i think you have the passion that is required for this hobby

i think you are on the right track by wanting to cook the rocks etc.

[68551]

What about the red velvet growth on the rocks....Not coraline....I never saw picts to id but there was a post once about a type of algae that is caustic to inhabitants....

[68551]

For the last 2 posters....Had Cheato in the fuge...Not enough o2 is a good observation Tang kept looking like he was gasping for air beore he died.....I thought the skimmer with all the bubbles put in o2.....For nitrate problem...No cc in my future...Yes, ran 1/2 cup carbon in canister filter...Very low feeding 1x daily or every other day....Low amount (pinch) of food or seaweed....Very good flow w/ Tunze pump.....O amonia always....

[68551]

Does anyone have any good links for restarting an aquarium????

[hyperfocal]

The red velvet you are seeing on the rock could be red turf algae, the appearance of which is probably connected to your very high nitrates. I'm battling it myself right now, it's a bugger. Turbo snails seem to be one of the only critters that seriously eat the stuff... my yellow tang pecks at it, but doesn't even make a dent.

Nitrates at 80 are pretty high, but I don't think that's high enough to crash a tank. I know fish-only tanks can run forever with nitrates that high.

It sounds like it might be some kind of poisoning to me. It's been gradual (more than 6 months of decline), affecting creatures over time; perhaps some contaminant that has been building up over the months. Does anyone use any harsh cleansers around the tank? Detergents, Windex, rug shampoo, air fresheners maybe? Do you have other pets that get flea/tick medicine? Maybe fumes from painting or the garage? Any kids with dirty fingers in the tank? Any heavy smokers in the house?

I'd be thinking down those lines...

[Macimage]

Does anyone have any good links for restarting an aquarium????

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1031074

Good Luck!
Joyce

[chrismunn]

what did you use to treat the fish for ich, and where did you treat the fish? did you use a copper or formaldahyde based treatment in the main tank???

[ihavtats29]

crushed coral must be vaccumed out with a weekly water change to avoid nitrate issues, my friend has crushed coral in his 55 and has had the hardest time keeping nitrates low now he vaccumes it out weekly and nitrates are below 5 ppm