tank going south

[haiguys]

So, my tank isn't doing too well. Zoas aren't opening, nems aren't fully opening. SPS receeding. Oh, and dinos popped up. I presume its because 2 fish died, but I can't find the bodies: a 3" blue throat trigger, and a potters angel. Total water volume is around 200gal, with 200lbs LR. Haven't checked the parameters, but I've done 2 30 gal WC's in the last 5 days.

The actual question I'm posing is this: I can't find the 2 dead fish. With the water volume and the LR in the tank, will that be enough to offset the wasting fish corpses?

 

[lowbudget]

water changes

 

[reeferside]

water changes

I second this. Run some carbon

 

[touchingstoves]

Hey in Hollywood here, Lmk if you need help!


I like seahorses. I got nothing clever to say. Boo.

 

[haiguys]

thanks. Yeah, I plan on more water changes: another 30 gals today, then 30 gals sunday. However, will all the effort be worthless if I can't find the fish?


I know my CUC would eventually eat it, as I did find a dead bluestar wrasse yesterday, but I also saw the yellow coris wrasse chasing it around all day :/

 

[ngvu1]

Oh man all the nice fish are going away. Not sure it is a good time to ask but how old is the tank and what have you done to get into this situation? Sorry to hear about the problems.

 

[sonnus]

It's very easy to figure out if the dead fish are causing the problems, measure the ammonia and nitrite in the tank. If they are normal then this might not be your problem.

It's possible that whatever killed the fish is now affecting the coral.

 

[haiguys]

Tank is about a year old. To be honest I don't know what happened. The fish were eating, and I was feeding a rotation of NLS pellets, New Era pellets, Rods food and LRS Reef frenzy. Also was changing out carbon/GFO every month, with biweekly water changes of 30 gals. I thought things were going well; an SPS that was stung by a nem was recovering. Then....zoas wouldn't open, leather coral wasn't opening up; nems didn't fully extend; the SPS slowly started receeding.

Sonnus,

I know I need to test. However, if the levels were elevated, would water changes help offset that? Or would I need to essentially take apart rock to find the rotting body?

 

[watchguy123]

I was just going to repeat what Aaron said. Corals can be finicky but fish are much more forgiving. So if you are having problems with both, then it really is a major issue. Multiple reasonably sized water changes with good saltwater (ro/di mixed with salt to appropriate parameters) is a great emergency measure. But it's costly not to be aware of your parameters at any time.

 

[haiguys]

ugh...tanks are discouraging. I was already on the fence about getting rid of it. Now this....

I suck at this hobby.

 

[Smite]

Take a sample to a good LFS. That has to be your starting point. Otherwise you're shooting in the dark.

I'm dealing with dinos right now. It's contained in my display refugium though. In my experience dinos grow quickly, stripping the water column of nutrients. This caused my sps to brown and are now currently bleaching. My phosphates went from .02 to 0 and nitrates from 5 to 0, quickly when it bloomed.

A water test for phosphates and nitrates should also tell you if you're even dealing with dinos. If they are zero and your water is super clean probably dinos, dirty? possibly a diatom bloom from the fish dying. Not saying you don't know the difference visually but they can be mistaken for one another.

If you suspect dinos, a 3 day blackout has always gotten me back on track but doesn't kill them off. They'll pop back up later once nutrients get high. You still want to check your water parameters first, the die off may cause a spike.

After my blackout is done, I'll be trying a suggestion that sonnus made in another thread - raising my ph slowly to 8.6 for a few months.

Good luck, don't get discouraged or over welded. Start with a water test and go from there.

 

[thunderii]

Do you have cleanup crews??? If this is caused by the dead fish, you should get couple of brittle starfish (big one for your 200g tank) Let dead fish consumed before it gets rotten in the tank.

 

[JOSE CASAS]

Check parameters, any temp issues? Go from there.

 

[haiguys]

Ok. Updates
Temp has been 78-80.5 degrees all summer
Salinity 1.026
Cal 420
Mag 1380
Dkh 8
PH 8-8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Disclaimer. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were tested with the API kit.

As it stands, everything is still pretty much closed off. I found the head of my bluethroat, which was eaten down to the bone. However I can't figure out why my cord aren't opening up.

 

[mmarro22]

Just a thought but maybe stray voltage? Maybe some foreign object made it's way into the tank? Neighbors fumigated recently?

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[haiguys]

No recent fumigation

Checked tank, overflow, sump etc and didn't find anything that would rust and/or leech.

I have grounding probes in tank, so I don't believe that to be a cause.

 

[trunglippo]

The best you can do is getting some your tank water sample and go to local fish stores to test out with different test kits, then you can find the amount of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate from there to see what's going on. In the mean time, big water change and some carbon might help in some how like carbon will take out some bad things in your tank if any, and water change will lower the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate if that the case...

 

[mmarro22]

Maybe try running a poly filter. .. on an old set up i Broke down a long time ago I found a penny that was pretty much green within the substrate. .. kids were smaller and I guess they thought it would be cute to Chuck a penny in daddy's tank

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[Paranoiattack91]

Just a thought but maybe stray voltage? Maybe some foreign object made it's way into the tank? Neighbors fumigated recently?

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Omg!!!

 

[mmarro22]

Omg!!!

? When parameters look good has to be something. .. process of elimination.

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