In the past 2 days, One of my Black Clownfish, my Sebae Anemone, Porcelain crab, and a large Blue Leg Hermit crab, all have died. I change 50% of my water every week. I have tested all my water and everything tested good. I thought maybe my test kit is bad, but every single test?? Not possible. I brought my water to my LFS and had him run every single test he had for SW.. He said my water was perfect, my nitrates were only at .020 ppm. Not 20ppm but .020ppm, I don't want to get that confused, although 20ppm would be acceptable if I didn't have inverts and corals. Also my frogspawn, tooth coral, hammer coral, and a few others all seem to be having problems. While a few other corals a doing great. The guy at my LFS knows his **** and he was stumped.. I am hoping this is some crazy off the wall problem with any easy fix. Someone please HELP!! (FLESHY)??
Random things dying?? HELP!!
- Thread starter Addikted2Cichlids
- Start date
Addikted2Cichlids;4989140; said:
What were your other water parameters? If you do 50% water changes every week I am not concerned about nitrates at all. Ammonia primarily and Nitrite would be the big things here.
What order did they die in? Was it anemone first and did you get it out right away or did it start to melt into a jelly??
If the anemone died first I would think that the ammonia from that caused your other livestock to die.
Also, I don't know if this is part of the problem or not, but going forward I wouldn't change 50% of the water at once. It will/can shock your corals and livestock. I would stick to about 25% once a week and if you test your water. If you feel you need to change more then do 20-25% twice a week.
All other params were perfect, ammonia and nitrite at 0. MY LFS ran every test known to man, it took over 40 min to run every test they have and he said he can't find anything wrong with the water. Phos was at zero, I mean every test came back good. This is why i'm lost. The crabs died first, then the anemone, last the clown. The anemone was technically still alive, but it was definitely going to die so I pulled it. I have been doing 50% water changes since the tank was set up in the beginning of October and everything has been doing great until now, Would it take that long for my big water changes to cause this type of problem? I still have a few inverts that seem to be alive and well. If you think it's the water changes I will reduce the amount I change, it just seems odd that it's just showing effects now. If you have any more thoughts or advice it will be greatly appreciated.
Addikted2Cichlids;4989467; said:
Hmmm, that is strange. Again I really don't know what is causing the problem and it may or may not be the water changes, but I will let you know how I feel about the water changes because it can help in the future either way. The only other thing I can think of based on the given information would be a low oxygen issue. What is your filtration like?
With the big water changes it isn't a cumulating problem. It is that every week you shock your fish unless the new water has the exact same temperature, ph, and alkalinity. Even other elements like calcium and iodine being added from your salt mixture can shock your livestock because the levels change so quickly. That is my concern with doing such large water changes.
It's a JBJ Nano cube deluxe, It's the 28g. The filter that is built into it is what I use.. I have 2 425 koralia evo powerheads. I aim both outputs from the filter upwards, so both are slightly poking out above the waters surface, to help with any gas exchange, so my surface agitation is good. I have about 30-35 lbs of Live Rock. I have the JBJ nano protein skimmer. My filter media is: Zeolite, Ceramic bio rings, carbon, RowaPhos, and the filter sponge. My salt mix temperature is probably slightly colder than my water temp, because I let it sit for a little while before I add it to my tank. The thing that is confusing me is, I haven't changed my routine since I have set it up so why now? If the levels change to a positive when I do my water changes would that shock my corals and fish? I think of it as if I was in a room that had a gas leak and I was struggling to breath and all of a sudden the gas went away and was replaced with perfect air, it wouldn't shock me it would be the best thing that could happen. I know fish aren't human but I have always thought if I am improving the water quality it should have a positive affect on my tank. My thinking may be wrong as I am still new to SW. I really appreciate the help and I am open to try anything at this point because I am completely confused..
for one thing you are changing way too much water per week. it is recommended to only change 10% per week. how long has the tank been established? sounds to me a bad water change is to blame.
Did the inhabitants die at all the same time, or roughly the same time? How soon after your last water change did they die?
Heathd;4990174; said:
Im also curious how far apart they died. Could it have been something you fed them? like if you put out some frozen food on your counter that could have gotten into some cleaning product which were eaten by the inhabitants? Things like that are a possibility even if its a small one.
Addikted2Cichlids;4989929; said:
Setup sounds like a good one. Your oxygen levels aren't the problem.
The water quality isn't that simple under compared to air because of the bacteria that inhabits the water. You are removing too much of this beneficial bacteria at once and continually(every week), so your system never has fully stabilized. Also, your water quality is not spoiling that quickly and it is a slow slow gas leak. Why call in the fire department in big suits to tear apart your house to fix a gas leak that isn't an emergency and not leaking enough gas to even harm you.(that is my awful play on your story, but I think it might be effective.) It is possible to do too much of a good thing and actually make it detrimental.
Good forward, start with a 15-20% water change once a week. Keep a log of your test results and see if those water changes are adequate. If not, which I doubt, you can up it a bit and see what happens.
BradT85;4990512; said:
They all died within 2 days of each other, My last water change was on Friday, and the first death was on wednesday. I feed them flakes, sinking pellets, and frozen brine shrimp. The frozen food never leaves my hand, I open the feezer and put some into a cup. I break up some of the frozen cubes into smaller pieces in a sepearte bag because one full cube is to much food for my fish. Maybe it is something that was introduced into the tank somehow, But I doubt it.