Forums / TEAM Marine Depot / Disease, Health and Wellness - by Kelly Jedlicki / Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank / Latest Posts

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

FMarini — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:00:04 GMT

from the sudden onset of the problem, i'd look to a waterborne contaminent. Thats said, I agree w/ Kelly w/ a scheduling addition.
1) large water change -day 1
2) add carbon and add polyfilters or purigen (day 1)
3) water change again (day 7)
4) replace carbon (day 7)

if there is any residual pollutant you need to absorb it, dilute it and get it out.

Hows the fish today. Did you observe any stress from your inverts

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

Puffer Queen — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:30:35 GMT

Carbon can remove contaminants, toxins, some heavy metals.......

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:15:47 GMT

Puffer Queen (5/8/2008)

I would definitely do a large water change and consider adding fresh carbon.

Water I can do. I don't have any carbon to change. Is there a posting somewhere describing the merits of carbon and what it's for?

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

Puffer Queen — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:04:40 GMT

I would definitely do a large water change and consider adding fresh carbon.

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:10:08 GMT

[quote]alang_94526 (5/6/2008)

[quote]Puffer Queen (5/6/2008)

Have you painted or had your carpets cleaned lately?
None of the above

Any chance an aerosol could have contaminated the water - hair spray, air freshner, cleaning supplies, etc?[/quote]
Not that I can think of.[/quote]

Kelly's aerosol question made me take a second look at my setup.
My sump lives in my garage on the other side of the interior wall from my tank.
On Saturday I hung up one of those fly traps that you pour water into, then sprinkle a powder into it, which is supposed to attract flies and kill them.
I'm wondering if this could be the root of the problem.
That being said my remaining Damsel, Tang and butterfly fish all seem fine.
Should I flush the entire tank and replace all the water?
As a precaution, I already removed the fly trap.
Any thoughts?
Alan

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:32:08 GMT

[quote]Puffer Queen (5/6/2008)

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:30:52 GMT

[quote]Reefski (5/6/2008)

what fish do you have?
I had 1 yellow tang, 1 angel fish, 1 butterfly fish, 1 damsel, 2 clownfish, 1 puffer, 1 lobster

which ones died?
Both clownfish, the angelfish and the 2 clownfish died

why feed bok choy? maybe a pesticide?
The local fish store suggested it. The fish love it. I've been using it for 5 or 6 months.

marine origin foods only.

other inhabitants are acting normal?[/quote]
Of my 2 bubble tip anemones, 1 is fine, the other never really blows up. It has stayed somewhat withdrawn most of its time in my tank. The other one seems very "happy" or as happy as an anemone can be.

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

Puffer Queen — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:14:36 GMT

Have you painted or had your carpets cleaned lately?

Any chance an aerosol could have contaminated the water - hair spray, air freshner, cleaning supplies, etc?

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

Reefski — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:02:35 GMT

what fish do you have?

which ones died?

why feed bok choy? maybe a pesticide?

marine origin foods only.

other inhabitants are acting normal?

RE: Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:51:52 GMT

I should also point out that there was no visible signs of any illness - skin erosions, discoloration, ick etc.

Spontaneous Mass Death in my tank

alang_94526 — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:34:35 GMT

My tank which up until yesterday had been stable for months, suddenly had 4 fatalities.
I have a 135G tank which up until yesterday contained 7 fish, 1 lobster and 2 bubble tip anemones.
Out of nowhere, 4 fish woke up dead on the same day.
PH, Nitrate, Amonia, Nitrite, salinity are 8.2, 0, 0, 0, 1.022 respectively.
Food is a mix of Mysis shrimp, Bok Choy and fish flakes.

I've had the tank for over a year and have gradually added fish through a quarantine process. I have never had ick as a result, and none is present in the tank even now.

A few days ago, I noticed some of the fish apparently pecking lightly at my yellow tang. Apart from that nothing has changed.
I have good water flow, temp is 77C (held constant by a tank cooler).

I make my own water with a 50GPD Coralife RO system. I have never changed the cartridges in the year that I've had the tank.
I checked for possible Chlorine on the off-chance that it had somehow malfunctioned - none was found. I'm pretty confident about this since I checked my regular tap water and it tests positive for chlorine.

Is there any "typical infection" that can befall a tank that I can test for?

I'm at a total loss for what happened.

Alan