Fish are dead!

Here is the thread I mentioned above.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/oxygen-saturation-110490.html

 

no just the regular vitamins and minerals to keep the colors and health where it should be.

 

Sorry to hear about your tank Los1980.

The only problem with the O2 hypothesis is reefs apparently tend to be around 5m/L and hypoxia isn't defined until 2 mg/L according to B Huang 2004 "Effects of temperature, hypoxia, ammonia and nitrate on the bleaching among three coral species". Also, from the work of Goran Nilsson we know reef fish tend to be quite tolerant of hypoxic conditions. It's really tough to get down to those levels.

 

What would you assume the problem to be, if not oxygen reduction?

 

Could be O2, idk. I just can't come up with an argument to convince myself that fish would be that much more sensitive to low O2, in our tanks, than the ocean. I'd be more convinced that the temp drove populations of bacterial pathogens for example. I think a lot of unexplained phenomena in our tanks has to do with microbes.

To be safe, los could certainly add a airstone and work on keeping the temp down though. The death of the inverts has me confused, they tend to be more tolerant of low O2 than fish even. And most fish diseases don't effect inverts. bacteria could.

Another likely option and one of the few things that kills fish that quickly would be oodinium. There would be no sign likely. The death of the fish could have resulted in excess ammonia which killed the inverts. Even if not detectable, that dosn't mean the ammonia isn't there, it just means the clearance rate is fast enough that it isn't being detected. The clearance rate could still be slow enough to cause extreme stress and death to the inverts, which are very sensitive to ammonia.

 

I tested for amonia and it was 0. The water looks crystal clear. could it be the dead snail? the snail died and i can't find his body its MIA.....but my plate really worrying me because its turning purple...would a fresh water dip or dip in revive kill my plate? or just let it be? i'll take a picture after i come back from the airport.

 

Do you have a picture? From what you describe in your previous post, it almost sounds like cyanobacteria growing on it. This could also suggest nutrients. If algae/bacteria is taking up nutrient it could test 0, but tests don't mean much.

Also, have you done anything to your tank recently, water change. Change carbon GFO? Not change carbon GFO? Add corals/fish? stir up the sand? change the flow? etc... anything else that you've done differently?

 

I suppose bacteria could also be one possible cause of deaths...as there are many different kinds of bacteria and not much known about specific strains, who could say what it is for sure...

A single dead snail won't cause much of an ammonia spike. The single organism is pretty small compared to the tank bio-load/water volume.

I am really confused about the plate coral...it seems so random compared to the other events happening?

 

There is a fairly common green fungia, that has a purple undertone and can shift between green and purple. I'm not sure what the reason is. I had one for a long time and it varied tremendously for no apparent rhyme or reason. Perhaps complementary chromatic adaptation or something... If it wasn't for his description, i would guess something like that. However, the description made it sound more like something growing on it.

 

you said the tank has been running good for the past 7 months is that how old the tank is, the temp was high but, you caught it and brought it down so, i don;t think that is the problem, I believe you have a toxin in the water, your test want detect it. i would do a 15% water change and run carbon just as fast as i could, don't take a chance on it, it want hurt a thing and might save a life. if you have a shallow sand bed vaccum it, see how much detrius comes up . the tank might be crashing,