uummm, Why did my fish die?

The sump had been functional for about two months. I had a different overflow system in place.

I had done a 20% water change two weeks ago.

I did rinse the carbon before I put it in.

I did not use a sock. It was loose in the overflow.

Sorry, but I do not have more specific numbers on the chemical parameters.

 

Take a water sample to your LFS. They may charge u for reading it, but it is needed info.

What type of water did u use, tap or RO/DI?

It sounds like a spike on one of your parameters.

Again, this info is absolutely necessary to find out the cause!

Were the fish looking sad the day before and the day of?
Did you add anything else at all beside the carbon?

Sent from my phone using my two opposable digits

 

Perhaps I'm missing something but I guess I can't fathom how carbon could be added in such a way without it completely filling the display tank. I'm picturing a Dairy Queen Blizzard in my mind.

Even with a tank nearly opaque with suspended carbon, I don't think it would adversely affect the inhabitants, but it certainly couldn't be good for things otherwise.

A reef tank best practice is to not do anything too quickly, and that includes removing pollutants, but as Seano pointed out, carbon could only remove nutrients, not add pollutants (unless contaminated). Corals could be shocked by the rapid removal of nitrates, for instance--but I don't know any nutrient whose instant disappearance would kill fish.

My gut feeling is that the carbon is not the culprit here, but I'm not sure.

 

i know, i was wondering the same thing...

um, you listed your fish's deaths by occurrence, meaning you at least saw some of your fish's behavior before they died right?

could you tell us some detail about that?

if it was something such as an ammonia spike, by the time he checks his water the numbers wont be the same.

 

I read a few years ago that certain types of activated carbon can deplete the DO within minutes if not soaked for several minutes prior to being added; however, I never found any follow-up articles on the subject. Does anyone know if there is any merit to that, or was another cause found for similar stories of fish-kills after adding carbon?