What now? post-wipeout

[Gilman]

I had a total wipe out a month or so ago. 90 gal. fish only marine. There is a skimmer, chiller and a 2 chamber trickle filter. I have many years experience in the hobby.

I did five 20 gal. water changes, added carbon for a week, changed the minimal substrate, 2 fluorescent bulbs, cleaned all the coral skeletons and tested the water. Even added some Biozime.


S.G. 1.022
temp 76
Ammonia-zero
nitrites- zero
Nitrates 10
PH- 8.2
Dissolved oxygen- 6ppm

I added a yellow tang this week and he died within 3 days, breathing heavily.
I am thinking of doing more water changes and carbon and trying a test again. Short of tearing down the whole system and sterilizing it, any other thoughts?

Tearing it down is a lot of work and would disrupt any good biological environment that migtht remain.

Advice appreciated.

-Gilman

[crlkeep]

First let me say that I am very sorry to here of your loss.

One question I have is do you utilize Live Rock or Live Sand in your tank? If so, how much?

[Gilman]

Thanks for the reply. No live rock or sand.
Are you thinking meds?

-Marty

[crlkeep]

Without the use of live rock and/or live sand, then diet could be a big part in what happened to your fish. A varried diet should be fed to your fish so they get all the nutrients they need. LR and LS help to provide these in the form of the fauna and infauna that dwell and reproduce in them.

You said you did a bunch of 20% water changes, so water quality should not be the concern. I would wait a while then start adding some fish and such.

IMHO and IME you should start to use LR and/or LS. This will reduce the amounts and types of food that you need to feed.

[Gilman]

Thanks for the reply. I do not think nutrition was the factor. I had these fish for 9 years and they all died within 3 days.I think some kind of toxin got in the tank from a source like our cleaning lady's chemicals or something to that effect.

The weird thing is that when I introduced a new fish a month later, 5 water changes later, it died too.

I am doing more WCs and will do carbon again for a week, then add another test fish and see if it survives. I am concerned that there is something "living" in the hoses, chiller or someplace else in the system.

-Gilman

[crlkeep]

It is possible that a toxin entered your tank. Most of the time it is cleaning chemicals as you have suspected. I had a rusting razor blade that started to wipe out my tank, luckily I am study my tank daily, and was able to remove the blade and restore water quality before losing everything. I did lose my Dwarf lion, and a 2 years old colony of Eupyllia ancora Anchor Coral.

Remember that it is also possible that the test fish you added already, may have died under perfect conditions as well. No accounting for the actual health of the fish before you added it.

This is a very interesting problem, so please keep us informed as to your results.

[Gilman]

Good news, finally.

After more water changes and another week of running carbon I added 3 fish. One week later, The The Auriga Butterfly, Spanish Hogfish & Hippo Tang are all doing great!

I plan to add more fish this week, but am not sure the condition of the bio filter and how much it can handle as I restock. The fish above were only about 2" each.

I will test the water & proceed.

Thanks for all the help. I'm glad I didn't have to break it all down and sterilize.

-Gilman

[crlkeep]

That is great news!!!!!

You sure do have an eye for good looking fish. :)

Keep me updated, and hows about a little info on your feeding habits. 9 years is very impressive, you must have been doing pretty good at offering a varied diet. What, and how often do you feed fish?

[Gilman]

The water tested perfect yesterday so I added a juvenile emperor angel and a blue/green bird-nosed wrasse. They are all doing great, eating voraciously and getting along. These are little jewels to behold!

As for food, I make my own mixture of:

salmon, shrimp, clams, scallops, squid, zucchini, broccoli, kelp, carrots and vitamins.

I also feed romaine lettuce. I feed twice a day and have a substantial growth of green algae on the coral skeletons for nibbling.

I have a semi-automatic water change system and change 20 gallons every 14 days.

-Marty