All coral in tank seems to be dying suddenly!

[davea]

hi all

 

i need help! i came home from work today to find my 10g reef tank seemingly dying. I have numerous coral in there mainly zoas but i have mushrooms, xenias and a hammer coral. 90% seem to be affected by something they look kind of ill and a little shriveled up, my corals are normally in tip top shape and always open. i just don't understand why! this has happened in less than 24hrs, the only things that are different compared to yesterday is that i did a 30% water change (i normally do a 15% every ten days) and i bought a red star fish the weekend and he died over night which is not really unusual for star fish.

 

all parameters seem to be ok apart from phosphate which is at 0.5 but i don't think that is majorly high to cause such a change! is it?

 

any help would be really appreciated

[Pinner Reef]

pics, specific params, and procedures you did during the last 48hrs would help. My first idea would be something went wrong during the waterchange and that is causing the crash (check your salinity?). I assume you pulled the starfish's corpse?

 

Others to check temp, stray voltage lol could go on and on.

[davea]

Thanks for the the reply i havent done anything with the tank apart from the water change and of course pulling the star fish corpse out.

 

The parameters for the tank are:

Phosphate 0.5

ammonia 0.25

nitrate 20

Kh 10

salinity 1.024

temp 24.3

 

No pictures at the min as the tank is closed for the night!

[Pinner Reef]

You're suffering a mini crash... Possibly from the dying starfish. Do a big water change and get those ammonia and nitrate readings down. Just make sure the new water is really well mixed. Might boost the temp a bit as well. Phosphates are not the cause but they will also be reduced with the big waterchage. Hope it pulls thru for ya.

[CronicReefer]

Give it time for the ammonia to fall off this is why your corals are staying closed. Also I would try to bring your phosphates down to less than 0.05 (10x lower than what they are now).

[dpoltsdsu]

I think the starfish had something to do with it. I would try to do another water change to try and lower the ammonia a bit.

[ghostgr]

Do a large water change like previously stated. Also add a bottle of nitrifying bacteria for added security.

[davea]

Thanks for all the replys guys I'll do another water change later and prey everything livens up! Alot of time,effort and cash gone into that tank

[seabass]

all parameters seem to be ok apart from phosphate which is at 0.5

The parameters for the tank are:

Phosphate 0.5

ammonia 0.25

nitrate 20

Kh 10

salinity 1.024

temp 24.3

It's scary to think that you feel that all of the parameters seem alright except for phosphate (which, as CronicReefer pointed out, is almost 17 times higher than it should be). That along with the available nitrate should make for a nice algae bloom (if you aren't experiencing one yet). I assume that your phosphate kit goes up in 0.25 ppm increments (if so, you need to get a low range phosphate kit). But as everyone has correctly pointed out, ammonia is probably what your tank is reacting to.

 

The ammonia spike could have come from the starfish, or even if you disturbed the sand bed during your water change. Unfortunately, if the source isn't completely removed, additional water changes only temporarily lowers ammonia levels (and they will go back up relatively quickly). I like to keep a bottle of Seachem Prime around to convert the ammonia to a less toxic ammonium; however, this only works for about a day.

 

With parameters, stability is as important as the actual values. And while a parameter like alkalinity (or pH) might look fine during a spot check, a sudden swing caused by dosing (or even a water change) can cause havoc to the inhabitants of your reef tank.

 

The temperature is also a little low. It should be around 26°C.

 

... and i bought a red star fish the weekend and he died over night which is not really unusual for star fish.

I assume/hope that you found out about the mortality rate after you purchased it. Unfortunately, a lot of us have made similar errors, so I can't give you too much grief. However, research is critical prior to any purchase.

[davea]

It's scary to think that you feel that all of the parameters seem alright except for phosphate (which, as CronicReefer pointed out, is almost 17 times higher than it should be). That along with the available nitrate should make for a nice algae bloom (if you aren't experiencing one yet)

Like i said its only the phosphate that seem high compared to normal. The nitrate is what it has been at for 10 months with no issues and that includes no algae blooms and all corals blooming and thriving until yesterday. I do water changes every week to keep paremeters in check due to the small aquarium.i have to put this crash down to the star fish dying as it seems like the corals closest to where the corpse was are effected the most. Its just so frustrating.

[brandon429]

any time this occurs in nano reefing you do a full water change, its cpr. imagine being a cardiac victim and having a choice of 30% compression stroke or full cpr 100%

 

sure, you could possibly live with a 30% approach its possible

 

there is no partiality when dealing with suspected ammonia spikes it trumps all params and is best controlled with a full rip. all you need to match is temp and salt

[davea]

things still don't look good but over today i have done a 50% water change so hopefully that will help and i will do another batch of saltwater tonight and do another water change tomorrow and see what happens!! anyway i have done some pictures of how the tanks currently looks

[davea]

also the ammonia is now down to 0 and phosphate is down 0.25 maybe below after the water change so fingers crossed the tank responds!

[cindyp]

that is the worst. i'm sending you all the good vibes.

[seabass]

the ammonia is now down to 0 and phosphate is down 0.25 maybe below after the water change so fingers crossed the tank responds!

I'm glad the ammonia is no longer detectable. That was the key problem.

 

Makes sense on the phosphate (a 50% water change would reduce the phosphate level by 50%). Another 50% water change would lower the level to 0.125, and another down to 0.0625, and another down to 0.03125 (which is finally acceptable). So using 50% water changes, you would have to change 150% of the water to reduce the phosphate level to target levels.

 

Otherwise, one 88% water change should lower the level to 0.03 ppm (basically what Brandon proposed). Obviously, these water changes will bring nitrate levels down as well. Then slowly (over a few days) bump up the temp to 26°C and wait for them to recover (which might take some time).

 

However, you might not want to reduce the phosphate level so abruptly. Coral will use phosphate as an energy source. You certainly don't want to get rid of all traces of phosphate (as your coral will react negatively to that as well).

[Pinner Reef]

However, you might not want to reduce the phosphate level so abruptly. Coral will use phosphate as an energy source. You certainly don't want to get rid of all traces of phosphate (as your coral will react negatively to that as well).

 

Really? hmm, never heard that one. [Goes to research]

[farkwar]

things still don't look good but over today i have done a 50% water change so hopefully that will help and i will do another batch of saltwater tonight and do another water change tomorrow and see what happens!! anyway i have done some pictures of how the tanks currently looks

Thats gonna crash. Look at that euphillia(hammer looks like), that looks like a reaction to a chemical, like a toxin. It will in turn release a ton of toxin when it succumbs.

 

Pull out anything notably dead. I would pull that euphillia, either put in 10 gallon with new saltwater, or toss it. Its going to pollute your tank.

 

Sequential high percentage water changes.

 

Reactor full of ROX carbon, STAT.

[seabass]

Really? hmm, never heard that one. [Goes to research]

Here are just a few links:

• http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1168053
• http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/high-levels-of-dissolved-inorganic-nitrogen-increase-coral-bleaching-probability
• http://reefbuilders.com/2011/12/05/acropora-phosphate-growth/

[Pinner Reef]

Thanks Seabass. This might partially explain why SPS hate my tank.