Had a tank crisis. Opinions how long to wait for new fish.

[lehaneya]

Hello, yesterday I woke up to a crack down the middle of my tank. I pulled everything out and preserved as much water as I could. After putting everything in buckets I picked up a new tank and set it back up again. In total I lost 5 gallons out of 20.

 

This morning all the fish were dead(3 fish). Corals are opening a little so we will wait to see how that goes.

 

Anyway, how long do people usually wait before adding fish again? I was thinking a month. Should it be longer?

[J-Ranko]

Did the fish die after you moved them out from the old tank?

 

I'm wondering if they died from the stress of the transfer, or because a cycle got started after your bacteria population got disturbed. First things first:

 

1. Test for ammonia and nitrites to confirm if this crisis restarted a cycle.

2. Test your other parameters as well (salinity, pH and alk).

 

If a cycle got restarted, you may be able to speed it up by adding Bio-Spira (link). Get this added asap, so find a LFS that stocks it. Online order will take too long. Then test frequently and change water frequently to stop the ammonia/nitrites from spiking too high and killing everything.

 

If there's no indication of a cycle, you're in better shape. You still need to test and monitor and just make sure everything is stable.

 

How long to wait before adding new fish depends on what the condition of your tank is, what actually killed the fish and how soon your parameters stabilize.

[Tamberav]

When you set it back up, did you keep your old sand?

 

Was any rock exposed to air for long periods?

[Hammerstone]

Maybe the fish died from the Suction of the water being sucked out of the tank.

 

Iam so sorry. This is so sad. ?

[lehaneya]

I am going to test my water shortly. I used the same sand and rocks in the new tank.

 

The snails are all still alive and the corals seem ok. Even my birds nest is extending it's polyps so I don't think it is cycling again but I test to be sure.

 

I'm pretty sure the fish were stressed as they went into hiding once in the new tank. The knly one that was out and about was my clown fish but this morning he was gone too.

[Sunstar]

sorry for the fish loss.

 

What manner(brand) of tank was that?

[hyhy]

sorry to hear the bad news. To add new fish, you need to wait and test water first. However, there is no rule for how long to wait....It is case by case most of the time.

[lehaneya]

sorry for the fish loss.

 

What manner(brand) of tank was that?

It was a marineland tank from bif als. They gave me the new tank free since I had the cracked one for less than a year.

[lehaneya]

Did the fish die after you moved them out from the old tank?

 

I'm wondering if they died from the stress of the transfer, or because a cycle got started after your bacteria population got disturbed. First things first:

 

1. Test for ammonia and nitrites to confirm if this crisis restarted a cycle.

2. Test your other parameters as well (salinity, pH and alk).

 

If a cycle got restarted, you may be able to speed it up by adding Bio-Spira (link). Get this added asap, so find a LFS that stocks it. Online order will take too long. Then test frequently and change water frequently to stop the ammonia/nitrites from spiking too high and killing everything.

 

If there's no indication of a cycle, you're in better shape. You still need to test and monitor and just make sure everything is stable.

 

How long to wait before adding new fish depends on what the condition of your tank is, what actually killed the fish and how soon your parameters stabilize.

So I tested amonia, nitrate, and nitrite all are good. So it looks like it is not cycling again.

 

Any input on how long before I can get a new fish?

Also salinity is at 35 ppt so no change there. I don't own a alk or ca test so cannot test that.

[J-Ranko]

I'm surprised ALL your fished died in the process but not your inverts or corals. In a stressful situation it's usually the fish that are hardier than corals and inverts.

 

Were you able to see if they might have caught ich or other parasites that could have affected all of them? All fish dying within the same time but leaving inverts unaffected seems to suggest a fish-specific infection or parasite. That's the biggest concern you should have about adding new fish.

[NanoReefer27]

For sure wait a little bit before adding fish. Can never be too sure

[lehaneya]

I'm surprised ALL your fished died in the process but not your inverts or corals. In a stressful situation it's usually the fish that are hardier than corals and inverts.

 

Were you able to see if they might have caught ich or other parasites that could have affected all of them? All fish dying within the same time but leaving inverts unaffected seems to suggest a fish-specific infection or parasite. That's the biggest concern you should have about adding new fish.

I agree. I think the stress may have made them susceptible to something. I did not notice any ich.

 

Would a month be long enough to rid the system of any parasites?

 

I'm so paranoid now about the tank cracking again. Wish I knew what caused it in the first place.