JLTRUK Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 This is so weird...last night I went and bought a little shirp and I brought home 3 tiny coral frags the size of my thumb nail to introduce to my tank... well then my 2 damsels died, my sally light foot died, and my new srimp died... I acclimated the shrimp and the frags and introduced them all in...then I dosed Salifert all in one and Kent Marine Iodine well thenn things went to hell... Damsel 1 dies...shrimp dies...sally light foot dies, damsel 2 dies...what the hell? then I did a water change last night (2gals) in a 12gal tank and this morning my brother offered up one of his clowns...he wanted to only have 1 anyway, and let me put the other in my tank...I acclimated him and as soon as I set him free he started bouncing around the top of the water swimming sideways and trying to jump out...I neettd him and now it is fine again in my bros tank I have done all the tests, everything is in check...there is nothing off balance The only thing I have done differently is I began to dose -Salifert all one -Kent Marine Iodine All of that is stuff I have used before also...in other tanks in the past What do you think...should I do a 50% water change...or even a 100% I am desperate here...what do you think happened Link to comment
tinyreef Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 do the wc. when in doubt, wc it out. could be some toxin from the additives but since you've used them in the past i would guess the coral additions or something from the acclimation process. ??? what kind of corals? did you add any of the water from the lfs? what else do you have in the tank? change/add/subtract anything else? i'd suggest you run some carbon and switch it fairly often (i.e. 2~3 days). wc 25% of the tank today, 25% tomorrow, and so on until 100%. then try again with the clown from your helpful bro. hth Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 11, 2003 Author Share Posted August 11, 2003 Since my reef had only been up about a week I reset the whole thing Here is my problem, I am treating this 12gal Nano like a 160gal tank and putting in too much crap that is unnecessary...I blame myself completly This is what I did... Took out all the water accept for about as much as could cover the live sand... Put all my live rock in a bucket with tank water... Emptied the tank, got new carbon...I use Chemi Pure Good call on changing this since my old carbon was probably used up trying to suck up the damn Iodine I put in Washed out all my sponges, washed my bio balls, and the ceramics in the filter (I wanted nothing from the old tank...even though I know some is left in the sand and rock) Basically I reset the whole darn thing... Then in comes the new water, put the rock back in, put in Bacter-Vital to help it cycle and for good measure added some Reef builder also I'll wait till Friday, see how it goes...by Friday I should be straight again. I'll keep doing Bacter-Vital till Thursday, 30 drops a day till Wednesday, Thursday I will put in 24 drops and Then do a 1 gal water change... Hopefully this will put me back in check...Damn I have been out of this salt water thing for too long, but its coming back to me **oh yah, I had not put in any LFS water, and the corals were some cheapy polyp frags** Link to comment
Spencerx Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 have you checked your iodine levels? its really easy to overdose iodine... Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Bet you a dollar you over dosed the iodine. There is no test that will indicate it either. ( there may be but I don tknow of any off hand.) Iodine is a very tricky thing to dose correctly. If I were you I would change at least 3/4's of the water out over a weeks time before you try another fish. as well as change the filter media and carbon. this may sound very stupid but I have seen it happen more than once. Did you dechlorinate the water you replaced? Fish will get chlorine burns on their gills and die in less than 30 minutes if you dont remove the chlorine. SO assuming you did. Change out 3/4's tank volume in roughly a weeks time. change the carbon and filter media. Test your water thoroughly after every water change to see if anything differ's. Last but not least. Keep your hands out of the tank! LOL! That is usualy the way foriegn chemicals get introduces and the ones that tests cant pick up. Say you put som elotion on and forget about it. WHAM! Say you washed your hands with SOAP right before you stuck your hands in your tank. WHAM! etc, etc... Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 11, 2003 Author Share Posted August 11, 2003 I changed out all the water, cleaned out the whole filter and started from scratch. Oh and I am using Ocean water from the fish store, I don't mix my salt water...so the water is pure Thanks for all your help everyone:) Link to comment
caja Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Originally posted by JLTRUK Since my reef had only been up about a week I reset the whole thing I'm sorry, but I am a little confused here. Maybe I missed a previous post, but here you say your tank has only been set up for a week and you're dumping livestock into it and are surprised they are dying? I don't disagree at all with tiny and salty, but please elaborate on your cycle process. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 i agree with caja. there's some confusing details. do you have another SW/reef system where you got the wet/dry filter from? it sounds like the older wet/dry setups with the sponges, ceramics, and balls so i assumed you had some previous experience and glossed over some issues. Oh and I am using Ocean water from the fish store, I don't mix my salt water...so the water is pure (emphasis added)i don't want to assume you've checked the water just like i assumed the cycle and stuff previously. i hate to bash any lfs but when someone else makes your water, imo you should double-check it. i doubt it would cause the deaths or reactions you noted but it could contribute to nutrient problems later on. Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 11, 2003 Author Share Posted August 11, 2003 its Catalina ocean water, not mixed Fish store water... and yes there is another tank I stole stuff from. sorry I should have been more specific...and yes I did steal a few bio balls from an established tank along with a bag a carbon that had been in one as well. also I cycle with bacter-vital so that helps out as well...I know I tried to rush the cycle process. I am really new at this Nano thing. I can guarantee you that in a bigger tank this would not have happened. (I used to maintain the tanks for a biology classroom before and none of this ever happened to me then, after 5 days with the Bacter-Vital you can begin loading that sucker up and everything would be fine. I figured the same for the Nano) I am now realizing that adding stuff to such is small tank is not as easy as it looks. I have had a lot of salt water experience in the past, but never on such a small scale. Thanks for everyones help around here though! Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 its the iodine...ive been reffing for like 4 years and ive doen it too...i had the same problem as you. it wasnt that you added things. it was the iodine i can almost guarantee it. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 did you even try testing for ammonia or nitrites before you added anything? In my experience "bottled colonies" still take a while to kick in. Plus as far as I know carbon isn't going to absorb toxic ammonia fast enough compared to the damage it causes. Test test test! I think seachem has an iodine test by the way... Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 12, 2003 Author Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by JLTRUK I have done all the tests, everything is in check...there is nothing off balance Dude, check out my post again. I did test everything, that was the main issue. Well everything but the Iodine since I coudn't find a test kit for that But thanks for the advice, this is kinda a dead topic now since I have already emptied the tank and reset everything...it will be cool this time around. Link to comment
OpenBrain Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 I came across this in "Water Chemistry for the Marine Aquarium" by J.H. Tullock, 2002, Barron's Educational Series, pg. 63. "...Should the pH of the water subsequently fall for some reason, however, the copper will redissolve, dramatically increasing its concentration in the water, with concomitant toxic effects on the fish. Copper intoxication will cause many marine fish to dash madly about the tank, as if trying to escape. Removing the fish to copper-free water will immediately correct the problem." Thought of you. Good luck... Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 12, 2003 Author Share Posted August 12, 2003 Man! I wonder if that is what happend. There are so many variables that now I really dont know what the problem was. My fish definately did dash madly across the water...but my Ph was just around 8.2 when I tested it... Link to comment
Metznreef Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 if the corals look fine but all the fish and mobile inverts died, it is most definatly iodine. i had a similar problem in my 7 bow when i overdosed iodine. the cleaner shrimp, clown fish and emerald crab all died while the corals looked as healthy as ever. Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted August 12, 2003 Author Share Posted August 12, 2003 1st...if Metz is for the NY Mets...you may be interested in knowing that in my recent trip to NY I went to the Mets club house and got a new hat... I get one every year...one for every year the Mets have disappointed me...LOL Yah, the few coral frags I had were fine...but when I tore down my tank I gave one of my brothers the corals for his tank...this may be the iodine after all. Thanks for narrowing this down for me. I will never use that Iodine again...I curse the day I bought that damn bottle! Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 whoops, sorry I missed the test line somehow. Spent too much time at the Forum last night I guess. So on the topic of iodine, what is up with the Iodide stuff? Is that somehow safer than adding iodine? I have Seachem Reef Iodide that I used sparingly for some ghost shrimp in a FW tank (didn't help) and was hoping I could use it in my reef tank as needed.... Link to comment
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