vresor Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 That makes sense biologically Mike. So after three years of virtually the same maintenance, what caused the bacteria bloom? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 also see your tank has been running for 3 years... wish we had some more insight into old tank syndrome..accumulation of heavy metals and crap from synthetic salt, phosphates, and who knows what else leeching back into the water from the rocks/sand... etc. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 not really sure what causes the bacteria to bloom other than either nutrients.. over feeding.. any chance someone other than you has been over feeding the fish because they "look" hungry? Link to comment
vresor Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 A chance of course, but a pretty slim one. The wife is bought into the tank and a very responsible tank sitter when I'm out of town. The daughter would never go to the trouble of melting the food. And of course they both deny any "help." The 14 has only the MJ900 and rotating Hydor for circulation. That's been enough for years. From time to time the water level changes though and recently I've been keeping it high so it doesn't gurgle. The relative absence of turbulence and surface area for gas exchange could have raised the chances of a bacteria bloom overcoming the supply of dissolved oxygen. The anoxia model would mean the fish, crabs, snails and clam would have to be able to survive very low oxygen levels though. Not sure that makes sense. Link to comment
vresor Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 We came home to the first viable clue. This morning I had cleaned out the tank and refilled it with six gallons of fresh salt water. I moved the pump into the main tank so it would circulate and turned the heater on. Everything in the quarantine buckets was looking worse and worse. When I noticed that the crabs and shrimp were dead, it was time to take the next step. I put the clam, torch, candy cane, watchman goby, snails and the one crab that only looked dead into the tank. And of course I crossed my fingers. We arrived home a few minutes ago from errands to find the water cloudier than ever. When the clam "saw" me look in the tank it spewed a stream of white goo out of its siphon into the tank. Could that be what has been clouding the water all along? Its "mouth" is gaping wide open, but its lips are out, reactive and look relatively normal. Could it spawn for days (how enviable is that!)? Or is it just dissolving itself in the throes of dead and spitting its guts out? Dunno, but it's going into it's own bowl. Link to comment
thesmallerthebetter Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 We came home to the first viable clue. This morning I had cleaned out the tank and refilled it with six gallons of fresh salt water. I moved the pump into the main tank so it would circulate and turned the heater on. Everything in the quarantine buckets was looking worse and worse. When I noticed that the crabs and shrimp were dead, it was time to take the next step. I put the clam, torch, candy cane, watchman goby, snails and the one crab that only looked dead into the tank. And of course I crossed my fingers. We arrived home a few minutes ago from errands to find the water cloudier than ever. When the clam "saw" me look in the tank it spewed a stream of white goo out of its siphon into the tank. Could that be what has been clouding the water all along? Its "mouth" is gaping wide open, but its lips are out, reactive and look relatively normal. Could it spawn for days (how enviable is that!)? Or is it just dissolving itself in the throes of dead and spitting its guts out? Dunno, but it's going into it's own bowl. i think your on the right track. the clam spawning seems to be a viable option to me i once had a coldwater starfish (ochre) spawn in a 100 gallon tank with 200 gallons of filtration (public aquarium). the spawning nuked the tank (and its connected systems), killed about a dozen 4" leopard sharks, a prized 4' moray, and countless coldwater corals that i had freedove over the course of years..... my vote is for the clam being your undoing dear sir Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Check your ammonia if you haven't already. You most likely have a algae bloom going on in the tank. Have you introduced fish lately or changed something? Also are you running a rio pump? Those things are bad around leaking oil like stuff in tanks. It is a reason I'll never buy a rio. I've been electrocuted by countless rio pumps that the seals go bad where the electrical cord goes into the pump. um i wasted a tank of 120 gallons plus sump when two pumps let go and killed everything in 48 hours no water changed helped me... killed all of it leaching some wierd substance in to my sump then my display tank... Link to comment
Kweli Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I remember someone having problems and finding out it was "fresh air" never getting into his house during the winter months. After opening some windows the air exchange helped the tank recover.. not saying this is your issue, but just putting it out there Link to comment
rO.oster Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 holy hannah this thread was hair raising. I learned something very valuable today. Link to comment
chumcrazy Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Have you looked into your heater maybe it could be broke. Mine stuck on recently up to 94 and the corals looked like hell. Link to comment
itz216 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Just a hypothesis: older tanks probably have established bacteria that dominate the cycle. What if there was a population collapse [insert reason] ...the tank would attempt to cycle like a new tank as other bacteria populations exploded. Although, you should see an ammonia/nitrate spike. Link to comment
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