ahhh please helpp!!!

[tangs123]

my tank has been running smooth for 2.5 years now but today i decided to clean some algae that was accumulating on the sand bed... i do this every once in a while but this time when i did it all of my fish died

including one clown fish and a small sailfin tang.... i have a 75g reef and i do this regular maintenence all the time... i just tested all of my water parameters everything is fine and the corals are all beginning to open up again...
the only thing that happened in the tank was a small stir-up of some sediment which happens whenever i clean.. but for some reason this time it killed all my fish

 

[chellie4u2]

I believe its bad to stir up the sand bed as it release's Nitrates which may be what killed your fish?? Sorry about your fish..

 

[tangs123]

would nitrates affect all of my inverts and corals too because everything is doing fine now... maybe the fish have been getting stressed time after time and finially they were put over the limit, i tested the water right when this started happening and everything was at zero is really the thing that makes me the most angry... if i could locate the exact problem i can have peace and know not to do it again

 

[beth]

The sand bed should not be stirred or vacuumed. Rely on sand bed detritovores to do this for you. How do you mix your water? What is your pH?

 

[metweezer]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/2513353
The sand bed should not be stirred or vacuumed. Rely on sand bed detritovores to do this for you. How do you mix your water? What is your pH?
Beth,
When I do a water change I use the Python and I drive it right into the sand. Are you saying I shouldn't be doing this

. Could this be the cause of my recent Cyano?
Thanks, Steve

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by metweezer
http:///forum/post/2513377
Beth,
When I do a water change I use the Python and I drive it right into the sand. Are you saying I shouldn't be doing this

. Could this be the cause of my recent Cyano?
Thanks, Steve
I don't think that would cause cyano but you should definitely NOT be stirring up the sand! Like Beth said, you should use a clean up crew that will clean the sand for you.

 

[metweezer]

Yeah but my clean up crew spends more time on the glass than in the sand. I have ceriths, nassarius, astreas and nerites. Also blue leg hermits and scarlet reef hermits. I am trying to get rid of my Cyano with red slime remover. I did a second dose today as the first dose did absolutely nothing. No feeding, no fish, plenty of water flow and I turned off the lights for the last 2 days

. Standard parameters seem spot on.

Steve

 

[tangs123]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/2513353
The sand bed should not be stirred or vacuumed. Rely on sand bed detritovores to do this for you. How do you mix your water? What is your pH?
pH was 8.1 using my digital tester, seems around normal... when you say mixing water do you mean my water change... if that then i use a 10 gal tank fill it with 10gallons of filtered water and mix the correct amount of salt to get the correct SG, from there i usually wait about a day and make sure all of the salt is dissolved before i remove the other water from the 75g and add the freshly mixed water

 

[beth]

You have got to balance your system by establishing sand dwelling animals that will stir for you. Vacuuming is always a bad idea. If your cleaning crew is not in the sand, then they are not sand dwelling detritovores. You destroy part of your bio-filter every time you vacuum. This is one reason why so many hobbyists who do this are shocked when their fish start dying immediately following a maintenance cleaning. The less you rely on human manipulation and the more you create natural filters and cleaning, the better off your tank will be.
Of course, if you have a FO tank, you have to rely on the mechanical chores of maintenance. Aggressive systems also have its limits since some sand critters are food for aggressive fish.

 

[lizzy]

So what would you recomend to clean the sand bed?