All Fish Died Within 2 Hours Of Cleaning

[reefforbrains]

my vote is the bed. Windex while toxic, is a very weak toxin when dilluted in that sort of volume.
Cut the lights and hit up a RO unit for good measure for next round. Prevention is best for algea problems. Your tap might be just fine, but it will be BETTER with an RO unit.
Sorry for the loss. I know it can be devistating.
-RFB

 

[aztec reef]

I've never heard of any Tap being that good... I know that even here in Oregon where we have one of the purest waters around we still get a few TDS..
Needless to say, Ro is better .. but Not as good as ro/di.

 

[spiderwoman]

My bet is on solvents on your hands and toothbrush, combined with the Windex and toxins from the tap water. That sandbed would not be toxic enough, not after 2 months. Then again you didn't list what the water parameters were before all this to start with. You have a fairly heavy bioload for a new tank and if there was already ammonia and nitrite in the water, lack of oxygen and toxic solvents could do it.

 

[robertmathern]

I still dont see windex and stiring up the sand bed killing all fish in 2 hours. Tap water either if they have been using it from the start. If it was just a partial water change and the water was that bad to kill fish in a tank that big in 2 hours. If you drink the water it most likely would make you sick. I think it was the alge remover or if you used a sponge to clean the tank. What was on the sponge was it a used sponge. What was it used for.

 

[nwdyr]

Seems like allot of fish in a very young tank

the Windex thing would not do it that fast , like the others said the sand bed thing also prob. not a issue. I am thinking a combo of huge Bio-load in a new tank and maybe some outside contaminant , like chem. on your hands-toothbrush-sponge etc.. Turn off the lights and check your water every day for a week of so. I will catch hell for this but I would throw a couple guppies in ( they can live in S/W) just to make sure everything is OK before you re-stock. Also of course water change with RO water!!! Why would anyone use tap water?

 

[spiderwoman]

Run some carbon to remove any toxins in the water.

 

[bang guy]

IMO having Tangs,Butterfly,Clowns, Humu and an Anemone in a 2 month old tank is a ticking time bomb. Any small disturbance of the bioligic filtration such as cleaning the filter material, could result in a chain reaction of deaths. If there was an excess of Ammonia caused by disturbing the filtration then adding Prime would lower the oxygen content of a tank already on the edge.
What are your water parameters?

 

[usirchchris]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2896329
They add chemicals to the water to kill off bacteria and such.
is this not a constant? This is what I am confused about. You stated they may have "just" treated the water. I am under the understanding that this is a constant process that must be done, not something done every so often

.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by usirchchris
http:///forum/post/2896503
is this not a constant? This is what I am confused about. You stated they may have "just" treated the water. I am under the understanding that this is a constant process that must be done, not something done every so often

.
The water is always treated but every so often they "flush" the system by adding a higher concentration of chemicals. I don't now what all they add to be honest. They usually send a letter to let the residents know that they are doing it so that they don't drink the water.

 

[usirchchris]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2896537
The water is always treated but every so often thy "flush" the system by adding a higher concentration of chemicals. I don't now what all they add to be honest. They usually send a letter to let the residents know that they are doing it so that they don't drink the water.
Interesting, they don't do that around here, or anywhere else I have been. Must be that "big city" livin'

.

 

[florida joe]

Did you notice a smell like rotten eggs when you were cleaning the substraight ?

 

[vicegrip]

Originally Posted by usirchchris
http:///forum/post/2896545
Interesting, they don't do that around here, or anywhere else I have been. Must be that "big city" livin'

.
sepulatian is right all city water, even small towns, have to flush the lines few times a year. They will also shock the system if something shows up on tests.

 

[aztec reef]

Bang i think im on the same page as you..
However, Eventhough he was treating the Tap water with prime.. Im guessing He was doing it before it went into DT and hopefully he was also aerating this treated water for at least 24hrs..
Im sure water chemistry is distorded ,Otherwise he wouldn't have such algea abundance even on sandbed..I can only imagine how bad the nitrogen compounds accumulated and decomposed in such period with a high bioload..
The bomb was released inside the tank via sanbed and filter disturbances..Sandbed hasn't even started maturing yet...
Im guessing he's tank is less that 50g..

 

[robertmathern]

If you read his first post he has a 125 gal

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
http:///forum/post/2896845
However, Eventhough he was treating the Tap water with prime.. Im guessing He was doing it before it went into DT and hopefully he was also aerating this treated water for at least 24hrs.
Yep, you're right. After 24 hours the O2 content of the water would be fine. I misread the post thinking he added the prime to the tank.

 

[wattsupdoc]

A proper treatment plant uses chlorine and fluoride, that's it...No need to treat it with anything else. * gallons out of 125 didn't do this. Bang suggested too much stock too fast. I would agree this is the case. The OP didn't say how he cleaned the filters....Cleaning with FW is what I suspect. Stirring the SB alone didn't do it either...Even if it was a DSB, 2 months likely isn't enough time for a sulfur spike to be the cause...I say this is a multiple cause event.
1. Too much too fast, lack of test equipment...Ammonia in the column to start with.
2. cleaning all filters simultaneously, caused an ammonia spike...killed all beneficial bacteria in the FILTERS...
3. Stirring SB, further released ammonia, as well as likely trites and SULPHUR..4. Possible contamination by cleaning chemicals.
I also imagine that lack of flow has some part here also, however the OP didn't state how much flow they have..... I believe increased flow(for aeration) would have helped the situation out....

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2896855
I also imagine that lack of flow has some part here also, however the OP didn't state how much flow they have..... I believe increased flow(for aeration) would have helped the situation out....

I agree whole-heartedly.

 

[ophiura]

I don't believe the original poster has responded on some key questions, in particular, IMO, the use of kitchen sponges etc.
Clearly the tank had some serious issues to begin with - overstocked and a major algae problem. Not trying to be mean here, just an observation.
There are any number of issues. I don't necessarily believe that the tap water is the cause, even if there was a chloramine spike at the time. It was 8 gallons out of say 100. Low concentration. Same is true of the windex though IMO it is not a good plan to have around.
I am interested in anything possibly on the hands. anything else going on at the time including other house cleaning, painting, etc. A death of this magnitude, which also killed inverts, requires a significant immediate toxin. IMO, not ammonia.
It would be good to know about the behavior of the fish as they were going. And if anything else has been put in the tank since then and survived. I would be interested in what algae stuff was used an how much.
I suspect to some degree this may have been a "perfect" storm scenario of several smaller things - not too good - that came together at once. But it will be important to eliminate certain toxins as it may kill further fish.
How deep is the sand bed? There is concern if indeed there was algae growing on the surface that it was some sort of hydrogen sulfide issue though in a 2 month old tank I would be somewhat surprised.

 

[momo]

Thank you for everyone's comments on my situation. Let me clarify some things first. One, this was a total filtration change - rinsed filters with tap water; replaced all filters within canister; did add 8 gallons of mixed tap water plus prime. Two, tangs, butterflies went first; Huma went next day. Put carbon filtration system in. Clowns lived for one day after carbon introduced. Anemone appears to be alive but hiding within rocks.
Still have massive amounts of algae on rocks and sand. Looking for advice on how to proceed. Water peramaters tested and all within normal limits. Solidity of water within normal limits. Person who tested water couldn't find any problems. Should I start over?
P.S. All fish introduced at once 3 weeks ago and were doing fine. This was not first cleaning and filter change since fish introduced.

 

[wfd1008]

what did you use to kill the algae? i'm guessing that has a big something to do with it.