All of my fish are dead-In 6 Months!

[lovetofly31]

I have a 55 gal FOWLR tank. Two powerheads, One coralife skimmer, 1 millenium powerfilter.
Originally in the tank I had snails, crabs, clam, copepods, (2) false perc's (1) copperband butterfly, (1) fireshrimp.
My tank has been running for 6 months now, and all of the sudden I come home to find all of my fish are dead, except for (1) false perc. Snails and crabs are still going.
After doing an immediate check of parameters I found that:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30
Ph: 7.4
Salinity: 30ppt
Specific Gravity: 1.023
Temp 84
Pictures below are from a week ago. I've notice a lot of red algae growth, and some small white specks that appear in groups on the glass. I've also just recently started adding liquid calcium on a recommendation from another fish lover.
What could have happened?

 

[9supratt4]

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but your PH is a little low....it should be around 8.0.
I'm assuming you allowed the tank to cycle and everything before adding the fish?

 

[prime311]

Well first off, never dose anything without testing first. Only add Calcium if your Calcium is low. Secondly, the pH is pretty low, you should check your Alk, Calcium, and Mag. Also have your Nitrite and Ammonia levels doublechecked with a different test kit. For all the Fish to die suddenly and not the inverts I suspect you have stray electricity or contaminants in the tank.

 

[spiderwoman]

Your pH is really low, the ideal area is 8.2 - 8.4. Also your temp is IMO high. The oxygen level in the water probably dropped drastically and therefore killed your fish.

 

[nycbob]

yeah ph is very low. make sure ur test kit is accurate. u hv no corals, so adding calcium is not needed. ur calcium will be enough with water change, since the only thing that needs calcium r really the snails. the red thing growing on ur rocks r cyano algae. no big deal, and is due to overfeeding most likely.

 

[sepulatian]

All of your fish died in one day without symptoms? When was the last time that you checked you readings prior to the ones listed?

 

[rockman]

Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2645418
yeah ph is very low. make sure ur test kit is accurate. u hv no corals, so adding calcium is not needed. ur calcium will be enough with water change, since the only thing that needs calcium r really the snails. the red thing growing on ur rocks r cyano algae. no big deal, and is due to overfeeding most likely.

I agree with NYCBOB It seems that a nutrient rich water problem is the prime culprit. Not that the Cyano is eating left over food particles, but left over food particles are breaking down into harmful excess nutrients. Add Light plus dissolved organic carbon/organic material ( D.O.C ), and you have a great recipe for the preferred Eco-System of CyanoBacteria.

 

[niskyvaulter]

i can texplain the others, but a copperband is a very delcate fish that reacts to any change in water quality, but im not sure why the others would die at the same time.

 

[lovetofly31]

Sep,
There was about 3 weeks between testings, but my parameters have always been dead on. I don't mess with much, outside of putting 5 gallons of fresh culligans water in each week.
What would cause my ph to drop?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
http:///forum/post/2646313
Sep,
There was about 3 weeks between testings, but my parameters have always been dead on. I don't mess with much, outside of putting 5 gallons of fresh culligans water in each week.
What would cause my ph to drop?
I am guessing here, because I don't know all of the facts from your tank, but the dosing of calcium to a FOWLR would have added excess nutrients. They become acidic if they are not removed or used. The acidity would drop your PH. A quick drop is not good at all. Your PH is 7.4 was it always that low? I would think that the drop in PH would effect your inverts as well. Have you tested your tank for stray voltage? The fact that all but one died over night leads me to believe that something unnatural happened within the tank. Has anyone used an sprays or anything like that near the tank?

 

[j-ville]

Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2645399
Your pH is really low, the ideal area is 8.2 - 8.4. Also your temp is IMO high. The oxygen level in the water probably dropped drastically and therefore killed your fish.
I agree with spiderwoman, your temp is a bit high, which carries less O2 then at a lower temp of say 76-78. Your pH is not helping. You need to buffer until it is around 8.2-8.4. Sometimes less maitanance is better than too much IMO. Get your numbers right and than monitor them before adding anything.

 

[sepulatian]

I really don't think that the temp is an issue here unless it rapidly increased. 84 is not terribly high. Many reefs are warmer. There are two power heads running so there wouldn't be lack of oxygen. JMO

 

[j-ville]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2646593
I really don't think that the temp is an issue here unless it rapidly increased. 84 is not terribly high. Many reefs are warmer. There are two power heads running so there wouldn't be lack of oxygen. JMO
In combination with the acidity is what I meant, sorry for the confusion.

 

[j-ville]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
http:///forum/post/2646313
Sep,
There was about 3 weeks between testings, but my parameters have always been dead on. I don't mess with much, outside of putting 5 gallons of fresh culligans water in each week.
What would cause my ph to drop?
Correct the pH and then monitor.
Did you notice, in the days leading up to the deaths, any of the fish rappidly breathing or gulping at the surface? Any chance the power was out while you were gone?
An imbalance in trace elements could cause the drop.

 

[srfisher17]

Were there only 3 fish in the tank, or did I miss something?If I added correctly, only 2 fish died. IMO, the copperband is a victim of the water quality (excess nutrients, maybe)...but they are very delicate fish in the 1st place and demand pristine water. The 2nd fish ( clown) could just be co-incidence. But, IMO, regular maintenance is needed; all that red slime algae (bacteria) has to have a food source.

 

[lovetofly31]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2646316
I am guessing here, because I don't know all of the facts from your tank, but the dosing of calcium to a FOWLR would have added excess nutrients. They become acidic if they are not removed or used. The acidity would drop your PH. A quick drop is not good at all. Your PH is 7.4 was it always that low? I would think that the drop in PH would effect your inverts as well. Have you tested your tank for stray voltage? The fact that all but one died over night leads me to believe that something unnatural happened within the tank. Has anyone used an sprays or anything like that near the tank?
Ok. I do understand the issue with adding calcium. The Ph has always been 8.4 since my tank was set up 6 months ago. Ph has never changed one bit, and what you're saying makes sense because I don't think I've tested the water since I started putting calcium in. Lesson definitely learned.
On the stray voltage issue, how do I go about testing for it?

 

[lovetofly31]

Originally Posted by J-Ville
http:///forum/post/2646901
Correct the pH and then monitor.
Did you notice, in the days leading up to the deaths, any of the fish rappidly breathing or gulping at the surface? Any chance the power was out while you were gone?
An imbalance in trace elements could cause the drop.

I've increased the Ph and it's back at 8.4 now. I've had my fireshrimp for about 4 months, and since I put him in he's always had his favorite spot. I noticed a few days prior that he was starting to move around quite a bit. When I left for work that day, I checked and they all looked ok. When I came home, the copperband was lying at the bottom of the tank, and the fireshrimp was lying there also, but he looked like he was having seizures. I'm sure fish don't have seizures but that's what it looked like. He just kept fading until a couple days later he was 100% dead.
Power was never out to my knowledge.

 

[lovetofly31]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/2646961
Were there only 3 fish in the tank, or did I miss something?If I added correctly, only 2 fish died. IMO, the copperband is a victim of the water quality (excess nutrients, maybe)...but they are very delicate fish in the 1st place and demand pristine water. The 2nd fish ( clown) could just be co-incidence. But, IMO, regular maintenance is needed; all that red slime algae (bacteria) has to have a food source.
I had two false percs and one copperband. Also one fire shrimp. All that's alive now is one false perc, and my inverts.
How do I get the red algae cleaned up? It's starting to turn into an olive green algae now.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
http:///forum/post/2647435
Ok. I do understand the issue with adding calcium. The Ph has always been 8.4 since my tank was set up 6 months ago. Ph has never changed one bit, and what you're saying makes sense because I don't think I've tested the water since I started putting calcium in. Lesson definitely learned.
On the stray voltage issue, how do I go about testing for it?
You would need a voltmeter. If the PH was, and has always been, 8.4 then you experienced a PH crash due to the dosing of unneeded nutrients.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
http:///forum/post/2647444
I had two false percs and one copperband. Also one fire shrimp. All that's alive now is one false perc, and my inverts.
How do I get the red algae cleaned up? It's starting to turn into an olive green algae now.
Is it slimy?