fish dead= cloudy tank?!

[galina]

I woke up today to find all my fish dead.. well, there were only two, and they were damsels but it's still really bugging me.
My powerfilter was broken, and I had to get it fixed at the store, since it had a warranty, and I thought my fish would be ok for a couple days since I had 20 lbs live sand.
It was a 30 gallon tank, and when I woke up, the water was really cloudy.. could the fish deaths cause this?
When I tested the water, the nitrates, nitrates, and ammonia were all pretty high and the PH had dropped from 8.0 to 7.8.
Also, the heater was at 81*, when I was keeping it at 79*.. could this fluxuation kill them?
Does anyone know if the death from two small damsels could cloud the entire 30 tank?
Should I do a full water change?
Thanks for any help.

 

[brooklyn johnny]

A classic breakdown of biological filtration. It wasn't the heater or the fish death that caused the cloudiness, but rather the nitrifying bacteria couldn't handle the load on the tank resulting in the cloudiness. Your best bet is to start from scratch and reconsider filter choices to something more reliable. Use the time to read up and learn more. I recommend Michael Paletta's THE NEW MARINE AQUARIUM. Better luck next time and hang in there.

 

[galina]

Alright, thanks.

 

[galina]

One more thing... how big of a water change should I do before I consider starting over? And how long will a tank be okay just empty? WIllthe bacteria die?

 

[25gator]

let it cycle on its own. but you did not say if the filter is back. you nead to keep the water moving. a power head or even air pump should do it. if you removed the only water mover you didnt have a fish tank you had a swamp!!!that might be the reason for the deaths.how many days-was there any water movement.a powerhead is always good backup pump.

 

[galina]

The powerhead was only removed for about 3 days.. well, I learned my lesson.
Next time I'll have to be more careful.. and not so stupid.

 

[25gator]

we all have to learn the hard way once and awhile i lost 500 in fish last month thanx ick!!if you only have one power head you should run two plus an aquaclear 200 or similar pump for fish good luck in future!!!