Help! My tank is sick...

[jeebus]

The Tank: 37-gallon reef setup approx. 2 years old – well established with about 30lbs of live rock. Runs with an Eclipse hood (filter and modified light) and a Prizm protein skimmer. There are also 2 power heads and a heater (temp @ 78 deg).
Problem: One week ago my Anthias died which seems to mark the start of the decline. Over the past couple of days I noticed the water was slightly cloudy, but it did not seem alarmingly abnormal. Then this morning I found a dead Brittle Star and a dead Mexican Trochus Snail (large). So I did a water change about 1/3 of a tank. Now I have found another dead Brittle Star and dead Serpent Star. In addition there looks to be another dead Trochus. I have also observed large a cocopod die off. Other inhabitants that seem to be ill include a small Ricordia Mushroom and a Blue Damsel.
Some critters seem unaffected (so far) including a Zebra Damsel, Skunk Cleaner and a Coral Banded Shrimp and some hermits.
I have not had a problem with the tank in a long time. The only test I have been able to run so far is Nitrite and it was fine. (I am out of my other test kits). SG is also fine at 1.024.
Could the sick/dead snail have contaminated the food chain and the water? How about the Ricordia?
Any suggestions are truly appreciated.
Final thoughts: The water smelled a little funky – I’d say rotten - when I changed it. Also there seems to be a small amount of a clear looking slime present on some of the rock.

 

[tigershark]

IF it smelled rotten, I would say that something is dead in there and rotting away. I would try to locate the dead animal and remove it immediately followed by a water change to remove ammonia in the water. I would also get a test kit for ammonia as it is highly toxic(Im sure you know that) Just try to get anything that gives off that funky smell cuz it is surely causing a problem in your tank.

 

[jeebus]

I think I have all the dead critters out of the tank. I will do another search and make sure. Would you recommend another water change regardless of what I find? I will buy an Ammonia test ASAP. Thanks for the help.

 

[tigershark]

If it still smells funky then I would just to try and get the ammonia out and save the remaining animals. I know that certain dechlorinators will remove ammonia also so that might help with ammonia removal. I am not sure how much you can add safely tho, depending on the ammonia levels. Also try and get the new water as close to the good tank parameters as possible: pH, temp, salinity so you dont stress or kill the animals in the tank. Also there is a product called 'cycle' which has tons of bacteria in it and that would probably help out your animals as well. I am worried about the same thing happening in my tank but mine is only 2 mos old. I have a bunch of hermits so hopefully they will eat any snails or anything else that might die before it starts to rot. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[newbiesalttank]

I am not a big fan of snails for the exactly the reason you specified. I know they are a great help with the algae control but when one of those guys kick the bucket(especially the large ones) and no one eats them....you enter a mini cycle that can turn large when the ammonia starts to build up and messes up the tank system.
I think I can say with certainity that we all know how it feels to watch a good tank go into a hell basket within a week or so. Good Luck!

 

[jeebus]

INewbieSaltTank, I think you may be right. Worse part is that I don't think I needed the snails in first place and they probably starved to death. Bummer! Live and learn. Hopefully I can get this thing cycled quickly and put this ugliness behind me. No more snails!

 

[newbiesalttank]

Good Luck. In the future, I would probably suggest getting smaller turbo snails if you start to see more algae popping up again...get 1 or 2 and see how they fare in your tank. If more algae becomes a problem, I would suggest looking into some hermit crabs or lawnmower blenny to take care of your tank.