help need help

[newbiereef]

my daughter was naughty yesterday and got into the tank. i tested everything and did a water change then i let it be. now i cant see in the tank. it apears that she moved the sand around and all around the filter. should i turn the filter and powerheads off and clear the sand from the filter, and then let is settle or do i need to keep the filter on?
herb

 

[farmboy]

Shut all filters/power heads off till it settles. Are there critters in there?

 

[broncofish]

shutting down your filter could actually be a very very bad thing. Keep them going, change any filter media often, and it will clear up quickly if it is just sand...which leads to my question Is it just a sand storm? if so the corals and fish will hide, and everything will be cool when it calms down, how bad are we talking about anyway?
Shutting off your filter and powerheads will stop kill the areation of your tank.

 

[newbiereef]

its pretty bad, i cant see inside the tank and 1 of my damsels died. hopefully thats all that died ive got another five fish in there but i cant see to check if they are alive. when i checked the filter the was sand in it and the part thats in the water was surrounded by sand. if it is just a sand storm how long shoud this take to clear up? i just put a new filter in there.

 

[farmboy]

Yeah,
Don't leave them off for days. A couple of hours should help. I was thinking of the effect of sand on your pumps. First consideration should be animals, though.
Thanks for the correction BRONCO.

 

[farmboy]

I just missed your last post.
Daughter may have stirred sediment and caused an increase in nitrites/amonia? Check parameters. Sand shouldn't hurt fishes.
A comprimise to stopping all pumps/filters may be to run only one for a while (like while you clean the others)
I still think you could leave all of them off for a couple of hours. Just watch animals closely for signs of stress.

 

[newbiereef]

ive now had 3 of my fish die that i can tell. the other 2 i havent seen yet. why are they dying

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by newbiereef
ive now had 3 of my fish die that i can tell. the other 2 i havent seen yet. why are they dying
Stirring up the substrate probably caused an ammonia spike. :thinking:

 

[farmboy]

Test water-do a 25-30%water change if needed. I agree: you may have another spike from the stirring of the substrate. (The tank has already cycled once, yes?)
Good luck!

 

[broncofish]

yup depending on how deep she stirred there is some bad mamajama at the bottom of a DSB.

 

[newbiereef]

all but 1 snail died. it finally cleared up, but i have to start all over. how long should it take before the ammonia and stuff go down?
herb

 

[farmboy]

I'm sorry to hear that.
Check levels every couple of days. Whenever nitrites and amonia return to 0, it's safe to restock.
Good luck.