In desperate need of advice

ufo8micats

ufo8micats

Member
I have a 46 gallon fowlr tank that has been up and running for about a year. I keep mainly invertebrates with a school of green chromis and damsels. A lady at the local fish shop advised me that I could buy fresh clams at Kroger to feed to my inverts. This morning I bought a cracked open cherry stone clam to feed them. this afternoon i look in the tank, and everything is moving and eating the clam. Fast forward 4hrs. and getting home from dinner and I turn the lights on the tank and everything is dead including the fish. I did a quick water check. ph 8.2 ammonia 0 nitrite 0.50 Nitrate 10. Now, my question is what the hell happened in 4 hrs. that would have killed my whole stock? The clams that I usually at the lfs says sterilized. Are they dif. than the ones you get a Kroger? If anyone has any ideas on what may have happened, please chime in. I def. don't wanna make this expensive mistake again.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Ouch!
The sterilization could be the issue. Some stores use chemicals to clean the seafood/preserve it longer/etc. I'm also curious as to whether the nitrite is from the things that died, or if the clam caused a spike.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
That clam was probably still alive when you added it. I don't see how a single clam could have had any negative impact in such a short amount of time. Was anything else different?
 
ufo8micats

ufo8micats

Member
No, nothing else has been different. Someone even asked me if I had used a different cleaning agent for the house. I keep the same routine from day to day. The only dif. was adding the clam. I did wash the clam in cold water before adding to tank. I tested my water the week before and all parameters were fine. If the clam was dead, and sat in the tank for 9hrs. would that be a long enough time for a nitirite spike to eradicate everything?
I am wondering if once parameters are back to normal, if it would even be safe to try to add something else? Do you think that it would be the best course of action to just drain and start over?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Nitrite isn't very toxic even with a spike 50 times higher than your level. I'm sorry for your loss but I think the clam is just coincidence of some other event.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by ufo8micats http:///t/391017/in-desperate-need-of-advice#post_3465594
This morning I bought a cracked open cherry stone clam to feed them.
I just reread this. Did you buy a fresh clam and crack it open for them or did you buy a clam that was already open? I ask because a live clam would be closed and a dead clam would be open. A dead clam could have spiked ammonia and that IS toxic enough to kill.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/391017/in-desperate-need-of-advice#post_3465663
I just reread this. Did you buy a fresh clam and crack it open for them or did you buy a clam that was already open? I ask because a live clam would be closed and a dead clam would be open. A dead clam could have spiked ammonia and that IS toxic enough to kill.
This was my initial thought...
 
ufo8micats

ufo8micats

Member
I bought a fresh unopened clam that was on ice from the kroger seafood department. I did however, have them crack it open for me. i drove right home, and It was in my tank in less than a 1/2 hr. after it was purchased. Thanks everyone for your valued input. Although, I am no closer to figuring out this issue than I was two days ago.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
If it was less than an hour, I doubt there was enough death and decomposition to really hurt anything.
What I'm curious about is just how many inverts were feeding on this clam? And also, what types? If the clam was not eaten quickly enough, this could have caused a spike.
 
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