Interesting disaster...

theinglebaby23

theinglebaby23

New Member
Hey all, I've got one for you... So I moved some rocks around last night and totally stressed out my tank. All my fish are dead unfortunately, I feel horrible. Interesting this is, I just noticed that all my crabs (hermits and emerald) are all up high on the rocks! My ph is at 7.8, so a little low, but everything else is fine. Anyone have any idea what's going on or why the crabs would act like that???
Thanks,
Rich
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Just a thought here. Totally spitballing. Could they be searching for a way out? Most can live outside of water at least for a while...
 
theinglebaby23

theinglebaby23

New Member
Interesting thought, I may try it. Although I haven't lost any crabs yet...
We did mess things up quite a bit. We've got branch rock, so it was a chore trying to re-stack it properly.
The Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite is all fine. Like I said, my pH is low (7.8). I'm going to do a good water change and throw some buffer in there, hopefully reverse the downward spiral I got going on here...
Really a weird one...
 
anonome

anonome

Active Member
What size tank are we talking about? A small tank will definately do this if you stirred up a lot of the mulm in the sand under the rocks.
 
theinglebaby23

theinglebaby23

New Member
Ya, it's just a 24 gallon nano. I did a 15% water change and dumped some pH buffer in there. My clown (one of two sole surviving fish) perked up immediately and went from laying on the sand to swimming...
Was it the pH then? What would have caused that? All my other levels were normal...
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
IDK...I can't see low ph causing all that death....I would think an ammonia spike would, but you say all other levels are normal..sooo...I DO NOT KNOW...
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by PEZenfuego
http:///forum/post/3039686
Low pH would not cause it, but a considerable and quick pH swing could.
so if ph was 8.4.....then all of a sudden 7.8.....that could do it?
Do you not think by doing all that stirring...something else may have occurred??
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3039690
so if ph was 8.4.....then all of a sudden 7.8.....that could do it?
Do you not think by doing all that stirring...something else may have occurred??
I don't think pH is the cause, I was just saying that this isn't an impossibility.
Anyway, if one thing dies in a tank that small and isn't taken care of immediately, the resulting ammonia could cause some problems. Maybe after you took the dead animals out, the bacteria got rid of the ammonia and your test showed up negative for ammonia.
 
theinglebaby23

theinglebaby23

New Member
Maybe. Like I said, it was really weird. All the fish dead and all the crabs up on the high ground. Really weird.
But, my two survivors are doing pretty well. A water change and some buffer seemed to have done the trick (wish I had done it earlier...)
Thanks for all the input!
Rich
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Evil evil gasses can lurk in your sand bed....BAM just like that everything dies because they got the Sulfide poisoning.....I have that gas in a container at work, we use it to calibrate equipment...Let me tell you just a whiff and I feel like I need to take a nap
 
theinglebaby23

theinglebaby23

New Member
Tank is about two months old with a 2" sand bed. I didn't stir the sand up at all, just had to reorganize the upper layer of rocks. And no, no weird smells. I think what you're talking about would have killed off everything in the tank, but my anemone, corals, inverts and two fish survived.
The surviving clown was on the brink. He was covered in big white spots and laying on the sandbed on his side. I did the water change and put a good shot of pH buffer in and he IMMEDIATELY perked up. Within a couple minutes. It's gotta be that I caused a rapid pH drop by moving the rocks and that caused the die off. I can't see it being anything else...
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/3040030
How old is your tank, and how deep is the sand bed?

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3040289
I would say “like minds” but I do not want to insult you. We are on the same page though and I think we may be right
You guys are making me
Tell us what your thinking James Bond...
Originally Posted by theinglebaby23
http:///forum/post/3040485
Tank is about two months old with a 2" sand bed. I didn't stir the sand up at all, just had to reorganize the upper layer of rocks. And no, no weird smells. I think what you're talking about would have killed off everything in the tank, but my anemone, corals, inverts and two fish survived.
The surviving clown was on the brink. He was covered in big white spots and laying on the sandbed on his side. I did the water change and put a good shot of pH buffer in and he IMMEDIATELY perked up. Within a couple minutes. It's gotta be that I caused a rapid pH drop by moving the rocks and that caused the die off. I can't see it being anything else...
I think you may be right it does sound like you released some waste that would drop the Alk in turn lower the pH. Yet there are lots of things that it could be based on what has been said: low o2, Ich, just a low pH, hydrogen sulfide gas being released from the sand (rotten eggs)
 
trikonreef

trikonreef

Member
Mixing up the sand bed can release some bad gasses. I'll bet thats what they're thinking about. Thats what I was thinking anyway, until i read the sandbed wasn't mixed up alot anyway... I think stess is going to be a contributing factor here.
White spots? you have ich?
 
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