Lost All Fish

[thenewfish]

Within the last 3 days I have lost all 6 fish???? What happened?? I checked Nitrites, Nitrates, Gravity, & Amonia and all were great.... nothing new introduced recently. The only change is I got a glass top.... the lights were directly over the water, but to reduce risk of electric problems and lower evaporation I purchased glass top and in less than a week everything died??
Anybody have any ideas?

 

[jdecter]

Well Glass tops don't kill fish.
But lets ask some questions?
Did you change feeding habits?
Did the glass top touch the water, if so did you make sure no solvents or chemicals were on the glass before putting it on the tank?
What is the tanks temperature?
Did you change any habbits at all this week at all?
Any other creatures in the tank?
How long has the tank been set up?
What kind of fish, and how long have you had each one?
Sorry to hear about the fish but maybe with some research we can find out why.

 

[wlong336]

Depending on what type of lights that you are running adding the glass top would trap the heat and cause the water temp to go up to high. If this is the case try adding a fan to vent the heat from the lights away from the tank.

 

[maxalmon]

What kind of fish? how old was the tank? What kits are you using to check water quality? Whats the tank temp and how are you checking? Whats your salinity and how are you checking? Over what time period did you add the fish? What kindof water did you start the tank with, RO or tap?

 

[thenewfish]

The tank has been set up for about 3 years or so now. Did not change feeding habits.... I rinsed the glass off before putting it on the tank but to my kowledge it did not touch the water in the tank directly.... although evaporation then condensation and drips from the glass happened. Snails, a couple small blue legs, Invert (cant recall the name) and one thing that grew by itself, I am really not sure what it is... but it has been there for months. No habits changed. I had 2 Clowns, 1 Blenny, 3 puffers (1 medium & 2 small) and each had been in for a long time... the 2 clowns & Smallest puffer probably over a year... the other 3 have been in for 3 or 4 months.
I thought about temperature but seems to be were it has always been about 75. Used Hagen test kits.
If it was temperature would I just point a fan at the lights so it would keep that area cooler?

 

[maxalmon]

Are you using one of those liquid crystal temp test thnigs you stick on the side of the tank, I've found they can be off by as much as 3-4 degrees, I would invest in a $9.00 digital one from Coralife, the one that has the probe you put in the tank. But if the temp has always been at the same level, it's unlikely to have caused the problem unless its way low..
Do you have a LS bed? I've seen a sudden die off from assocaited from a toxic LS bed due to a build up of gas, usually happens at year 2-3 from the post i've read. Do you have any bubbles risising up from the sandbed and did you stir it up during any cleaning.
Do you test your saltbatches when you do a water change, could have been from a bad batch of salt, seen that happen as well.
.
Do you have children? if so how old?

 

[maxalmon]

Actually, your temp is a little on the low side

 

[thenewfish]

The temperature is taken from a measurement with in the heater.... I will get that doublechecked as a possible cause.
I do have a LS bed but no little bubbles and I do not think anything has stirred it up lately due to cleaning.
Salt is the same I have been using for a while. I do have a son but he can't even crawl yet so I know he didn't do anything.
I have noticed since I added the glass top a thin layer on top of the water that was never there before. I do not have a protein skimmer or anything could this be a problem? Before would this waste have evaporated out of the tank and now I am trapping it in??

 

[maxalmon]

If you put a lid on the tank and there is no way for fresh air to mix with surface water, you could have had a drop in oxygen in the tank, do you have powerheads aimed upwards to move surface water around? I would never use the heater as a way to measure water temp, heaters do go bad.

 

[ryanhayes9]

dont forget... if you have anything submerged you might also have stray voltage
check the fyi sectoin of the forumd for checking for stray voltage

 

[thenewfish]

I do not have powerheads aimed at the top. I have one in the middle. On my filter I am using a tube return instead of a powerhead return so it goes across the entire length of the tank at the top however the pressure is less that way and when the water level is high (which it has been with the drop in evaporation it does not break the surface of the water.
I do not believe the heater has gone bad but I probably should get another way to monitor temperature just in case it has or ever does.

 

[pallan]

tough one but without a protien skimmer or anything to break the surface of the water im leaning torwards the fish dieing of lack of oxygen. Do you have any means of getting air in the water (ie... little cutsie bubble toys, bubble wands anything like that with an air pump).
My thought is that you closing the top off with the glass top contributed to the water not being able to get enough o2. im guessing they were just getting enough before the addition but the glass top was the final straw. if you have other means of getting air in the tank than my theory is kaput. and i dont know

 

[thenewfish]

I have raised the tube that comes from the filter up so it breaks the top surface of the water. The powerhead I have has a port I can put a tube in which leads outside the tank and adds O2 to the mix, should I do that... It makes lots of bubbles and it seems I read somewhere that may not be good for fish?? I am not sure why, I believe it was something about a bubble in the gills or something.
Does his theory sound good? I want to add more fish but not if they will perish. I will be starting back at it solw to make sure but even 1 or 2 do not need to die if their is something else I should also be looking into as the culprit.

 

[glowplug]

do you have a deep sandbed? maybe you got a pocket of gas and a snail or something released it? just a guess..............

 

[glowplug]

whatever it was do a huge water change before you throw anything back in!

 

[petjunkie]

Do puffers release a toxin when they die? I know some fish do but no positve on them. Did you find dead fish right away or did they sit in the tank for a while because maybe ammonia or nitrite in water killed them. Sounds very mysterious though and no real way to prove what happened. Maybe throw a damsel in before anything else.

 

[thenewfish]

Thanks for all the input. To my knowledge puffers do not release a toxin when they die but I am not sure... The Blenny died first and I have still not found a body..... the next day 2 small puffers and 2 clowns died... I pulled the bodies of all except smaller clown after what couldn't have been to long.... the next day the big Puffer died and I pulled his body.... the next day I found the body of the last clown. So besides te Blenny and 1 clown nothing stayed dead in the tank very long... I do not know if something ate the blenny or it is just stuck in one of his hidning places.
My sandbed is between 2-3 inches so not really deep, but something could have been stirred up, if that is the case would it kill whatever was in the tank but then the gas released into the air and not a problem for future inhabitants??
I do not want a Damsel... first they are so hardy I wouldn't really get a good idea if something is still wrong or not.... second I do not want to have to go through what I went through last time trying to get one of those out of the tank... He was very fond of hiding in rocks whenever I was trying to get him out.

 

[phishface]

Id take some water to the LFS to double check your readings. Something isnt jiving. Maybe a huge 50%-75% water change, couldnt hurt. But of course, IMO.
Good luck

 

[fishieness]

i am going to guess it is due to lack of oxygen. With a glass top and no surface aggitation, it can happen quickly.
also i am goign to have to agree that temp issues coudl be it. I dont think you said what type of lights you have? The hotter ones will heat up a tank, esspecialy if you dont allow evaporation to take place. Also, you said it goes by a temperature reading on your heater? I hope you dont just mean the dial to set it to a temp? because once it reaches that temp your heater turns off, but the temp form your lights still rises.

 

[sinner's girl]

if you do more than 50% water change, wait a few days and test your water.
Could anyone have added anything to the tank?
How did the fish look and act before they die? if they need air they'll be at the top of the water gasping for it.
d Nitrites, Nitrates, Gravity, & Amonia
when was your last water change? did you use a new bag of salt? did you check ph and alk?
temps good at 78...
I've seen a sudden die off from assocaited from a toxic LS bed due to a build up of gas, usually happens at year 2-3 from the post i've read.

What? How do you prevent this? I'm about to switch over, but I don't want to lose my tank in 2-3 years.