Massive losses

[bach]

I am away from home for the summer and my wife is taking care of our tank. She has been doing great with water changes (more than I do) but in 2 days we lost our hippo tang/purple fire fish/2 cleaner shrimp/one pepermint shrimp and a coral beauty last week. 3 clowns/6 pepermint shrimp and a mandrin gobie are still alive (as of tonight). Her knowledge of the hobby is very minimal, so I had a friend go by and check the situation. Water peramaters were good and my corals are good. The best conclusion he could draw was the water temp was too high (no a/c while she went to work) it was close to 80. What do you guys think? The change has been made to keep the a/c on even when she is not home and she is floating bags of ice to bring the temp down. I had her reset the MH light timer to keep it off in the heat of the day and close the shades (no direct sunlight). The remaining animals are tending to hang out at the top of the tank and apparently a fine red hair algie is moving in. Is this a temp problem? She has used all the same buckets and equipment so while contamination is a thought I tend to doubt it.
Tanks for any help.

 

[farslayer]

It doesn't sound like a temperature problem, 80 is not too hot at all. I would suspect a water quality issue, can you post your parameters for us?

 

[reefer545]

A change in temperature of more than just a few degrees can be detrimental, adn if the temp is fluctuating more than that, it could easily be the death factor. A chiller may be your best option if you don't want to have pay a huge elicrtic bill cuz you are cooling the whole house for a fishtank. Thats what I did, adn I only have a nano. The chiller is possibly the best addition I have bought for the tank. I never worry when the air is not oin adn I am not home. Sorry to hear about the losses.
Good luck

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by bach
I am away from home for the summer and my wife is taking care of our tank. She has been doing great with water changes (more than I do) but in 2 days we lost our hippo tang/purple fire fish/2 cleaner shrimp/one pepermint shrimp and a coral beauty last week. 3 clowns/6 pepermint shrimp and a mandrin gobie are still alive (as of tonight). Her knowledge of the hobby is very minimal, so I had a friend go by and check the situation. Water peramaters were good and my corals are good. The best conclusion he could draw was the water temp was too high (no a/c while she went to work) it was close to 80. What do you guys think? The change has been made to keep the a/c on even when she is not home and she is floating bags of ice to bring the temp down. I had her reset the MH light timer to keep it off in the heat of the day and close the shades (no direct sunlight). The remaining animals are tending to hang out at the top of the tank and apparently a fine red hair algie is moving in. Is this a temp problem? She has used all the same buckets and equipment so while contamination is a thought I tend to doubt it.
Tanks for any help.

80 is not too high. Many people keep nice reefs up to 84 degrees or so. I would say that with the increase in temp, the tank was not ready/or handling the decrease in O2 well. Do you have a skimmer to oxygenate? Is it cleaned out and running properly? Maybe another PH for the summer months? Just like humans, lack of 02 is worse than temp swings. IMO????
Mc

 

[bach]

I can't give peramiters since I am not there and honestly for the last year and a half I have used the multi test type strips. I know I am lacking on that but I have an RO unit and have never had a reason to get more in depth with the tests. Were I home now I would be doing it now though, The wife is not a native english speaker and talking her through the tests would be near imposible. It is disapointing to think the temp is not the problem because it is the only one I have a chance at fixing from 3,000 miles away.

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by grumpygils
80 is not too high. Many people keep nice reefs up to 84 degrees or so. I would say that with the increase in temp, the tank was not ready/or handling the decrease in O2 well. Do you have a skimmer to oxygenate? Is it cleaned out and running properly? Maybe another PH for the summer months? Just like humans, lack of 02 is worse than temp swings. IMO????
Mc
P.S.
My tank runs at 82 and as high as 84.
Mc

 

[trigger11]

Just a thought, but my guess would be that it has something to do with the water change. Either not adding enough salt, putting in too much salt. Etc... Also, do you ever use any additives at all when you did your water changes? If so then she may not be putting in the same amount as you. I could see that happening pretty easily. Best of luck in determining the cause. It is always sad to hear of such a loss.

 

[bach]

I do have a skimmer which I cleaned, along with my fluval filter before I left 2 months ago. O2 is a consideration I had not thought of. I could hear the skimmer "chugging" while I was on the phone with her, which it sounds like when the flow is low. She may have turned it down too low to reduce the noise in my absence (not a new problem). Thank you for bringing it up. My friend that checked the tank did say the clowns were stressed and breathing hard (he has a nano and no skimmer)....man I feel stupid now....just got off the phone and the skimmer was not flowing. It is now and I hope it fixes the problem. Thank you for the advice, may have saved the remaining fish! I tried to prep her for caring for the system, but I guess I was lacking in my educational skills. Thanks again and this is why the boards are so good.

 

[sprang]

I assume she is using r.o. water with the water changes? And b.t.w. Grumpy is that your tank? Looks fantastic !!!!!!!