mods experts I need some help

[shawna]

ok well Ihad my tank die then let it sit & recure for 3 months untouched for that time dd a h2o change all looked good (levels pristine) then bought a few clowns a few fire shrimp and a brittle star yesterday, as wellas 3 small mushrooms and a tiny star pollyp. after being in the tank for a few hours everyone died. (all within a half an hour) what the heck could be causing this? I use purified well water so no bleach ro/ri my dsb was fowled at first but looked good for a while could it be leaching some kind of poison? second cycle rock turned brown (no life ) but it had dried out so I considered it base rock) bought 55 lbs of fully cured rock and added it as well yesterday but again levels are good.... I'm going to ditch the sand bed just in case and will bare bottomed untill I can get more but I will be danged I'm baffled! please give any sugestions soon It's now making me a bit frustrated (i'm sure you understand) any advice would be great including "give up" is even ok at this point!:help:

 

[ophiura]

Hmmm....
Added lots of bioload at once. What is your pH and alk?
Then the common sudden fish death issues:
any painting, carpet cleaning, anything producing strong odors (can get into the tank), cleaning the glass, etc...

 

[stuckinfla]

How did the tank "die" in the first place?

 

[ophiura]

Yeah, actually...a review of the previous incident might be good kinda in list order.
Are you using the same sand and where did it come from?

 

[shawna]

added old catle sand not fully cured also had an anemonie die (my kids bought it) i thought the sand bed had cured (3 months + 2 months originally Seeded for bacteria) the bed is grey & wowel smelling under the 1/4 to 1/2 inch mark (I'm removing the live rock to fresh clean saline water everyone else less snails and some hermits have bit the dust) :nope: really frustrated and I guess dumping the sand bed might be a start? all peramiters were stable, but my sand shifting snials etc were above the sand and I'm not seeing many live critters in the bed as well could it be the water change leached just enoughto kill everyone? thanks for responding guys!
shawna

 

[shawna]

oh also added live sand to bed aqbout 3&1/2 months ago right before it crashed it was from swf so I'm sure it was good in kept the sand thought it would cure so yes it's the same as previous crash forgive tthe typeo's (in a cast)

 

[stuckinfla]

:notsure: I still dont understand......arent you the one who passed out & the tank drained a while back? Aneneome sting I think it was>:notsure:

 

[stuckinfla]

What was the reason for the original crash??

 

[shawna]

I thought so at first, how ever after doing a little (a whole lot of reading) on this site it seems more likely that the dsb didn't fully cure. the sulphioric oder pouring off of my tank was a result i gathered (from many of you guys on this site) .... I'll never know for sure I guess. but after a few (ok many) threads it seems more reasonable to think the dsb was ascue to start with. it could have bien a combo of both, or maby something I'm not seeing or maby too inexperienced with to see. I know what did me in that day was the anemonie but I'm so allergic tht I'm not sure bout the tank (the alergie is a p.i.t.a.! hinders dives sometimes ) but i would love to save this hobie if posible. I'm grasping at straws so any and all fedback would be so apreciated the 140 lbs of "live rock never did come back to life a little coraline but mostly brown no critters and so I'd gotten another 50 lbs or so of coraline encrusted verry alive live rock from an established tank. I was told that another member thought a few pieces would do the trick. (got really lucky the pet store had just torn down an old tank and was selling it all ) any way if you do have any sugestions I'd apreciate it a ton otherwise I might just pitch it all and just get some fresh water rays or the likes :nope: don't want to kill any more little critters. it is pretty disenheartening I'm sure you understand)

 

[shawna]

the sad thing is that the tank was once so beautiful & full of life and despite my lil "kip bang save me letters it lived and flourished the 2 elements that were diferent were the anemonie and the new sand bed the anemonie has bien gone for months (12/1/04) but the dsb / l.r I'd kept if that helps at all

 

[ctgretzky9]

whoa...that's a whole lot of writing that I still after reading 3 times can't get a handle on!
There are way too many variables it seems to pinpoint anything...could be your sandbed, your liverock, could be chemicals you can't test for in the water (people have killed fish with windex, furniture polishes-all can get in the water etc...) your test kits themselves can be old and not working properly, you could be even testing improperly, your hydrometer could be poor, your acclimation of the creatures maybe isnt correct (are you doing a drip method or like at all? Please let us know what you are doing to acclimate-this is super super important!!!)
What is your water source-have you tested it?
I don't want to tell you to give up, just stop and take a step by step approach. You may want to truly throw everything out except the tank and start over, though financially, that would really suck!!!!
Good luck either way!!!

 

[ctgretzky9]

Also, after re-reading your post again, while your water parameters were fine at the time, you added so much at one time, that you could have gotten "new tank syndrome" which basically means you threw any equilibrium out of whack in a short amount of time by adding so much livestock at once.
You have to go slow.
I have an overstocked tank as of now (couldn't help it with 2 kids begging me for another fish-plus I am anal about water changes, testing and vacuuming and testing so I really stay on top of it) but all of them were added over almost 2 years a fish at a time for the most part.

 

[shawna]

ok going to try to get it all in, no chemicals windex etc or painting /carpet cleaning at all for sure. test kits are new followed the directions to the letter secon tested at the lfs to be sure also) I drip acclimate over several hours... usually about 2 to 3 depending on the sensitivity of the critters.
also previous critters from the past 1 month were alive untill this crash, (last night.) these included a pencil urchan and emerald crabs, all died with in a half hour from the others. I did juggle some rocks around so that may have stirred the sand a bit (but not drasticly by any means) I use well water with an ro/ri filter. I don't know how to test the hydrometer except against the second one I have and they are the same.
they are also the same model though. not sure if I'd gotten it all in but I'll look for responses (got to run to the dentist cringe)
thanks guys!

 

[shawna]

ok cleaning out the sand how can I clean the tank chemical free? does a salt water rinse help? I'm thinking i'd read that here some where. (but i don't remember if it was a yay or nay) thanks so much guys!

 

[ophiura]

I am worried that you had a hydrogen sulfide issue, based on the smell and the blackness of the sand.
So basically you never just tore this tank down, took out and replaced all the sand, etc?

 

[thomas712]

Right where I was thinking Ophiura. If this tank has not been torn down right to the bottom of the glass, then that old sandbed has to go. If that was indeed as I recall what made you pass out then this sandbed has become a nutrient sink/bomb that needs to go.
I would suggest this time around that you do not go with a DSB, but rather a SSB or even bare bottom tank. If you intend to have a reef tank then perhaps the SSB of no more than 2 inches would be what is in order.
Thomas

 

[shawna]

no the general consensus was to let it cycle and for a month it supported a few lives but i guess the extra overload did it in? I'm tearing out all of the sand tonite and am not sure as tpo the best way to clean it. what in the blazes caused the sulpher smell / charcoal grey sand to begin with? should i dump the live rock from the first crash the critters did inhabit it right away , but still i worrry.
I'm thinking that overcrouding wasn't an issue the only 2 fish were less than an inch together (tiny oscilarious) but I probibly did overload the ammt of critters with the rational they are all small. 2 tiny shrimp a brittle star & the baby oscilarris pair (forgive my awful typeo's & spelling)

 

[shawna]

sorry i didn't get to read thomas's post first I'm ditching the sand and how would i do for a bare bottom I was thinking of that easy breasy to clean etc. do i need to place any substrate or just the glass? and how to cussion in case of a rock slide? you guys are the best thanks!

 

[bigarn]

Some people use starboard to place the rocks on..... however, if you have thick enough glass, you won't need it.
I'm not a mod or an expert though.

 

[thomas712]

I placed a sheet of eggcrate on the bottom of mine so that I would not have to suffer any reefalanche, then just a 2 inch layer of sand so I didn't have to look at the eggcrate. I cut the eggcrate 2 inches from the sides of the aquarium glass, this is where many critters like to play and breed.
Oh and don't forget to have proper ventilation if you are going to dig into that sandbed again. Have someone else around to help if necessary.
Thomas