Oh God help me! I just killed my whole tank!!

jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
I'm almost in tears. I just killed all my fish in my tank (65 gallon)!!!
. They died right before my eyes. Looking at me, stunned. I mistakenly did a water change with what I thought was R/O water but it was week old soap water!
. I noticed soap bubbles on top and the fish died within minutes before I could effectively act. A 7 year old large yellow tang and a 7 year old beauty angel, and a 2 year old tomato clown fish perished because of my stupidity. I'm crushed. I tried my damnest to save the corals, invertebrates, and live rock (60 pounds). Rinsed off all of those and placed in large plastic container with tap salt water until I can clean out the tank. Got rid of the water and sand. Rinsed and dried out. Put in tap water and salt. Placed rock and corals in with rinsed off heater. Then I rinsed out all other equipment and put back in with new filters and activated charcoal. Ordered 60 pounds of argonite sand from Big Als.
I am shocked and stunned. I need some words of encouragement.

Jay
 
jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
Thank you. The mushroom corals seem alright. The leather corals are closed up still. Snails seemed to have survived. The horrible thing is, is that the turbos started having babies for the first time all over the place! Plus, a snail, that I can't remember the name ---it is long and pointy---- started having babies too!
 
nissan577

nissan577

Active Member
im soo sorry for what has happened.
the best things i can tell you is never give up. get up and what you are doing is right! getting everything back together. sorry about the fish
but they are with the fish god in fish heaven

wish you the best and may the reef gods be with you
 
jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
Originally Posted by nissan577
http:///forum/post/3213797
im soo sorry for what has happened.
the best things i can tell you is never give up. get up and what you are doing is right! getting everything back together. sorry about the fish
but they are with the fish god in fish heaven

wish you the best and may the reef gods be with you
Thanks. I loved those fish because they lasted so long and they looked so great. They put up with my sometimes laziness in water changes and the change over from under gravel filter and crushed coral.
 
jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3213799
that sucks, why did you have week old soap water laying around?

I make homemade wine and I used dawn oxy clean to take out some of the stains from the sanitizer I used in the bucket. I let is soak. I thought it was left over water from my last water change.
 
nissan577

nissan577

Active Member
like i said what you are doing is amazing! not many reefers will get back into the hobbies after the lost. im glad your still in it and your not giving up on yourself. it takes lots of guts and love for this hobby to do this
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by jml26377w1
http:///forum/post/3213802
I make homemade wine and I used dawn oxy clean to take out some of the stains from the sanitizer I used in the bucket. I let is soak. I thought it was left over water from my last water change.
Ya know....sh
happens.....what we do after is what matters I guess
I would be in tears..I know that, and my tanks are only 1 1/2 years old
BUT...I would rebuild with all the knowledge I have gained from this site in this past 18 months....and I would rebuild BETTER than it was before
Just think of all the things you have learned with your past experiences
 
jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3213811
Ya know....sh%% happens.....what we do after is what matters I guess
I would be in tears..I know that, and my tanks are only 1 1/2 years old
BUT...I would rebuild with all the knowledge I have gained from this site in this past 18 months....and I would rebuild BETTER than it was before
Just think of all the things you have learned with your past experiences

Yeah. I started my tank in 2003. The tang and angel were original fish. Others have died along the way before them. I might go to aggressive fish. I'm going to wait a month so my tank can cycle and I do more water changes with R/O water to get rid of the tap water I had to use.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

How horrible, I can’t imagine your grief.
I use certain buckets and tubs marked FISH ONLY. I use them when I do anything, even old water from water changes go into them. So chin up, you learned a hard, hard lesson. From now on use only your fish only buckets and maybe because of this, someone else on the site may not make the same mistake.
Keep us posted on your progress while restarting.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by jml26377w1
http:///forum/post/3213827
3 gallons approx. The fish were dead within minutes before the OH SH$T factor kicked in.
Yup, that's more than enough to do it. You did about all that your choices allowed...empty tank and start over. Since you are going back to scratch, you may want to consider taking the rock back out again, draining the tank and completely scrubbing it down with vinegar or something. I know you mentioned multiple water changes, etc, but now is a good time to make sure you are getting it all.
 
jml26377w1

jml26377w1

New Member
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3213878
Yup, that's more than enough to do it. You did about all that your choices allowed...empty tank and start over. Since you are going back to scratch, you may want to consider taking the rock back out again, draining the tank and completely scrubbing it down with vinegar or something. I know you mentioned multiple water changes, etc, but now is a good time to make sure you are getting it all.
I'm just going to do daily water changes for a month. The residual soap can't last in there forever. The charcoal and the water changes should take care of it I hope.
 
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