they are dead.

[banana]

I am new to this forum. I have had my saltwater tank setup up for about 7 years. Today i did a 20% water change but i had a bit of algae that i was trying to clear up so i mixed up the sand pretty good, but that and the distilled water (usually i use r.o. water from home.)that i got to make my mix were the only things i did different from the usual. all was good i thought. 2 hours later all the fish were dead. the inverts are all fine. anyone ever had this happen before? or have any idea what might have happened? should i not have mixed the water up so much?

 

[flricordia]

sounds like you may have released some hydrogen sulfide from dead spots in the sand.

 

[small triggers]

yeah,,, if you stirred up alot of the sand, and you normally dont do that, it poisoned your tank. I stir small parts each week.

 

[libog2fish]

lol why the hell did you stir your substrate...lol

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Flricordia
http:///forum/post/2813372
sounds like you may have released some hydrogen sulfide from dead spots in the sand.
This seems like the most likely scenario.
Did you test your water when you noticed the dead fish?

 

[banana]

yeah i tested the water all was good but i dont have a kit for hydrogen sulfide. i looked it up on the internet and the stuff i read says it should smell somewhat sulfer like, but the water doesnt smell. i think i will take out the live rock corals etc.. and do like a 80% water change and start over. Its just a shame they all died, and before i put fish in again i want to make sure the water is fine. thanks for the input

 

[oceansidefish]

Hydrogen Sulfide will DEFINATELY smell. It's a gas and reeks of rotten eggs. It's actually what makes rotten eggs smell that way. We use it as a calibration gas at work and it is awefull

 

[rotarymagic]

maybe some nitrogen gas build up, extreme nitrate and phosphate build up that got rereleased into the tank?
I typically gravel vac parts of my sand to pull cloudy nastiness out, but I pinch the line if sand or visible organisms start coming up the tube.. Is this worse than just stirring the sand? It seems to have worked for me longterm in my tanks and my sand beds are typically 2-3inches...Dunno if i would get better results from just stirring it.

 

[steelytom]

If this were the case, wouldn't the nitrates be very high when tested. I have heard a lot of distilled waters are not pure distilled water and have additives. I think Chloramine (sp?). Check out the water bottles and see if there are any ingredients other than water.