Water change-everything dead

buzz

Active Member
If the fish were trying to jump out, then the water was just that unpleasant to them. Electric current disorients fish by affecting their lateral line, which is their main nervous system.
Before buying a new pump, test the theory. Just shut them down. If the anemone's recover, and the fish start calming down, I would say it is an electricity issue.
It takes a lot less current to affect a fish than a person.
 
Yeah I'll take out the Rio, but how can I gauge improvement, everything is dead??? I am not putting my little clown back in there until i know everything is safe, I have a special attachment to him.
 

buzz

Active Member
Did the anemone's die? You said they shriveled up, but that may not mean they are dead, just very unhappy.
Either way, like Kip said it is trial and error. There is no perfect method here.
 
The condy seems to be alive, he is opening up a bit and has been all morning and i Just shut the pump down now. He looks really ugly though. The BTA looks bad. and all the corals look bad
 
Thanks for all your help guys, I wouldt have ever even considered the pump issue. Guess I'll have to skip eating this week and go for the mag..lol. With all the money I and probably all of you spend on this hobby, We should each own our own beautiful coral reef somewhere.
 
One more thing, is there anything that can measure loose current in the water or is the current that would be strong enough to kill everything too week to detect?
 
Sorry, one more question, the rio pump says it uses magnetic rotor technology, so when you guys say mag, are you refering to the MAG-Drive brand pumps???
 

waterdog

Member
Just out of curiosity, did you happen to rinse out your wet/dry before you cycled the water though? I know that some of the plastic and seals can contain harmful chemicals. Also, since your corlaine turned orange in your bucket, did you or someone else use that bucket for anything else. I almost had a similar catastrophe when my mom used one of my designated buckets to mix fertilizer. She bought me a new bucket :D
 

dburr

Active Member
I would agree to first test the water with a volt meter and I was also going to ask if you rinsed everything out before using. You never know what came in contact with the wet/dry and other stuff.
 

murray bmf

Member
Mag 7 = rio 2100 except better. I had a Rio 2100, it crapped out after a week. I switched to a Mag 7 over a year ago-no problems. As to what killed everything, don't know. My rio shorted out and actually blew a circuit breaker in my house, but it didn't kill any fish. The tank isn't grounded so current shoudn't be flow though it, I'm not an electrician so I can't say for sure, but when my RIO SH$T it caused power on half my house to go out. When I put my hand in the water I got a shock, because I was grounded, but my fish, who wern't were fine. I unplugged the Rio, power on my house was back, bought a Mag and every ones happy:) HTH
Mur
 
well i went a bought a volt meter today and it really doesnt seem to be that. There is about 7 volts going through the tank with the stuff that was in there before adding the new filter and believe it or not, the new pump when turned on only made about a .3 volt difference. I am definitely going to pick up a grounding probe asap though(before putting anyone back in). I dont know what is wrong. I tood apart the wet dry today and washed it again, seriously washed it, ran hot water through it for about an hour and scrubbed it. I also will put carbon back in my canister filter and am running that and am changing some of the water. Going to let that run for a couple of days and see how things go. I reset up my 10 gallon hospital and am going to try to split my 3 survivors between that and the 5 that has been going. Think I will try it with some damsels and do a couple more water changes before putting my guys back. I had just bought an Arabian Dottyback yesterday too, and he looks great for right now!! Amazing, the one who should have been the most stressed initially looks the best. WELL THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS, THIS HAS BEEN A DEVISTATING LOSS MONITARILY AND MOST OF ALL EMOTIONALY AND IT IS NICE TO KNOW THERE IS SOME FISH LOVERS OUT THERE TO COUNT ON:p
 

coolben

New Member
I also have a aqua clear aquatics wet dry filter pro 150. I ordered the replacement foam filter for it recently off the internet from Dr. Fosters and Smith. The foam filter comes not sealed. The filter was just in the box with packing. I rinsed it then placed it into my tank. The same thing happened to my tank as yours. My xenias melted my fish went to the bottom, my anenomies shriveld, all my coral had a mucus string attatched to them. Luckily I had another tank close by and I started switching everthing over as fast as possible. I contacted the aqua clear and Dr. Foster and Smiths about this incedent and they are now going to seal these filters. They did find other contaminated filters in there wherehouses. They did reimburse me for my losses. It is something to look out for or maybe even give them a call..
 

dave flood

Member
I had that happen to one of my corals when I poured the water in to fast from a 5g bucket. the water landed right on it. took a few weeks to get better. Now I allways slowly syphen water in & out of tanks.
 

sundance

Member
I'm new to Saltwater fish but I do know about electricity. Unless you are thinking the bad pump released some kind of chemical or something it's not likely the pump shocked the fish and coral to death. It's like a bird on a wire. The bird isn't grounded so it isn't shocked, same with the fish, there is no path to ground so they wouldn't be shocked even if there was a bare wire in the tank.
Sundance
 

gatorcsm

Member
Sundance,
Many fish are sensitive to stray currents that may exist in a tank, especially one with some various paths to a ground. Maybe the pump, maybe a heater. Either way, any potential has a chance of putting a significant stress on the fish. This doesn't really sound too likely here, though. It would be a much less rapid reaction.
I agree with a chemical or agent on a filter/sponge. I have had a similar incident with a new sponge for a overflow box.
gregarlington,
where are you located? (city/state)
 
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