[mdcorcoran]

hey all.
i've had my tank up and running for about 4 years with no major problems until january of this year. I moved my tank from a 37g to a 55g, switched lighting from 130 PC to 250W MH, and switched substrate from crushed coral to sand (less than an inch all over). about 1 month after the move, all of the fish died within 5 days of each other. my levels were normal. all corals and inverts were doing well.

i added a orchid dottyback about a month later. he seemed to be doing well, so i got a goby firefish. shortly after adding the firefish, i never saw say the dottyback again. i tried putting in a starry blenny, but he died within a week.

I waited another month, and got another starry blenny and a yellow tang. the tang died about 2 weeks later, the starry blenny is still living.

late march, i noticed that some zoa polyps had closed up. they were on 2 rocks- one rock was fine, the other closed. it took about 2 months, but both sets of the polyps closed up and disappeared.

my frogspawn has not been opening up as much as it used to. the hammer coral and candy corals and leathers and other zoas were doing well.

mid-may hair algae started going wild. i tried picking a bunch off and scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush, but it came back thicker. i bought 4 emerald crabs and 4 turbo grazers, and they died within a week. the snails went within 2 days. i've NEVER had a problem with inverts dying, through all the experience.

i left on thursday and came back on monday, and a rock had fallen over. the anemone was attached to the rock, and it appears to be gone. it landed on my leather coral which looks dead. i also noticed that a rock almost half covered in mushrooms was now bare- not even shriveled up mushrooms.

i'm very very frustrated. i don't want to lose the corals that i have, but i don't want my tank to be so filthy it's embarrassing, and i don't want to waste more money on things that just end up dying, so i am pondering the rebuild. i am hoping to be able to keep the LR that i currently have and the corals, maybe even the fish.


looking for any suggestions and advice, please!
also thinking about going BB..

 

[TheReefer12]

How is the filtration? What skimmer are you using and is it pulling anything out? When you made the move, did you cycle the tank before the move? IMO it seems like the tank was not prepared for the move or your filtration is not doing its job.

 

[mdcorcoran]

when i made the move, i kept the 37g from the old system, and just added some new stuff. right now for filtration, i'm running a CPR bakpak and it's pulling out lots of stuff. I am considering getting their AquaFuge system to add to it. I also have a 2 little fishies phosphate reactor, in which i alternate carbon and phosban

 

[Twitterbait]

Let's see the stats on the tank. everything you can give will help. sorry to hear about the problems.

 

[fchidsey]

Was the 55 gal a brand new tank? if it was previouly use what was kept in it?

Very Strange sorry for you losses

Fred

 

[jenajet]

Yes it would help to have some test #'s. I upgraded a 12 to a 24. Used most of the lr, all the water, fresh sand, and a little extra cured lr. I had a very small cycle that didn't hurt and of my fish or coral. Has anything been done differently with the tank? Different water source or salt anything? Could chemicals gotten near the tank?

 

[Little Luey]

Also, list all the habitants of your tank, it sounds very misterious that you don't even see carcases and/or anything left of the Zoas. I am thinking a predator. Parameters on the water also.

 

[skeety]

Let's see the stats on the tank. everything you can give will help. sorry to hear about the problems.

Agree with Twitter here.

Very interested to know your water parms.

pH (through out the day. What is it in the am, and in the pm right before the lights go out)
Alkalinity
Calcium
and nitrate levels.

Also, how much LR do you have in the tank. And as of now, what all critters do you have still in there.

 

[Geoff]

what is the lighting difference between the 37 and the 55?

how often do you do water changes?

i am also not very good at keeping fish. they are harder than corals to me also.

G~

 

[JennM]

Hmmm....

Moving the contents of a 37 to a 55 shouldn't have changed anything - no need to re-cycle the system since you were only changing "containers".

It almost sounds like there's a contaminant issue. Is the new tank in the same spot as the old one was?

Do you use tap water or RO? Did you move the old water with the fish, or start with new water?

Parameters would be helpful - esp. phosphate. Phosphate is not toxic to the fish per se, but it would feed the hair algae and in my experience phosphate is often a 'marker' for contaminants.

Ammonia in an established tank usually "confesses" that somebody used Windex. Phosphate usually "confesses" that somebody uses scented oil air fresheners, Febreeze (that crap has wiped out a bunch of tanks - and it can kill your exotic birds too...), carpet powder (like Carpet Fresh) or any other scented domestic product designed to make your house smell nice can easily wipe out your tank.

Also, use a multimeter to check for stray voltage. You won't feel a zap if there's volts in your tank - only if there's amps. Stray voltage can come from faulty heaters, pumps, and I've even seen a defective light timer send voltage back into a tank even though the timer and lights weren't in contact with the water... that one was a real head-scractcher but the customer unplugged everything and plugged it all back in piece by piece - when the "lights" demonstrated the voltage, they took off the timer and plugged the lights directly into the outlet - and no more voltage - plugged the timer back in and voltage again - changed the timer, no more issues (2 years later...).

When fish just die suddenly without an apparent cause, there's usually something subtle that can't easily be detected.

If you aren't using air fresheners or the like - do check for voltage. Hopefully it's one or the other - those problems can be easily solved once you figure out what they are

Hope this helps

Jenn