Found the business end of my dottyback...

[fdonophan]

Well...

My dottyback has been missing for a couple days, and my water is all cloudy and white. Though my ammonia hasn't really spiked, I feared the worst...

Sure enough, this morning I found the front end of my dottyback. Not happy!! I dont relish the thought of ripping my rocks apart to find the other end when in all likliness it was eaten by a crab already anyway.

Is the decaying half of one fish going to crash my tank if I wait it out?? My fish don't seem stressed, even though my water looks like crap - will the issue resolve itself, or do I need to find dotty's other half??

[snorvich]

It depends on tank size and clean up crew.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Your clean up crew will take care of it. Have some water ready for a water change.

[fdonophan]

Did a WC this morning - 25% to 30%. Still looks cloudy as hell!! Not the first time I've had this issue, either. It clears up for a couple days and looks gorgeous, then I can't see 2 inches in.

My ammonia is at .25, phos, nitrite and nitrate are all undetected.
Should I try another water change?

[aleonn]

In your small tank, I'd remove the dead fish. I'd also do another water change and add carbon, as I'm concerned by that ammonia level. Maybe even use Amquel Plus to neutralize ammonia (I haven't used this product for a while, so someone please correct me if I'm thinking of the right product). If you have a sump, I'd run a filter sock as well.

[fdonophan]

See the thing is with the water cloudy like this I cant SEE it!! I tried moving the rocks yesterday and found nothing - it was random today I saw the half I did. I can't find it!! this is the third day its looked like this, and the .25 is the highest the ammonia has gotten so far...

[csmfish]

if 26 is the size of your tank, i would do everything you can, dead dottyback included, to keep that tank as clean as possible.

[Acronic]

sounds like alk precip maybe. What are you params for alk cal and mag? moving the rocks around to find the fish could have spiked the ammonia

[snorvich]

Then use carbon to clear the water. Small tanks are much more sensitive than larger tanks.

[csmfish]

Whoops, I ment 29g

[aecasasus]

Did a WC this morning - 25% to 30%. Still looks cloudy as hell!! Not the first time I've had this issue, either. It clears up for a couple days and looks gorgeous, then I can't see 2 inches in.

My ammonia is at .25, phos, nitrite and nitrate are all undetected.
Should I try another water change?

Yes! Do another WC and make sure you're up in carbon.

[fasteddie99]

If there are even 3 bristle worms in your tank you will be just fine. They are usually the first to smell decay.

[fdonophan]

My alk is 16dkh, and calcium is 600+. No mag test. I don't dose anything - its a combo of the water and salt (I use distilled water and reef crystals.)

Alk and Cal both have been high like that since I started the tank - could that be it?

Ammonia is a little lighter this morning - I'm about to do another big WC.

[fdonophan]

I have floss, purigen and chemipur in the back, both about 1-1.5 months old. Purigen is still pale, and chemipur is supposed to be good for 3 months. Shouldn't need to change them out. The chemipur is pretty cheap though, if I can I will grab a new one after work.

[fdonophan]

Couple more numbers just for info - temp 76, sg 1.026 and ph 7.8.

[jlylec]

I could be wrong, but I don't see how one dead fish could cause this. I have a 34gal nano with similar filtration and over the years I've lost a couple fish and not noticed for weeks because the tank didn't seem affected at all. I just wonder if something else is going on.

[spieszak]

Is the water cloudy when you mix it? How old is the tank? Did the LR cycle?
If its been three days, and you have a decent CUC, I doubt theres anything left to find...

[scapes]

I could be wrong, but I don't see how one dead fish could cause this. I have a 34gal nano with similar filtration and over the years I've lost a couple fish and not noticed for weeks because the tank didn't seem affected at all. I just wonder if something else is going on.

i'm with jlylec here.

[fdonophan]

Tank is 3 months old, LR cycled, and I've been light on my additions. Water isnt cloudy when I mix it.

I too think it has to be more than one dead fish. My water quality has been excellent up to the last week though. I did a 25% WC yesterday, and it looked better at first, but by the time I went to bed it was all clouded up again, so it seems to me it is something in the tank, not in the new water.

I just did a 50% WC. Hopefully things will have stabilized by the time I get back home this evening.

[89Foxbody]

16 dKH is really high...The cloudiness could just be alk precipitation. Your calcium is insanely high too and this will cause more wear and tear on your equipment over time.

1 dead fish wouldn't cause that many problems.

[Acronic]

do your heaters and powerheads have a brown / gray build up on them? (signs of precipitation). I am no expert, may I suggest hold out on the WCs for now and continue testing alk cal AND mag!!! Once you lay the baseline of those tests you can determin if its a precip. Dont forget to test the freshly made water aswell. My money is on an ammonia spike from disturbing the sand and rock, trying to find the other half of the fish (likely eaten already). If the tank has a good bio filtration established, the ammonia should get back to 0.00 reletivly quickly.

Ive had a precipitation in my tank before and it was linked to my refractometer being out of whack. What do you use to test the SG? If using a refractometer, Do you calibrate it whenever there is a 5 degree change in ambient air temp and what do you calibrate it with?

[fdonophan]

Just got home.

It's definitely not the "crystal clear" we strive for, but it IS better.

Alk is down a little to 14dkh, ammonia is nearly gone, ph is up a little to 8.0, and calcium is unchanged.

Will check agian in the AM!

[aleonn]

Sounds like things are improving! Keep us updated!