My first crash! I'm devastated!

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Hello all, been a long time since I have been on here, however the worst thing has happened to me, and no, I'm not a noob. I really need help, and fast!
I have(had) a beautiful 90 gallon reef tank. I have been successful for years with just a HOB filter and skimmer and 20% bi monthly water changes. This is what happened or how it started... A week ago last Sunday I went to my LFS to get salt, their saltwater and a starry blenny. I had already made 10 gallons of my own SW at my home from my own RO unit but I decided to get the last 10 from them as I have used it in the past on occassion. So, I finished adding my own water to the tank, then began to put theirs in, just towards the end, I decided to test their SG on my refractometer to my horrid surprise, it was 1.017 instead of 1.026 like they had told me. There was nothing I could do as I had already added the water and the tank was now full and I had just let the new fish go into the tank. I have never quarenteened before and have always had good luck. In any case about 48 hours later, ALL my fish are covered in ick! I don't like to use chemicals, I like to maintain my tank the natural way if I can. I knew that fish will get ick if stressed, so I figured I stressed them from the water change and dip in salinity from the LFS water. I did another water change using all my own water this time, by the next morning, I had 3 dead shrimp and 2 dead fish! The water was milky white, Holy Crap! Ammonia! This has NEVER happened to me. Again, I did another water change, got all the dead bodies out, changed the carbon and crossed my fingers, the next day ALL corals are closed, another dead fish and shrimp. Fast forward to today, 10 days after the dreaded water change, I've lost all but 3 fish, fish I have had since they were only 1/2 inch and we have bonded with and named. I have lost a HUGE Leather I bought as a frag that was over 10" across, turned yellow and melted. Lost a frogspawn I bought at a tiny frag, completely melted at over 9 inches across. Lost ALL my snails, and sea urchin. I have been doing daily 20% changes for 4 days now, I CAN'T lower the Ammonia! I hardly have any stock, I have removed all dying and dead things(that I can see) and my poor remaining fish are gasping. I bought a stupid ammonia tester with 3 different agents to add to get your results after 20 minutes and I can't tell what the level is! I just know it's high. I'm not a fan of adding chemicals, but I'm getting desperate, I don't want to lose my last couple fish. Please someone help me, I feel like a total noob, but I'm not! Why can't I figure this out?

[KeithB]

Short term, buy some ammonia lock or prime and run it. I'd also load up on GAC in case there's a toxin in the tank doing the damage. I'd also crank the flow up as much as possible.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I don't know what GAC is.

[ecvernon]

Granular activated carbon

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

What I am using now, and I have been changing daily are PURA filtration pads in the HOB filter. They cover everything.

[bearpeidog]

Do you think the water change caused the crash? the 1.017 was is only 1/10th of your volume. Did you measure the salinity after the water change? Hyposalinity is a way people treat fish for ich so Im thinking that is what the water was for? Worse, maybe they used a copper based treatment which would explain the invert deaths to a degree.

I would test for copper as well at this point since the fish you bought had ich and they may have been treating it. Actually I would check all params at this point.

Best of luck and I'm sorry for the losses. Hopefully keithB's advice will work and you can get the ammonia under control. You could even try larger water changes at this point - 50 percent. As long as you match params closely you should be fine.

[tufkab]

In my opinion, it was maybe the second water change that really kicked this all off.

The first one, with the lower salinity water would have lower the salinity of the whole tank, although most of the tank was probably adjusting to it fairly well. The second water change you did would have brought the salinity back up. That swing down and back up may have started a die off.

Once some animal life started dying off, the increased ammonia from the initial die off would have really taken a serious toll on other life that was already having trouble adjusting to rapid changes in salinity; it's been one big snowball since then.

I think the ich may have been a separate issue beyond stress.

Mind you, I have no facts to back up my ideas, this is more of a "thinking out loud" type thing, but in my mind, it does seem like a plausible situation.

Sorry about all your losses, I lost 3/4 of my livestock moving my 180 when i bought a house two years ago...I know the feeling.

[GroktheCube]

How big are the fish? Set up a small tank for them, and put newly made water in there. Don't bother with substrate or filters, just a bubbler, heater, and a couple hiding places. Make sure you have something like Prime on hand to detoxify ammonia.

Also, my guess is you had velvet or brook for otherwise healthy fish to die in three days. Decide how you want to treat. Copper or tank transfer method would be your best bets for ich, copper is your only option (other than CQ for velvet). If you want to use copper, take the HOB from your main tank, and use that on your hospital tank. Keep them out of the main tank for 9 weeks, that's how long the ick in the main tank to starve to death. Velvet takes less time, but better safe than sorry. Don't re-use the HOB on your main tank if you've used copper.

Sorry you had this happen :-/. I don't think the .001 drop in sg was the culprit though. That kind of drop would not be much of a stressor at all. Fish can generally adapt to small dips in sg pretty effortlessly.

Also, I think something else may have been off for three fish and two shrimp to crash a 90 overnight, unless the fish were huge.

Bottom line, get everything that's alive out of there ASAP and get some Prime ASAP. Of you don't have another tank, they'd be better off in ANYTHING with clean water than the cycling tank, even if its a 5g bucket until you can get a bigger QT/hospital tank set up.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I do have Prime, reluctantly I used it today as I said I like to do things without chemicals. I dosed 1 and a half capfulls, however, I just tested my ammonia 10 minutes ago and it's still high, although I can't tell how high because this $25.99 test kit SUCKS! I don't want to over dose the prime, but it says you can use up to 5x the dose. I'm scared, I don't know what to do! I don't have another tank to put the fish in. I just don't get how an established tank of 2 years could cycle? I have had saltwater tanks for 10 years, this is a first for me and I feel so helpless!

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Oh, my hippo tang is about 6 inches, I have had her since she was less than 1/2 inch. I have had her almost 2 years.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

All of my ricordia hated that prime I did today, Before I dosed it, they were closed but now their mouths are gaping!

[foxsavage]

If you add a whole bottle of live nitrifying bacteria it will help with the ammonia. I've used a product called Fritz zyme 9 before that worked very well.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I would never add a whole bottle of anything at one time! I just don't understand why the water changes aren't helping!

[GroktheCube]

The tank is effectively "cycling", because everything happening in it has generated way more ammonia than the bacteria can handle.

The milky cloudiness isn't actually ammonia, its bacteria (and stuff produced by bacteria). With a sudden influx of ammonia, the population of those bacteria EXPLODE. That takes up a TON of oxygen, which is probably a big part of what killed everything. If the bloom happens too quickly, it can actually end up killing off most of the good bacteria too, as oxygen is sucked out of the water. This is especially true of things are decaying in the tank, as lots of bacteria will bloom to eat that too. In a closed environment, even a large one, a population of bacteria can easily expand fast enough to cause a crash under the right circumstances. That may have happened.

At that point, not only would you have lots of ammonia and little oxygen, but you'd also have very few bacteria left to "eat" the ammonia, which would basically set you back to square one of the cycling process.

Do you have a spare 5g bucket or Rubbermaid? Do you have salt water mixed up? If you don't have water, I'd make enough to fill whatever container you have, let it aerate for a good several hours (once pH is stable and it is clear, its good), get it to the right temp, and get those fish in ASAP. You should be able to buy a 10 or 15 gal tank from your LFS for $30 or less. You can use your HOB filter on that if you don't feel comfortable using prime or WCs to control ammonia.

That is step one. Once the fish are out, you can work on getting your main tank stable without worrying about the fish. If the fish have been in there that long with high ammonia, they might already be too damaged to bounce back, but its always worth trying.

[GroktheCube]

Oh, my hippo tang is about 6 inches, I have had her since she was less than 1/2 inch. I have had her almost 2 years.

Watch out, the tang police will arrest you for having a blue hippo in a 90 :-p.

Getting her (and any other fish) out of the main tank is step one. Think of a tank crash as being like a shelf starting to collapse. You want to remove the most valuable, heavy, and fragile objects first, and then worry about fixing the shelf. Trying to fix it while balancing all those objects is hard to pull off. Not my analogy, I believe I read it first from Sk8er, but it is apt.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I'm not afraid of tang police, I've been around too long! Ok, Filling a rubbermaid of RO right now, what about the corals still in the tank? My zoas and ricordia?

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I know this is going to sound insane, but I wish this would have happened to me before in the past, I would know what to do! But in all honesty, I have never had anything like this!

[tekjunkie28]

With prime ur test kit will still test positive for ammonia even though its neutralized IIRC. That blue tang should be sold. Its too big for that tank when full grown. Using chemicals isn't a bad idea. And if u wanna save this ur gonna have go use some chemicals. bTW that prime lasts 24 hours. U will have to re dose. Also I would pour 2 more cap fulls in. Test for copper. This the only likely suspect. Good luck and really sorry for the losses.

Sent from my SCH-I605

[agruetz]

If it were me I would get my fish into a FRESH made set of salt water. Stick em in a rubermaid with a heater and air stone and some flow. Grab some sea chem stability or fritz zyme which is basically filter in a bottle. Grab some poly filter it will neutralize most chemical's and turn the color of the chemical. You may also need something like prime for the short term. I am betting some sorta chemical caused it. Make sure to put the poly filter in the temp housing and the main tank and see what happens. This really sucks, but this is what I would do if it were me. I always keep poly filter around and a chunk in the tank just for incase of metal issues like copper or whatever. I really hate to hear this hope this advice helps. Key at this point is to make a decision and quick do not do a wait and see in my opinion. If I was closer I would offer to come help have all these items in the closet due to a recent tank move.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Thanks for all the replies. This is so heart wrenching for me. In 10 years, nothing has ever come close to this. I have had a fish or coral die before, but never anything like this. I have fresh RO running and I will mix with my reef crystals and throw a heater in. The LFS did offer to babysit my fish until I get things under control, I may just take them up on their offer. They will put them in a display tank not connected to the ones that are for sale. This is really heart wrenching, I cannot even begin to describe my feelings right now. I love my pets, they are part of my family.

[hibb304]

Man sorry to hear. Hope you figure it out. :(

[GroktheCube]

If it were me I would get my fish into a FRESH made set of salt water. Stick em in a rubermaid with a heater and air stone and some flow. Grab some sea chem stability or fritz zyme which is basically filter in a bottle. Grab some poly filter it will neutralize most chemical's and turn the color of the chemical. You may also need something like prime for the short term. I am betting some sorta chemical caused it. Make sure to put the poly filter in the temp housing and the main tank and see what happens. This really sucks, but this is what I would do if it were me. I always keep poly filter around and a chunk in the tank just for incase of metal issues like copper or whatever. I really hate to hear this hope this advice helps. Key at this point is to make a decision and quick do not do a wait and see in my opinion. If I was closer I would offer to come help have all these items in the closet due to a recent tank move.

That's a good idea. I think I'm going to order some polyfilter and a spare reactor ASAP.

AEA, I'd recommend moving the corals as well. Zoas and Rics are pretty hardy, but it sounds like it's a bit of a mess in there now. Prime will take care of ammonia in the short term, but won't do much for a lot of other potential problems.

Make sure you have something you can cover the rubbermaid with, but not too tight.

Also, make sure the pH and temp in the rubbermaid are stable before you move anything. Unstable pH in freshly mixed water means CO2 (and presumably O2) levels have not leveled out.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I've never had it happen in an SW tank before, but I have experienced in FW.

[Megatrev62]

For starters have a good cry for yourself, sounds like you need one. I can imagine the panic. IMO I don't think you did anything wrong. Sounds like something got in the water. I would follow the advice given as well. I'd definitely contact the store you got the water from and tell them what happened.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Oh believe me, I have cried, and still am! Back to the LFS today for more water. Water change # ? 7 or 8. Today I'm going to change out 40 to 50 gallons. I'm so determined to get this water back on track! I am also continuing to add Prime and carbon. Should I buy some live bacteria as well to help all the cloudiness and try to balance things out? If so, which brand?

[Chrisjbarry]

Dont waste money on the bacteria right now do massive water change. Also bet you had a sand bed. Ive lost a couple things when I was running a sand bed. Now everything grows great without sand.


Sent from inside the shark tank!

[karenvas2]

Set up a QT while your DT cycles. What happened to the blenny you bought? Did it die off too? Ammonia lock will help. Do you think buying more water from the LFS is good instead of making your own? Good luck

[d2mini]

Just FYI, swapping out 10% of 1.026 and replacing it with 10% of 1.017 will make very little change. That was nothing to be alarmed about. Did you test the salinity of your tank a couple hours after that first WC?

And plus one to everything GrokTheCube said.
Good luck! That's a horrible thing to witness. I hope the damage is minimized as much as possible.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I am making my own RO, but it takes an entire day to make 15 gallons, so I'm making half and buying the other half from the LFS. Yes, I lost the starry blenny :( I refuse to give up though and I WILL win! Not all is lost yet, and I'll do what it takes to get through this and get back to where I was. I'm so glad I can come here for advice and to vent, my friends don't understand why I am upset over fish and corals. A life is a life, whether human, fish, insect(except spiders, all spiders must die) and if they belong to me, I treat them as a family member!

[Megatrev62]

I know someone who had their pet rock stolen and they were very upset about it.I didn't understand it though.

[dkeller_nc]

A comment about removing the ammonia in your tank - go get some activated carbon and a cannister filter! Granular activated carbon is a 40+ year proven method for removing ammonia from salt or fresh water, and its adsorption capacity is huge. I read up on the PURA filter that you mention:

http://www.marinedepot.com/PURA_Filtration_Pad_Filter_Pad_Mechanical_Filter_Media-Magnavore_(PURA)-MN3311-FIFMMEPM-vi.html

It appears that it is largely composed of ferric hydroxide. That may well be effective at getting rid of a low phosphate level, but its adsorption capacity for ammonia is probably pretty low (or none). Moreover, it appears that there's 5 oz of media in one pad. Give the situation you have, and in a 90 gallon tank plus a sump, 5 ounces of GAC would be totally inadequate, and 5 ounces of GFO is pretty much useless.

When I was running my 90 and finishing the cure on some mostly-cured rock, I was running an eheim canister with approximately 3 quarts of carbon per charge, and I was changing it every 3 days or so. Were I in your situation, I would be running that much GAC, but changing it every day (if not twice per day).

[jaynigz]

honestly at this point in the ball game I strongly consider buying an ro/di unit to make your own salt water. I just can't trust certain LFS with my tank. If I screw up it's on me, if the LFS screws up, they won't feel responsible for it, especially with a water issue like this as it seems.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I have an RO unit! I said I can only make 15 gallons a day, which normally is fine, but because of what's going on, it's not enough fast enough.

I will never own a canister filter again, huge PITA! I am going to pick up some granulated carbon though today.

The tank actually looks a little better today(knock on wood) a few of my zoas have opened.

[Sk8r]

As with any crash situation, moving livestock out before they die and increase the chemical problem is the best first fix. The tank may be able to recover if you can just prevent more dead bioload from hitting its overstressed bacteria. You might, if you can move everything to clean water, put some meaningful media, plus carbon in a way to catch any particulate, and to remove any organics that need it; Once you've got that straightened out, I'd run Polyfilter to see if anything outre got into the tank, like a metal or other such---Polyfilter's color can show you if there was copper, etc, while it takes the substance out and binds it.

Lodge your fish with the lfs, then bring them back via a quarantine, as if they were new fish. At least observe them a couple of weeks, 4 ideally.

And bring your wounded sandbed back gradually, with inverts , then a fish or two, etc, so that you don't overwhelm it.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Once I have everything stable, I was planning on ordering from inland aquatics, that's where I have always gotten all my little guys(pods) to bring my sand bed back to life.

Thanks again everyone, I'll let you know how things are doing as they progress!

[dkeller_nc]

I have an RO unit! I said I can only make 15 gallons a day, which normally is fine, but because of what's going on, it's not enough fast enough.

I will never own a canister filter again, huge PITA! I am going to pick up some granulated carbon though today.

The tank actually looks a little better today(knock on wood) a few of my zoas have opened.

The canister filter is for a situation like this, it's the most efficient and cheapest way to get a large volume of water through a large volume of chemical filtration media very quickly. But I wasn't suggesting that you use it on a permanent basis - the older kind of canisters are indeed irritating to open up, at least without isolation valves. The newer ones, though, allow you to open the canister without spilling water, and one even allows you to change the media while it's still running.

You might consider buying a combo carbon/DI unit - you can plumb this directly to your tap water source and yield a whole trash can full of pure water while the nightly news is on (30 minutes). Once you get over your issue, you can plumb it to the RO unit and use it to get absolutely pure water without running through a lot of resin really quickly.

[slief]

From what I am hearing, I don't believe the salinity is your issue. Based on the ich, I would suspect the water you used was much colder or warmer than the tank water and when you did your water change it dropped the tank water temp too fast. I've had a similar issue with a large water change resulting in an Ich breakout.

If your opposed to treating your tank, I would strongly suggest adding some air stones to the display near a pump so you can really increase aeration. Ich tends to effect the fishes gills making it hard for them to get the O2 they need. The airstones help with that. I would also suggest adding a bit of garlic to your food. That will help stimulate their appetite. You can also soak the food in Selcon in an effort to increse the nourishment.

Without removing the fish and treating them with Copper, I would expect to loose a fair amount of your livestock. Just be careful if you decide to do massive water changes. Make sure the water temp matches that of the display. Remember, a couple degree drop or increase in temp in a very short amount of time can compound the situation. I also don't think massive water changes right now will help your situation as it will likely result in more stress to the fish and your eco system. That said, if your amonia is spiking, you may not have much of a choice.

[d-man]

As stated before, sounds more like copper poisoning. Invert die or melt very quickly. If you had healthy livestock, the hypo probably woudlnt have killed them that fast. But where would you have gotten that much copper? Even if you poured the bag water in from the fish I doubt it would have any effect in a 90gal tank.
Remove all livestock that you can, qt in separate containers(fish in one, corals and anything else in separate) let tank recycle and then add coral back. Let sit fallow for 8-12 wks then add fish back in.
Sorry to hear. I had 22 fish in my 560 gal. All died except originally ice vector...blue tang. I couldn't get all the fish out until a few died. Then more died in qt. Large angels,tangs, anthias, etc. $2200 in fish and 21 fish lives lost:(

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Ok, just got back from the LFS, I have Poly filters and live bacteria and fresh water that I'm testing BEFORE it goes into my tank ;) I had a nice argument with the owner as he assured me they keep their SG at 1.026, however, when I MADE him show me the SG on a refractometer, it was in fact 1.014!!! ANd, 50 degrees! I have already added salt to the water I brought home, and I'm currently warming it by microwaving pints of the saltwater to bring to the exact temp of my tank in each bucket. I bought a brand new oceanwater complete test kit as my other had expired and I bought TLC for saltwater aquariums Aquarium Optimizer.

[The_fishkeeper86]

Well that's further support for my decision of buying my own ro/di even if I don't want to plumb it into my apartment here. Just cant trust something so important anyone else it seems : /

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I have my own RO system, however, I can only make 15 gallons a day, it goes through so many filters! But it's worth it, my TDS meter has my RO water at 2 PPM.

[speedo2wet]

Id have to agree with many of the other on here. I think the second water change to quickly incease the salinity tipped the scale. If I can remember right, the fish and corals with tolerate the lower salinity or a quickly lowering of salinity. On the other hand a very quick increase can stress the fish and corals. I would have thrown carbon in, poly filter and amquel or one of the neutralizing agents, then slowly add a little salt over the next week or water changes over the next week with slightly higher salinity till it was stable. Good luck in your journey, remember you can always do better the next time.

[Slawdude]

Very sorry to hear, it is heartbreaking to have your pride and joy crash, I know that feeling unfortunately and I feel your pain.

Try to recover using water changes only until you are certain of the issue. Adding fixer uppers at this stage will likely make recovery more difficult by creating additional variables. Remember, only bad things happen fast in a reef tank.

Consider getting a little QT/hospital setup.

[GroktheCube]

I have my own RO system, however, I can only make 15 gallons a day, it goes through so many filters! But it's worth it, my TDS meter has my RO water at 2 PPM.

After you have everything stable, I'd contemplate buying a new RO/DI from somewhere like Bulk Reef Supply. 15gpd is VERY low output, and you ideally want 0 TDS in the makeup water.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I would love to get a new RO system, a much bigger one, but first I have to have our house painted, the windows washed, the landscaping done oh, and did I mention I have 2 mortgages? :) I actually just spent 2k on a huge pressure tank for our well pump! We are on well water where I live and I soften the water with potassium. We don't drink it from the tap but I do cook with it. I would never in a million years put it in my fish tank though!

[coralsnaked]

Excuse me I hope i am not too late to help but this really sounds more like a huge bacterial bloom lowering oxygen levels in the water. The ammonia is from the dying critters. Keep using the Prime as directed for amkonia levels.

Then the action to take is to perform a large water change of as much as 50%. At the same time, increase the water movement by adding a power head, airstones, or even an additional filter on a temporary basis. The newly added water will introduce more oxygen to the tank, while the increased water movement will improve the oxygen exchange, buying some time to address the underlying cause. After that, additional corrective steps will depend on the root cause, which should be determined to assure the problem is permanently corrected.

Use a live bacterial additive like StartSmart for saltwater to help instantly cycle the tank. As the net affect of this is the tank is going to recycle. Then continue to use the treated filter pads.

Good luck

[jaynigz]

I have my own RO system, however, I can only make 15 gallons a day, it goes through so many filters! But it's worth it, my TDS meter has my RO water at 2 PPM.

honestly, with a 90 gallon tank you should invest in a full RO/DI system that makes 75 gallon a day and keep the water on reserve. You said it yourself, you went back to the LFS and was once again shown such fibbery. I would seriously never go back there again.

what's the saying goes, fool me once....fool me twice.....

[jaynigz]

I would love to get a new RO system, a much bigger one, but first I have to have our house painted, the windows washed, the landscaping done oh, and did I mention I have 2 mortgages? :) I actually just spent 2k on a huge pressure tank for our well pump! We are on well water where I live and I soften the water with potassium. We don't drink it from the tap but I do cook with it. I would never in a million years put it in my fish tank though!

Look in the for sale section. I literally saw TWO ro/di WITH pumps upgrade to push 150 gallon for less than 200 the last 7 days. Your death toll to your livestock is worth more than the amount of money you would have spent on an ro/di system.

[Sk8r]

Always have a bottle of Prime in house, along with salt, and enough buckets. If your tank is on the verge of crashing and you need to get critters to safety, never mind the problems with conditioned tap water: prepare it with Prime, add salt, mix 4 hours until clear, with a strong pump, and use it for your qt and coral rescue tanks.

Do not be afraid of Prime used to create water: if you have to do water changes with conditioned tapwater, a GFO can handle that problem later.
LIkewise Amquel ammonia stopper is safe even in an SPS reef if you use it by the instructions.

[Nator]

Ok, just got back from the LFS, I have Poly filters and live bacteria and fresh water that I'm testing BEFORE it goes into my tank ;) I had a nice argument with the owner as he assured me they keep their SG at 1.026, however, when I MADE him show me the SG on a refractometer, it was in fact 1.014!!! ANd, 50 degrees! I have already added salt to the water I brought home, and I'm currently warming it by microwaving pints of the saltwater to bring to the exact temp of my tank in each bucket. I bought a brand new oceanwater complete test kit as my other had expired and I bought TLC for saltwater aquariums Aquarium Optimizer.

Unbelievable..... dumb LFS people, ridiculous. I would picket their store with signs telling people what happened.

[slief]

Ok, just got back from the LFS, I have Poly filters and live bacteria and fresh water that I'm testing BEFORE it goes into my tank ;) I had a nice argument with the owner as he assured me they keep their SG at 1.026, however, when I MADE him show me the SG on a refractometer, it was in fact 1.014!!! ANd, 50 degrees! I have already added salt to the water I brought home, and I'm currently warming it by microwaving pints of the saltwater to bring to the exact temp of my tank in each bucket. I bought a brand new oceanwater complete test kit as my other had expired and I bought TLC for saltwater aquariums Aquarium Optimizer.

That confirms what I was thinking and said earlier. While the water you put in your tank was low in salinity, I doubt that was enough water to lower your tanks salinity enough to be detrimental. 50* water on the other hand in that volume could have dropped your tank temps a few or more degress in a matter of minutes (or less) which will cause an ich breakout in most cases.

As I suggested in my previous post, aerate your tank with air stones near a return pump to insure there is an abundance of air in the water. You want to see air bubbles all over so as to insure the fish with ich can get adequet O2. Ich can and will coat their gills and the fish will die from a lack of O2 in an otherwise healthy tank.

[Michigan Mike]

Lesson learned the hard way, we all go through it & it could be worse. My cat of 2 years got hit by a car today, bad stuff happens, some preventable, some not.

If you have been in the hobby this long its mandatory you get at least a BRS 75gpd value plus RO/DI and make your own, I got mine for around $130 but I think they are around $150 new, not on sale. If your water is bad maybe a 5 stage instead of a 4 stage. Mine isn't plumbed & i can remove & store it anytime.
Have enough water / salt on hand in case of emergencies.

[aandfsoccr04]

Ok, just got back from the LFS, I have Poly filters and live bacteria and fresh water that I'm testing BEFORE it goes into my tank ;) I had a nice argument with the owner as he assured me they keep their SG at 1.026, however, when I MADE him show me the SG on a refractometer, it was in fact 1.014!!! ANd, 50 degrees! I have already added salt to the water I brought home, and I'm currently warming it by microwaving pints of the saltwater to bring to the exact temp of my tank in each bucket. I bought a brand new oceanwater complete test kit as my other had expired and I bought TLC for saltwater aquariums Aquarium Optimizer.

I would definitely find a new LFS if I were you.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Good news! I brought 30 gallons of fresh SW up to the exact temp of my tank with a digital thermometer. I added prime to the fresh saltwater before putting it in the tank(that's what the instructions said) then I added the recommended amount of live bacteria, I put my poly filter pads in and I tested the tank water 3 hours later and the results are...... PH 8.2, so I added my super buffer DKH to raise it, Ammonia ZERO, nitrite ZERO, doing my nitrate after I finish typing this! Water is still a bit cloudy and TONS of bubbles from my skimmer! Fish are swimming normal, no more labored breathing, sun coral fully open. Tomorrow, I will test all over again in the morning. I will never get my water from the fish store again!

[WhoDey64]

glad to hear its turning around for you.

[GroktheCube]

Great! It sounds like things are stabilizing.

[tekjunkie28]

I have about 90 total system gallons and I had a 50 gal per day RO Unit. I want to Brs andgot the 75Gallon upgradekit. YOumayze able to do that with yours. Ane I see gou hav3 well water... that could be a issue also. anything can be in ur well water. Yo also need a way to store water. I have a 35 gallon brute trash can with the wheel base. Best thing ive ever bought. You are killing urself with these buckets and microwaving water. Get urself a extra heater and mix your chages up in the brute can. This hobby is rough enough. Also good call of the canister fikters by a previous poster! All your issues u have here I garrentee came from the LFS water, even though you have a well. Good luck.

[tekjunkie28]

Good news! I brought 30 gallons of fresh SW up to the exact temp of my tank with a digital thermometer. I added prime to the fresh saltwater before putting it in the tank(that's what the instructions said) then I added the recommended amount of live bacteria, I put my poly filter pads in and I tested the tank water 3 hours later and the results are...... PH 8.2, so I added my super buffer DKH to raise it, Ammonia ZERO, nitrite ZERO, doing my nitrate after I finish typing this! Water is still a bit cloudy and TONS of bubbles from my skimmer! Fish are swimming normal, no more labored breathing, sun coral fully open. Tomorrow, I will test all over again in the morning. I will never get my water from the fish store again!

I wouldnt worry about ph at 8.2. Maybe someone here can steer us in the r8ght direction but changing ph too fast is also harmful. 8.2 is normal for me.

[accordsirh22]

not to sound harsh. but that is why you should QT. best of luck correcting it. i assume the water from them is premade for that purpose, not coming out of their tanks right?

why would you raise pH if it was already 8.2? that makes no sense.