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[Tony Eygabroad]

Hi, I am a 37 year old married male who has been into saltwater reef tanks for over 15 years. I first started with a 30gal nano back in 1995 and have moved up slowly to what I have now which is a 100gal reef. I recently had something happen to my 100gal tank that has been up and running great for eight months. One night when I could not fall asleep, I started to take some pictures of the tank to show some co-worker. The pictures I took at 1130 showed a good looking tank but when I got up at 500am the tank what completly white. All the fish where dead and I lost most of my corals. I did test the water that night before going to bed and it read as pH 8.1, KH greater than 300, NO2 0, NO3 less than 10, and AMMONIA was 0. In the morrning was a flat 7 and everthing else was a flat 0. Has anyone else heard of something like this?

I did do a lot of work for the next three days and did save the tank for the most part just real worried it could happen again.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site, glad to have you aboard. Sorry to hear about your tank. Has any chemicals found it's way into your tank (by mist, spray, on your hands)? When you were taking pics, did you clean the glass with windex beforehand? Or did you have an anemone that possibly died and poisoned the tank?

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

Sorry to hear about your troubles, do you have a deep sand bed by chance or dose vodka/vinegar?

 

[JustinsReefTank]

Hello and welcome to the site!!!

 

[Marines_Wife]

Hello and welcome! Im sorry I am not experienced enough to give you any advice, that must be so frustrating and disheartening!!!! These people here will have you figured out in no time

 

[fastrd400]

Welcome to the site, sorry to hear about the tank disaster

Or did you have an anemone that possibly died and poisoned the tank?

Was thinking the same thing. Looks like a RTBA in the center of the first pic, and gone in the second.

 

[Tony Eygabroad]

There are no anemones in the tank, I had that happen to me once before and told myself never to do it again. As far as chemical I never use windex or any harsh cleaner, normally just water and elbow grease.
The tank had a nice plate coral that was growing great but I lost it in the emergent water change. There is also a nice colony of red polyps that did manage too save. Then there was four fish, one yellow eyed tang, sand sifting goby, and two damsels.

 

[little_fish]

Did you have a deep sand bed or dose vinegar or vodka? And what fish did you have in their originally?

 

[Tony Eygabroad]

2-3 inches of substrate, sand and crushed coral. One yellow eyed tang, sand sifting goby, and two damsels.

No doseing with vinegar or vodka. Would not have thought to do that anyway???

 

[marcah]

howdy and welcome to the site.. really sorry to hear about the tank. without any chemical or poisons from nems hard to nail it down, for me anyway.. What about something with a short or something electrical (heater powehead, skimmer or other) causing the die off and then ammonia spike.

 

[little_fish]

I would place my money on a pocket of gas being disturbed in the sand bed, causing a mass dieoff when released.

 

[Waddi]

Welcome to the forum mate!

 

[Tony Eygabroad]

All of the posts have been very helpful and I hope that this never happens again but I guess I have just got to be more careful. But its hard when you have know idea what happened.

 

[Marines_Wife]

All of the posts have been very helpful and I hope that this never happens again but I guess I have just got to be more careful. But its hard when you have know idea what happened.

Im with you, I am still confused as to what happened to your tank, if there was a mass gas pocket that was disturbed, wouldnt there be something that would have caused it to be disturbed? reaquascaping? Something?