All my fish died over night

[emilystelck]

All my fish died overnight. Everyone looked great last night. I added a couple new fish yesterday, did not change water. Did not quarantine these fish because I’ve had such good luck and everyone has always been fine after temperature acclimation. Most of these fish have been in the tank already for 2-3 weeks.

ph about 8
Nitrate 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Alkalinity 200
Hardness 300
Temperature 78

Deceased fish:
sailfin blenny x2
Royal dotty back
Clown fish x 2
Arrow crab
Snowflake eel
Blue Koran angel
Blonde naso tang
Hawkfish
green long tentacle anemone

Alive still:
Pink spotted watchman goby x 2
Emerald crab x 2
Hermit crabs
Chocolate Chip Star Fish
Two different types of coral (I think they’re alive?)

Not seen yet and assuming deceased in caves:
Caribbean Octopus
Black and white Heniochus
Striped Blenny
Pajama Cardinal

I’m also relatively new to salt water tanks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Very upset over the situation. Also to add, none of the fish have any visible spots, wounds, discoloration, slime or anything on them. They’re just dead.

 

[glb]

Same thing happened to me — everything I posted this morning. I tried to be thoughtful and add some value but I am guessing it was more removal around certain discussion topics and all posts related. Hopefully, b/c it doesn’t feel good to feel like nearly everything you’ve said was unacceptable.

I feel exactly the same way.

 

[Chrisv.]

Same thing happened to me — everything I posted this morning. I tried to be thoughtful and add some value but I am guessing it was more removal around certain discussion topics and all posts related. Hopefully, b/c it doesn’t feel good to feel like nearly everything you’ve said was unacceptable.

Me too. Whatever. OP, if you have questions feel free to send a direct message. Unfollowing here.

 

[NanoReefy]

Here is a primer guide for how some of this stuff works. Was written by a friend of mine.

hope you don't mind but I my self downloaded this. Interesting read for sure. Pretty informative for a new person op and my self for what I can tell.

 

[Cell]

Same thing happened to me — everything I posted this morning. I tried to be thoughtful and add some value but I am guessing it was more removal around certain discussion topics and all posts related. Hopefully, b/c it doesn’t feel good to feel like nearly everything you’ve said was unacceptable.

Perhaps a fair topic for a different thread. This one is to help the OP with the fish deaths.

 

[dale347]

this is so sad

 

[emilystelck]

@emilystelck Sorry for the losses. My guess is low oxygen or ammonia that has been suggested although I do wonder if disease would have eventually became a problem.

I would go very slow from here on out... do not add a lot of fish quickly. Research heavily. A wild reef wasn't built in a month or even a year. It takes many years for our tanks to really reach true stability. Enjoy the journey... it is not a race.

Baxter as in near brainerd? That is where I was born Not a lot for fish stores last time I lived there.

Yes I’m in the Baxter/Brainerd area! There are none here. I have to have fish shipped or go to Minneapolis.

 

[A Young Reefer]

calm down chill I am pretty sure its some sort of a big misunderstanding.

 

[emilystelck]

If your local ifs is what they sound to be, you may very well be better off ordering online unless you have a better option nearby... for research, no where better then this website. You can ask the pros questions like you are now.

My favorite places to buy fish: (typically recommended you quarantine new fish, but I buy only from these companies because they are well known for selling safe fish and I don't have space to quarantine in my small apartment. some, or many, would say its still a bit risky not to quarantine though)

shop.thebiotagroup.com
tsmaquatics.com
drreefsquarantinedfish.com

Thank you!

 

[LeftyReefer]

Sorry for your losses OP. This hobby is tough, especially for beginners that jump in headfirst like you did. Next time, cycle the tank, then slowly add inhabitants. And come here to R2R to ask advice on anything you potentially would like to add.

Hope this doesn't scare you away from the hobby.

good luck!

 

[3429810]

calm down chill I am pretty sure its some sort of a big misunderstanding.

^^^

 

[emilystelck]

Let’s rewind and look at the original post again …..

And after checking . This is the op only post , never commented ,

ammonia , nitrate levels are all zero .
I think I counted 15 between fish , eel
, octopi ,
No mention of tank size . No pictures of the tank that I was able to see .

who should accept the blame for adding all these creatures to a tank that’s clearly not ready . The consumer buying the livestock clearly hasn’t educated themselves of the creatures care but constantly added more .
Even in my 230 gal , I know not to add this much livestock in a short period of time .
Never mind being able to afford the cost in such a short
Time .
I prey the op comments or clears everything a little .
before this thread if locked by admins .

I did comment tank size, tank age, and filtration system. I got on a plane yesterday and left for a trip, so I couldn’t take pictures. My deepest apologies.

 

[emilystelck]

I feel exactly the same way.

I’m a little frustrated and confused why comments are gone. Yeah, some people were rude to me but some people are rude in general so who cares? I wanted to come back for all the important info that I got and now can’t find some of it. Ugh. Frustrating. I can handle people being jerks. I just don’t care about them.

 

[SkyDoodles]

All my fish died overnight. Everyone looked great last night. I added a couple new fish yesterday, did not change water. Did not quarantine these fish because I’ve had such good luck and everyone has always been fine after temperature acclimation. Most of these fish have been in the tank already for 2-3 weeks.

ph about 8
Nitrate 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Alkalinity 200
Hardness 300
Temperature 78

Deceased fish:
sailfin blenny x2
Royal dotty back
Clown fish x 2
Arrow crab
Snowflake eel
Blue Koran angel
Blonde naso tang
Hawkfish
green long tentacle anemone

Alive still:
Pink spotted watchman goby x 2
Emerald crab x 2
Hermit crabs
Chocolate Chip Star Fish
Two different types of coral (I think they’re alive?)

Not seen yet and assuming deceased in caves:
Caribbean Octopus
Black and white Heniochus
Striped Blenny
Pajama Cardinal

I’m also relatively new to salt water tanks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Very upset over the situation. Also to add, none of the fish have any visible spots, wounds, discoloration, slime or anything on them. They’re just dead.

There is a lot of great info on here and I hope it helped. Sadly this has now gotten political. Regardless of reefer sex, because it has no bearing on what happened to your family, you want answers/help. If you still want more answers and suggestions I would recommend maybe starting a new post. Best of luck!

 

[emilystelck]

Me too. Whatever. OP, if you have questions feel free to send a direct message. Unfollowing here.

I don’t understand why the comments are missing. I’m missing all the info I gained now.

 

[emilystelck]

There is a lot of great info on here and I hope it helped. Sadly this has now gotten political. Regardless of reefer sex, because it has no bearing on what happened to your family, you want answers/help. If you still want more answers and suggestions I would recommend maybe starting a new post. Best of luck!

Thanks for the info. I was very confused why there were random arguments on post this morning. I wish some wouldn’t have been deleted though. Now I’m missing. A lot of good info that I got yesterday. Either way, it’ll be awhile before I’m able to add more fish anyways. So maybe I’ll post again then.

 

[emilystelck]

Let’s rewind and look at the original post again …..

And after checking . This is the op only post , never commented ,

ammonia , nitrate levels are all zero .
I think I counted 15 between fish , eel
, octopi ,
No mention of tank size . No pictures of the tank that I was able to see .

who should accept the blame for adding all these creatures to a tank that’s clearly not ready . The consumer buying the livestock clearly hasn’t educated themselves of the creatures care but constantly added more .
Even in my 230 gal , I know not to add this much livestock in a short period of time .
Never mind being able to afford the cost in such a short
Time .
I prey the op comments or clears everything a little .
before this thread if locked by admins .

One other thing on this comment… My money is none of your business. Obviously it’s plentiful. This post had no questions about money, so that was a stupid thing to say. And as I stated before, you can find the answers to your questions in comments, but I am not home to send pictures of my tank. Quite frankly, I don’t think I’d appreciate your opinion anyways.

 

[Tamale]

Sorry for the loss! Only being in the hobby for 6 months I know how overwhelming this can all be. Especially when you come to the realization there is a LOT to this hobby and so much of it is opinion. If you like podcasts/videos Reefbuilders (website/youtube channel) and Reef Therapy (podcast) are really fun and informative. I highly recommend both! Good luck on round 2 and enjoy the dive into all the awesome info about the hobby!

 

[emilystelck]

Sorry for the loss! Only being in the hobby for 6 months I know how overwhelming this can all be. Especially when you come to the realization there is a LOT to this hobby and so much of it is opinion. If you like podcasts/videos Reefbuilders (website/youtube channel) and Reef Therapy (podcast) are really fun and informative. I highly recommend both! Good luck on round 2 and enjoy the dive into all the awesome info about the hobby!

Thank you!

 

[SkyDoodles]

Thanks for the info. I was very confused why there were random arguments on post this morning. I wish some wouldn’t have been deleted though. Now I’m missing. A lot of good info that I got yesterday. Either way, it’ll be awhile before I’m able to add more fish anyways. So maybe I’ll post again then.

Never hurts to ask a million question why your tank sits fallow. I read and asked tons of questions to get smarter and not do the same mistakes I did initially!!! Also after you cycle your tank again and it sits fallow, I think it's okay to add some clean up crew and corals. I was in a situation where I already had them in place...and I actually waited 8 months before adding fish. But don't take my word definitely ask. It made it not as sad to look at as there was still some actively in there. I also have the added benefit as two of the folks in my squadron have been doing it for years and one does big business tank cleaning and setups...they were a wealth of information.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Just one other explanation that can cause a very similar chain of events as ammonia, is octopus ink. Most people don’t keep octopi in reefs for this reason. Although the tank was fairly young so ammonia poisoning is possible, it is equally possible that a fish attacked your octopus, which released ink in self-defense. In the wild, this is a generally harmless deterrent for the predator. In an enclosed tank, it can suffocate everything.

Whether it was ammonia, disease, octopus ink, or anything, definitely do not blame yourself in this situation, despite what some people tell you. When I started out with reefing, I relied more on the information from stores than my own research. That’s why my first go at reefing was a disaster. Sure, I could have researched more, but I was new. It was hard to decide things on my own. Your lfs was absolutely wrong to exploit a new reefer and give misinformation. A place like that should either be shut down or seriously overhauled in business practices. Luckily, you’ve already made a good step in joining this forum. You will get plenty of helpful advice that will hopefully go a long way. Even today, I still learn new things on Reef2Reef that help shape my reef tank. Failure is often the best advice, and I’m confident you will be wildly successful during your next try.