I just lost $5,000 in aquatic life because I did something stupid

[Lady of Babylon]

Sorry to hear about your loss, that would be quite devastating.
Did you have any pictures of what it looked like before this happened ?

Here are some pictures I got after the panic add and pre-devastation heart break.

 

[Lady of Babylon]

I am really devastated.



I have been working on creating a sustainable ecosystem (indo/central pacific and heavily Hawaiian islands) with my saltwater tank. I want to breed a variety of specific hard to get species so that the aquarium trade doesn’t continue to have such devastating effects on the oceanic ecosystems. I also want to share and teach my appreciation of the ocean and it’s ecosystems with others. It’s one of my longest and biggest dreams.



It brings me back to my childhood when my dad lived on his sail boat in Oceanside, Southern California. He taught me a lot about the ocean and it’s life. I have always had a love and respect for the ocean and it’s ecosystem.



Hawaii and the indo-pacific have shut down all operations for a minimum of 3 years... great for the wild life! however that makes my dream of having my ecosystem and breeding sustainably REALLY a challenge. So I did what any panicked dreamer does with a credit card and the REALLY RARE opportunity to purchase all of the fish I had planned... ALL AT ONCE!



My tank could handle the bioload.

And it was.



Then Thursday happened. I knew better than to mess with cucumbers. (I got to help my clean up crew, thought it would be ok.) something bothered it. (Thinking it was my potters angel since he was all of a sudden pale and the only one that looked distressed.) it went into self defense mode and spit out its guts and released toxins. I thought I had caught it in time... but it set off a chain reaction. The puffers then puffed and released their toxins in defense on the other side of the tank. In 15 minutes. Even with heavy amounts of activated carbon already in place... I lost several thousands in aquatic life.



survivors :

* 5 green chomis,

* dwarf moray eel,

* yellow tang,

* 2 dragon faced pipefish,

...



Schrodinger’s listed:



* 1 golden eyed kole,

* 1 fire fish,

* cleaner wrasse,

* coco worm,

* Orange starfish,

* 3 saron shrimp,

* 1 fighting conch,

* peppermint shrimp,

* 5 zebra dwarf hermit crabs,

* all mushrooms,

* leather corals, hammer coral, duncans, zoas, +

* campfire and pink feather duster worms,

* humpback cowrie

* arrow crab

* 2 barnacles

* 2 mussels

* bubble snails

* micro jellyfish

* star polyps

* frogspawn coral

* 3 mini maxi anemones,

* copepods, amphipods, dwarf stars, tongan snails, nassarius snails, astraea snails, turbo snails, thin striped hermit crabs, macro algae, etc.

* other micro flora/fauna

...



Known casualties:



* gold neon gobies (mated pair with eggs)

* flame fairy wrasses (mated pair)

* 5 firefish

* 3 pink streaked wrasses

* 1 golden eyed kole

* pyramid butterfly fish

* court jester goby

* 2 long nosed butterfly fish

* pebbled Angel fish

* 2 potters Angel fish (male & female)

* fishers Angel fish

* 2 Hawaiian white spotted puffers

* white spotted dwarf goby

* 1 dragon faced pipefish

* blue striped pipefish

* 5 Vanderbuilt chromis,

* 2 fighting conches,

* 2 limpets

* 2 short spine urchins,

* 2 long spine urchins,

* 3 flame scallops,

* 12 sexy shrimp

* 6 saron shrimp

* 1 cucumber

* chocolate chip starfish,

On Thursday I spent a few hours staring at my fish that I had pulled out of the tank and into clean water with a heater and a bubbler hoping that they would snap out of it, breaking down and trying to give them fish “CPR” hoping that I would revive them... I am still in denial and shock.

Friday and Saturday I watched my vander’s die one by one and all of my mushrooms and coral melt like the wicked witch of the west...


It’s Sunday ... and I can’t catch a break. Even the life forms in the sand are jumping ship. It doesn’t look hopeful that I’ll have any survivors. Every time I do a water change the tank seems to get worse. My live sand is turning black right before my eyes.
And yes. I have been pumping extra oxygen into the tank for a few hours. I also got close to 50 lbs of live rock that I have just added to the tank. Never in all my life of keeping fish have I ever seen or have anything like this happen to such an extreme.



I am at a complete loss as how to move forward.

anyone know how I can salvage my tank?

I am really devastated.



I have been working on creating a sustainable ecosystem (indo/central pacific and heavily Hawaiian islands) with my saltwater tank. I want to breed a variety of specific hard to get species so that the aquarium trade doesn’t continue to have such devastating effects on the oceanic ecosystems. I also want to share and teach my appreciation of the ocean and it’s ecosystems with others. It’s one of my longest and biggest dreams.



It brings me back to my childhood when my dad lived on his sail boat in Oceanside, Southern California. He taught me a lot about the ocean and it’s life. I have always had a love and respect for the ocean and it’s ecosystem.



Hawaii and the indo-pacific have shut down all operations for a minimum of 3 years... great for the wild life! however that makes my dream of having my ecosystem and breeding sustainably REALLY a challenge. So I did what any panicked dreamer does with a credit card and the REALLY RARE opportunity to purchase all of the fish I had planned... ALL AT ONCE!



My tank could handle the bioload.

And it was.



Then Thursday happened. I knew better than to mess with cucumbers. (I got to help my clean up crew, thought it would be ok.) something bothered it. (Thinking it was my potters angel since he was all of a sudden pale and the only one that looked distressed.) it went into self defense mode and spit out its guts and released toxins. I thought I had caught it in time... but it set off a chain reaction. The puffers then puffed and released their toxins in defense on the other side of the tank. In 15 minutes. Even with heavy amounts of activated carbon already in place... I lost several thousands in aquatic life.



survivors :

* 5 green chomis,

* dwarf moray eel,

* yellow tang,

* 2 dragon faced pipefish,

...



Schrodinger’s listed:



* 1 golden eyed kole,

* 1 fire fish,

* cleaner wrasse,

* coco worm,

* Orange starfish,

* 3 saron shrimp,

* 1 fighting conch,

* peppermint shrimp,

* 5 zebra dwarf hermit crabs,

* all mushrooms,

* leather corals, hammer coral, duncans, zoas, +

* campfire and pink feather duster worms,

* humpback cowrie

* arrow crab

* 2 barnacles

* 2 mussels

* bubble snails

* micro jellyfish

* star polyps

* frogspawn coral

* 3 mini maxi anemones,

* copepods, amphipods, dwarf stars, tongan snails, nassarius snails, astraea snails, turbo snails, thin striped hermit crabs, macro algae, etc.

* other micro flora/fauna

...



Known casualties:



* gold neon gobies (mated pair with eggs)

* flame fairy wrasses (mated pair)

* 5 firefish

* 3 pink streaked wrasses

* 1 golden eyed kole

* pyramid butterfly fish

* court jester goby

* 2 long nosed butterfly fish

* pebbled Angel fish

* 2 potters Angel fish (male & female)

* fishers Angel fish

* 2 Hawaiian white spotted puffers

* white spotted dwarf goby

* 1 dragon faced pipefish

* blue striped pipefish

* 5 Vanderbuilt chromis,

* 2 fighting conches,

* 2 limpets

* 2 short spine urchins,

* 2 long spine urchins,

* 3 flame scallops,

* 12 sexy shrimp

* 6 saron shrimp

* 1 cucumber

* chocolate chip starfish,

On Thursday I spent a few hours staring at my fish that I had pulled out of the tank and into clean water with a heater and a bubbler hoping that they would snap out of it, breaking down and trying to give them fish “CPR” hoping that I would revive them... I am still in denial and shock.

Friday and Saturday I watched my vander’s die one by one and all of my mushrooms and coral melt like the wicked witch of the west...


It’s Sunday ... and I can’t catch a break. Even the life forms in the sand are jumping ship. It doesn’t look hopeful that I’ll have any survivors. Every time I do a water change the tank seems to get worse. My live sand is turning black right before my eyes.
And yes. I have been pumping extra oxygen into the tank for a few hours. I also got close to 50 lbs of live rock that I have just added to the tank. Never in all my life of keeping fish have I ever seen or have anything like this happen to such an extreme.



I am at a complete loss as how to move forward.

anyone know how I can salvage my tank?

Everyone that survived is back in the tank now after living in a 5 gallon transfer container for near two weeks. Here are some update pictures.

 

[Lady of Babylon]

Everyone that survived is back in the tank now after living in a 5 gallon transfer container for near two weeks. Here are some update pictures.

 

[Lady of Babylon]

UPDATES:



February 28:

I was setting up some automatic systems (feeder, automatic water refill system, auto lights to replicate natural rise and setting of the sun, dosing box for phytoplankton and pods) since I was going to be gone across the continent to help a family member recover from a major surgery. While setting up the feeder... I added the same amount of food that I had for the same quantity of fish (pretty much all of the fish I had before panicked stupidity on my part... tang, eel, pipefish, chomis, cleaner wrasse.) and then my tank started to cycle... again! I lost all of the chomis, pipefish, etc. only survivors seemed to be the eel and the tang. Just a few days before I had to fly out.



March 11:

My husband discovered a leak where a small back hanging refugium shifted from it’s leveled location and drained the tank just past the overflow box. He panicked and filled the tank with what water I had left. The salinity dropped to the lowest salinity for the tank to be considered salt water. The eel and tang looked stressed but alive.



As of March 28, the tang and the eel have been M.I.A. No trace of bodies. Macro algae seems to be getting eaten though. Snails and hermits are wandering around and seem to be healthy and happy.



It’s going to take a loooong time to rebuild the tank to a safe and healthy point again. I am needing to start from it from the micro level. As in copepods, macro-algae, inverts etc. I have specific species that I have researched as much as I could and wanting to both learn more about and acquire these for this true as can be ecosystem. I won’t be adding fish for closer to 6 months, and when I do, other than dwarf morays, none of the fish will grow larger than 5”.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I had a lfs recommend a cuc to stir my sand bed. I put it in. It went under the rocks and died. Never saw it but I did have a bacteria bloom when it died. Almost nuked my tank. Never again. So sorry for your loses

 

[Lady of Babylon]

Update:
Tank is stable and I will begin to SLOWLY repopulate the tank. Inverts and macro algae’s first.

Here’s what is on my list (I do not expect to have anything or all of what I have listed in my tank due to scarcity and obscurity of some of these species.)

Amphipods, Sandfleas, Sandhoppers, Skeleton Shrimp

Sea Anemones, Corallimorphs & Zoanthids

Anemonia mutabilis

Anthopleura nigrescens

Telmatactis decora

Isaurus tuberculatus

Palythoa tuberculosa

Palythoa sp.

Zoanthus sp.

Zoanthus pacificus

Corynactis sp.


Barnacles

Nesochthamalus intertextus

Lepas anserifera

Bivalves

Calloarca nuttingi

Barbatia oahua

Brachidontes crebristriatus

Isognomon incisum

Isognomon californicum

Pascahinnites coruscans hawaiensis

Limaria auaua

Limaria keohea

Dendostrea sandvichensis

Arca ventricosa

Acar plicata

Barbatia tenella

Lithophaga mucronata

Hiatella arctica

Pinctada imbricata radiata

Isognomon perna

Bractechlamys langfordi

Parahyotissa numisma

Chama asperella

Quidnipagus palatam

Ctena bella

Lioconcha hieroglyphica

Venerupis philippinarum

Semele australis

Moss Animals or Bryozoans

Disporella violacea

Reteporellina denticulata

Bugula dentata

Savignyella lafontii

Amathia distans

Schizoporella unicornis

Schizoporella errata

Mesonea radians

Other Various species

Cephalopoda

Euprymna scolopes

Argonauta argo

Octopus hawaiiensis

Aurelia spp.

Chitons

Acanthochitona armata

Stenoplax petaloides

Hydroids

Lytocarpia niger

Halopteris sp.cf. diaphana

Velella velella

Isopods

Kinorhyncha

Echinoderes horni

Sipuncula

Siphonosoma sp.

Hermit crabs

Calcinus pictus

Calcinus laurentae

Calcinus seurati (my favorite)

Calcinus cf. revi

Pylopaguropsis keijii

Calcinus argus

Calcinus haigae

Calcinus laevimanus

Calcinus latens


Crabs

Carupa tenuipes

Planes cyaneus

Lybia edmondsoni

Tweedieia laysani

Petrolisthes coccineus

Hippa marmorata

Nemertina

Baseodiscus cingulatus

Baseodiscus hemprichii

Asteroidea

Dactylosaster cylindricus pacificus

Aquilonastra anomala

Linckia multifora

Asteropsis carinifera

Coscinasterias acutispina

Ophiocoma brevipes

Echinoidea

Colobocentrotus atratus

Echinometra oblonga

Nudechinus verruculatus

Clypeaster reticulatus

Echinocyamus spp.

Rhynobrissus hemiasteroides


Decapoda

Rhynchocinetes rathbunae

Lysmata sp. 1

Halocaridina rubra (have)

Stenopus hispidus

Thor amboinensis

Lysmata amboinensis

Saron marmoratus

Hymenocera picta

Cuapetes spp.

Rapipontonia galene

Gnathophyllium americanum

Gnathophylloides mineri

Palaemon debilis

Palaemon pacificus

Neocallichirus jousseaumei

Corallianassa cf. winslowi

Gastropoda

Hydatina amplustre

Micromelo undatus

Lamprohaminoea cymbalum

Lamprohaminoea cf. ovalis

Haloa crocata

Bullina lineata

Atys semistriatus

Terebra (Myurella) columellaris

Terebra (Terebra) argus brachygyra

Terebra funiculata

Hastula albula

Hastula penicillata

Hastula hectica

Terenolla pygmaea

Nassarius gaudiosus

Nassarius hirtus

Conus (Miliariconus) abbreviatus

Conus (Harmoniconus) paukstisi

Conus (Darioconus) leviteni

Conus (Harmoniconus) nanus

Conus (Virroconus) ebraeus

Conus (Hermes) nussatellus

Cypraea (Mauritia) maculifera maculifera

Cypraea (Monetaria) caputophidii

Cypraea tigris schilderiana

Cypraea (Erosaria) hawaiiensis

Cypraea (Nucleolaria) pseudonucleus

Cypraea (Erosaria) poraria

Cypraea (Lyncina) vitellus

Cypraea (Lyncina) lynx

Cypraea (Monetaria) moneta

Graphicomassa margarita

Euplica varians

Seminella peasei

Mitrella loyaltyensis

Vitularia sandwichensis

Favartia garrettii

Thais aperta

Drupa morum morum

Neothais harpa

Drupa ricinus alolabris

Drupa grossularia

Morula uva

Morula porphyrostoma

Morula echinata

Usilla avenacea

Rhinoclavis sinensis

Cerithium columna

Cerithium atromarginatum

Cerithium egenum

Cerithium boeticum

Cerithium zebrum

Ittibittium parcum

Cerithium interstriatum

Cerithium nesioticum

Cellana sandwicensis

Cellana exarata

Cellana talcosa

Mitra (Nebularia) ticaonica

Mitra (Strigatella) fastigium

Mitra (Strigatella) litterata

Mitra (Strigatella) astricta

Vexillum (Pusia) cancellarioides

Vexillum (Pusia) adamsi

Notocochlis gualteriana

Nerita picea

Neritina neglecta

Nerita plicata

Oliva nitidula sandwicensis

Echinolittorina hawaiiensis

Peasiella tantilla

Peristernia chlorostoma

Maculastrombus maculatus

Gibberulus gibbosus

Heliacus trochoides

Heliacus areola areola

Trochus intextus

Cautor similis

Mastonia cingulifera

Triphora bicolor

Iniforis concors

Triphora laddi

Monoplex mundus

Gutturnium muricinum

Bursa granularis

Macteola interrupta

Vermetidae

Serpulorbis variabilis

Petaloconchus keenae

Vermetus alii

Epitonium lamellosum

Pisania ignea

Caducifer decapitatus



Thelepus setosus

Loimia medusa

Lanice conchilega

Branchiomma nigromaculata

Spirobranchus cf. corniculatus

Sabellastarte spectabilis

Palola siciliensis


Antipathes griggi

Platyhelminthes

Pseudoceros ferrugineus

Pseudobiceros cf. dimidiatus

Pseudoceros paralaticlavus

Pseudobiceros periculosus

Pseudobiceros 5

Pseudobiceros 11

Octocorals, Soft Corals, Gorgonians, & Sea Pens

Sarcothelia edmondsoni

Holothuroidea

Chiridota hawaiiensis

Actinopyga obesa

Actinopyga lecanora

Aplysiidae

Aplysia elongata

Dolabrifera dolabrifera

Porifera

Halichondria coerulea

Chondrosia chucalla

Suberites sp.

Phorbas sp.

Hyrtios sp.

Leucetta spp.

Batzella sp.

Timea sp.

Dysidea herbacea

Urochordata

Aplidum spp.

Botryllus spp.

Diazona spp.

Herdmania momus

Salps

Pyrosoma atlanticum

Macro Algae

Calothrix confervicola

Symploca hydnoides

Colpomenia sinuosa

Dictyota acutiloba

Dictyota ciliolata

Dictyota friabilis

Dictyota sandvicensis

Dictyota ceylanica

Sargassum echinocarpum

Lobophora variegata

Padina australis

Padina sanctae-crucis

Stypopodium flabelliforme

Ulva fasciata

Cladophora catenata

Cladophoropsis sundanensis

Boodlea composita

Codium arabicum

Codium edule

Codium reediae

Halimeda discoidea

Dictyosphaeria versluysii

Bornetella sphaerica

Ventricaria ventricosa

Valonia aegagropilia

Caulerpa racemosa

Caulerpa nummularia

Caulerpa serrulata

Caulerpa sertularoides

Caulerpa webbiana

Neomeris annulata

Neomeris vanbosseae

Chlorodesmis caespitosa

Bryopsis pennata

Acanthophora pacifica

Asparagopsis taxiformis

Gracilaria coronopifolia

Galaxaura divaricata

Dichotomaria obtusata

Tricleocarpa fragilis

Liagora divaricata

Titanophycus validus

Ganonema papenfussii

Ganonema pinnatum

Trichogloea reiquienii

Dasya iridescens

Wrangelia elegantissima

Martensia fragilis

Laurencia spp.

Laurencia mcdermidiae

Platoma ardreanum

Portieria hornemannii

Gelidiella acerosa

Hypnea chordacea

Champia parvula

Haloplegma duperreyi

Amphiroa beauvoisii

Amphiroa valonioides

Jania pumila

Hydrolithon gardineri

Mastophora pacifica

Hydrolithon onkodes

Lithophyllum prototypum

Sporolithon erythraeum

Halophila hawaiiana

Halophila decipiens




Fish

Centropyge potter

Luzonichthys earlei

Plectranthias nanus

Chaetodon multicinctus

Pseudamiops diaphanes

Chromis vanderbilti

Nemateleotris magnifica

Gymnothorax melatremus

Engyprosopon hawaiiensis

Antennatus linearis

Eviota epiphanes

Trimma unisquamis

Pleurosicya micheli

Dunckerocampus baldwini

Doryrhamphus excisus

Canthigaster jactator

Eurypegasus papilio

Atherinomorus insularum

Ctenochaetus strigosus

Ctenochaetus flavicauda

Balistes willughbeii

Caracanthus typicus

Cirrhilabrus jordan

Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia

Labroides phthirophagus

 

[Subsea]

@Lady of Babylon

I don’t know all the players but if you want to get maximum diversity, then uncured diver collected live rock is my to go option.

I just received 50 lbs of live sand and 125lbs of premium live deco rock. Next day air freight cost $120 and livestock was $523.

Gulf Live Rock.com

gulfliverock.com

 

[Lady of Babylon]

That’s awesome! I would totally do that if I could. Unfortunately I hear Hawaii and a lot of the other central/insular indo-Pacific areas where I would need to collect from... well I don’t have the budget to be paying those fine or jail time.

@Lady of Babylon

I don’t know all the players but if you want to get maximum diversity, then uncured diver collected live rock is my to go option.

I just received 50 lbs of live sand and 125lbs of premium live deco rock. Next day air freight cost $120 and livestock was $523.

Gulf Live Rock.com

gulfliverock.com

 

[Corals48]

I am really devastated.



I have been working on creating a sustainable ecosystem (indo/central pacific and heavily Hawaiian islands) with my saltwater tank. I want to breed a variety of specific hard to get species so that the aquarium trade doesn’t continue to have such devastating effects on the oceanic ecosystems. I also want to share and teach my appreciation of the ocean and it’s ecosystems with others. It’s one of my longest and biggest dreams.



It brings me back to my childhood when my dad lived on his sail boat in Oceanside, Southern California. He taught me a lot about the ocean and it’s life. I have always had a love and respect for the ocean and it’s ecosystem.



Hawaii and the indo-pacific have shut down all operations for a minimum of 3 years... great for the wild life! however that makes my dream of having my ecosystem and breeding sustainably REALLY a challenge. So I did what any panicked dreamer does with a credit card and the REALLY RARE opportunity to purchase all of the fish I had planned... ALL AT ONCE!



My tank could handle the bioload.

And it was.



Then Thursday happened. I knew better than to mess with cucumbers. (I got to help my clean up crew, thought it would be ok.) something bothered it. (Thinking it was my potters angel since he was all of a sudden pale and the only one that looked distressed.) it went into self defense mode and spit out its guts and released toxins. I thought I had caught it in time... but it set off a chain reaction. The puffers then puffed and released their toxins in defense on the other side of the tank. In 15 minutes. Even with heavy amounts of activated carbon already in place... I lost several thousands in aquatic life.



survivors :

* 5 green chomis,

* dwarf moray eel,

* yellow tang,

* 2 dragon faced pipefish,

...



Schrodinger’s listed:



* 1 golden eyed kole,

* 1 fire fish,

* cleaner wrasse,

* coco worm,

* Orange starfish,

* 3 saron shrimp,

* 1 fighting conch,

* peppermint shrimp,

* 5 zebra dwarf hermit crabs,

* all mushrooms,

* leather corals, hammer coral, duncans, zoas, +

* campfire and pink feather duster worms,

* humpback cowrie

* arrow crab

* 2 barnacles

* 2 mussels

* bubble snails

* micro jellyfish

* star polyps

* frogspawn coral

* 3 mini maxi anemones,

* copepods, amphipods, dwarf stars, tongan snails, nassarius snails, astraea snails, turbo snails, thin striped hermit crabs, macro algae, etc.

* other micro flora/fauna

...



Known casualties:



* gold neon gobies (mated pair with eggs)

* flame fairy wrasses (mated pair)

* 5 firefish

* 3 pink streaked wrasses

* 1 golden eyed kole

* pyramid butterfly fish

* court jester goby

* 2 long nosed butterfly fish

* pebbled Angel fish

* 2 potters Angel fish (male & female)

* fishers Angel fish

* 2 Hawaiian white spotted puffers

* white spotted dwarf goby

* 1 dragon faced pipefish

* blue striped pipefish

* 5 Vanderbuilt chromis,

* 2 fighting conches,

* 2 limpets

* 2 short spine urchins,

* 2 long spine urchins,

* 3 flame scallops,

* 12 sexy shrimp

* 6 saron shrimp

* 1 cucumber

* chocolate chip starfish,

On Thursday I spent a few hours staring at my fish that I had pulled out of the tank and into clean water with a heater and a bubbler hoping that they would snap out of it, breaking down and trying to give them fish “CPR” hoping that I would revive them... I am still in denial and shock.

Friday and Saturday I watched my vander’s die one by one and all of my mushrooms and coral melt like the wicked witch of the west...


It’s Sunday ... and I can’t catch a break. Even the life forms in the sand are jumping ship. It doesn’t look hopeful that I’ll have any survivors. Every time I do a water change the tank seems to get worse. My live sand is turning black right before my eyes.
And yes. I have been pumping extra oxygen into the tank for a few hours. I also got close to 50 lbs of live rock that I have just added to the tank. Never in all my life of keeping fish have I ever seen or have anything like this happen to such an extreme.



I am at a complete loss as how to move forward.

anyone know how I can salvage my tank?

I feel your pain! Just coming across this post late but I hope you have made some progress. I just had a Cuc kill 8 of 11.