The great mystery of dying corals and disappearing fish

[Fishn28]

It started about 3 months ago when I noticed one of my fish had died with no cause. I didn’t think much of it other than it was odd and fish can be finicky. Fast forward a few weeks and one by one every snail in my system was dead with empty shells, I just assumed the hermit crabs were picking them off and once again thought nothing of this. Then the hammer corals I have had for over 1.5 years with no problems began losing heads and not opening fully. Then my next fish disappeared with no remains to be found and nothing in the tank that would have killed or eaten it. Then another fish gone with the wind with out a trace. Now I’m starting to get mad but the real problem is when this mysterious problem began effecting my beloved cotton candy torch coral which my cowls have just begun hosting. I began thinking maybe there wasn’t enough oxygen in the tank so I have readjusted the pumps to create more surface disturbance. As far as I can see the water parameters have not drastically changed in anyway and are reading at their normal levels. The only thing I can think would have caused this is the salt I use. It was left open for an extended period of time and began to clump, leading me to believe that is the cause of the problems. Any suggestions would help

 

[Jekyl]

Parameters, lighting, using RoDi? Were all fish quarantined?

 

[Fishn28]

Parameters, lighting, using RoDi? Were all fish quarantined?

Yes RoDi, fish were not necessarily quarantined but had been moved from a previous setup I had into a larger one. They had gone since December with no problems til now. Lighting has been the same since the beginning with no issues

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Have you used any chemicals around the tank (cleaning products, or even things like candles, essential oil diffusers, ETC). Ask anybody else that lives with you (if any), as they could've used something without you knowing.

 

[Formulator]

What kind of RODI setup? Do you have a TDS meter? Your snails being so drastically affected points toward potential metal contamination. Topping off with contaminated water, even small amounts of contaminants will slowly rise in concentration as you continue adding them to compensate for evaporation. Do you run carbon?

 

[Fishn28]

What kind of RODI setup? Do you have a TDS meter? Your snails being so drastically affected points toward potential metal contamination. Topping off with contaminated water, even small amounts of contaminants will slowly rise in concentration as you continue adding them to compensate for evaporation. Do you run carbon?

Yes I do run carbon and frequently replace it for new. I will check RoDi filters to see if they are good

 

[Fishn28]

Have you used any chemicals around the tank (cleaning products, or even things like candles, essential oil diffusers, ETC). Ask anybody else that lives with you (if any), as they could've used something without you knowing.

No it is in its own room safe fun chemicals

 

[Fishn28]

No it is in its own room safe fun chemicals

From

 

[Formulator]

Yes I do run carbon and frequently replace it for new. I will check RoDi filters to see if they are good

Also check for any broken heaters. I had one crack and leach copper into my water for months before I noticed it because I had a backup heater.

 

[Fishn28]

I have done more in and have learned that my calcium is about 580-600 and my dKH is around 6. Any tips on getting these straightened out?

 

[Jekyl]

I have done more in and have learned that my calcium is about 580-600 and my dKH is around 6. Any tips on getting these straightened out?

I would suggest a second opinion on the test results. Those numbers seem suspect. Calcium should have to be heavily dosed to hit those numbers.

 

[Uncle99]

I have done more in and have learned that my calcium is about 580-600 and my dKH is around 6. Any tips on getting these straightened out?

Increase DKH to 8-9 over a week, and not more than .5dkh in 24 hrs.

How’d it get that low?

Do you test weekly?

 

[Fishn28]

I would suggest a second opinion on the test results. Those numbers seem suspect. Calcium should have to be heavily dosed to hit those numbers.

I’m assuming it was because of the salt that had been exposed to air for too long and began to clump

 

[Fishn28]

Increase DKH to 8-9 over a week, and not more than .5dkh in 24 hrs.

How’d it get that low?

Do you test weekly?

I test weekly with test strips from the lfs. I just recently invested in a better test kit though

 

[Jekyl]

I test weekly with test strips from the lfs. I just recently invested in a better test kit though

Test strips cannot be trusted one bit. Recommend salifert or hanna.

 

[Fishn28]

Test strips cannot be trusted one bit. Recommend salifert or hanna. I will look into thise

 

[Uncle99]

I test weekly with test strips from the lfs. I just recently invested in a better test kit though

Good plan!
You need to watch salinity, temp and Alk, very very carefully, these guys can through everything out of balance.

You need to keep these levels solid and with as least flux as possible. Good guy algae and bacteria development favours very stable parameters and allows them to consistently outcompete the bad guy stuff, a.k.a. The uglies.