Help Me...fish Dead

[Nemo_71]

1. On Saturday, I did an 8 gallon water change on my 55 gallon saltwater tank the same way I've always done for four years.
2. On Monday, the fish were fine and the corals were fine.
3. On Tuesday morning, the fish were dead and my scooter blenny was gasping, jumping out of the tank, and the belly was turning red.
4. I took a water sample, and then immediately did a 30 gallon water change with distilled water (I always use distilled water). There was a strange white pasty residue on the overflow box and overflow tube to the refugium. It looked like seagull poop, but did not smell like ammonia.
5. I tested the water sample I took before doing the water change and the results were as follows: ammonia 0ppm, nitrates at the lowest value, specific gravity normal, temperature normal, pH 7.8
6. On Wednesday, my flounder and rosebud sea urchin were dead. I added a chemipure chemical media bag and used some aqua + to remove nitrates and chlorine.
7. I ran another water test and the dKH was 9, calcium was 380ppm, and phosphate was at 0ppm.
8. This tank is at a school in the faculty lounge, but students do come in to see their teachers.

Any ideas on what could be causing all the fish deaths? I haven't had a fish die in over two months and that was a copperband butterfly that was not eating. Also I didn't notice any cyanobacteria. I had just done a water change. Is there anything else I can use to remove any residual toxins? I still have an ocellaris alive, and I am hoping my Kenyan Tree Coral, brown polyps, and mushrooms survive.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Why are you using distilled water?


http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/purewatr.htm

 

[Nemo_71]

Why are you using distilled water?


[URL="http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/purewatr.htm"]http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/purewatr.htm[/URL]

I work in a science lab and have access to a distiller. I prefer to use it over tap water, although I could use RO water but it's just easier to use distilled water since it is accessible.

 

[Donya]

Do you check the distilled water prior to mixing it to make sure it's alright? The only reason I bring that up is I ran into some untrustworthy water being sold as distilled at a store once. If you're not te only one using the distillation equipment, that would warrent checking. However, if there was some toxin in the water that could nuke a tank that badly, I would have expected signs of disress sooner than you saw it. Although others may have more insight, everything being fine on Monday would suggest, to me anyway, that something else went wrong and the tank was nuked between Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately I have heard some horror stories over time of what happens when tanks of animals are kept in areas that young and/or irresponsible people, and even just regular cleaning staff have access to it. Cases of deliberately caused tank nukings aside, sometimes all it takes is one accidental soapy hand or a misused disinfectant spray to caues disaster. If the tank isn't set up in some way that prevents other people from having access, it might be worth locking down.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Yup, I would say otherwise but with the death of both inverts and fish, it seems likely that someone could have tampered with the tank whether on purpose or accident. You didnt really say what all died. How many fish? Did the corals survive? Are there any cleaning sprays or chemicals accessible near the tank that someone could have added? In a tank of that volume it would take a considerable amount of soap to completely crash the tank...enough that you would see suds. Sounds like if someone did tamper with the tank it would have to have been by way of a chemical that is not something kept on hand...i.e. soap. I hope noone would do that to your tank but I wouldnt be entirely suprised if someone did. I also hope all is not lost. Even if you do discover a culprit I hope it doesnt encourage you to take the tank down for good. I know first-hand what a positive and stimulating affect marine aquariums can have on children!

 

[Nemo_71]

Yup, I would say otherwise but with the death of both inverts and fish, it seems likely that someone could have tampered with the tank whether on purpose or accident. You didnt really say what all died. How many fish? Did the corals survive? Are there any cleaning sprays or chemicals accessible near the tank that someone could have added? In a tank of that volume it would take a considerable amount of soap to completely crash the tank...enough that you would see suds. Sounds like if someone did tamper with the tank it would have to have been by way of a chemical that is not something kept on hand...i.e. soap. I hope noone would do that to your tank but I wouldnt be entirely suprised if someone did. I also hope all is not lost. Even if you do discover a culprit I hope it doesnt encourage you to take the tank down for good. I know first-hand what a positive and stimulating affect marine aquariums can have on children!

Thank you for your encouragement. We do have janitors, but they hardly ever clean the offices and they know not to touch the tank. I don't know, other than suds, how I could tell if someone put soap in the tank. The ammonia levels were 0, so I don't think it was window cleaner. I lost seven fish (peacock flounder, six lined wrasse, pseudochromis, two chromis, a blue tang, and a scooter blenny. I think the corals will make it, but I haven't seen any hermit crabs moving around and I lost my sea urchin. I am really discouraged. A lot of people took pleasure in the tank. To know that it could all unravel in 12 hours is really disappointing. Whether it was by accident or malicious, it is still very depressing.

Do you check the distilled water prior to mixing it to make sure it's alright? The only reason I bring that up is I ran into some untrustworthy water being sold as distilled at a store once. If you're not te only one using the distillation equipment, that would warrent checking. However, if there was some toxin in the water that could nuke a tank that badly, I would have expected signs of disress sooner than you saw it. Although others may have more insight, everything being fine on Monday would suggest, to me anyway, that something else went wrong and the tank was nuked between Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately I have heard some horror stories over time of what happens when tanks of animals are kept in areas that young and/or irresponsible people, and even just regular cleaning staff have access to it. Cases of deliberately caused tank nukings aside, sometimes all it takes is one accidental soapy hand or a misused disinfectant spray to caues disaster. If the tank isn't set up in some way that prevents other people from having access, it might be worth locking down.

Thank you for your response. It could've been the distilled water, but it didn't buy it nor did I test it before I mixed it. We have a distiller in the lab, because we have to have distilled water for experiments. I could lock the tank in one of our classrooms, but that would be unfortunate, because the whole reason for the tank was for others to enjoy.

 

[Donya]

It could've been the distilled water, but it didn't buy it nor did I test it before I mixed it. We have a distiller in the lab, because we have to have distilled water for experiments. I could lock the tank in one of our classrooms, but that would be unfortunate, because the whole reason for the tank was for others to enjoy.

After thinking about it for a while, I lean towards the distilled H2O not having been the issue since it would really seem like something that should have manifested sooner, at least with fish showing distress or something on Monday. As for locking the tank down, you wouldn't necessarily have to lock it away in another room. I've seen some tanks in public areas that have the hoods fixed on with a padlock to prevent unwanted hands from going inside. Of course, that wouldn't help at all if there was some airborn toxin. Signs are about the only deterant for those.

Whether it was by accident or malicious, it is still very depressing.

Don't loose hope. Everyone has their accidents like this at some point or another. If it hasn't been too big of a financial disaster, there's always an opportunity to start anew and try to take precautions to avoid repeats.

it would have to have been by way of a chemical that is not something kept on hand

I'm not so sure about that; you'd be amazed what some common chemicals can do in small amounts. The very first saltwater tank my family kept when I was a kid was 100% nuked in a mater of minutes by a very small bottle of glue (some kind of superglue I think) releasing toxic fumes about 7-8 feet away from the tank.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Wow...good to know about to glue.

 

[SkiFletch]

Sorry to hear about the loss, that's never good. One question that was asked that you haven't answered yet is what happened to the corals in all of this? Did they survive, perish, some losses but not all?

And was the saturday waterchange done with a batch of salt that had been used previously?