Newbie - Fish/Coral Died - Help!

Starbies14 · 07/17/2017, 01:47 PM

Hello -

Long story short, my significant other has a salt water aquarium that has been active for about 6 months. It's mainly coral, as that is the focus, with a few fish. The tank overall has been doing well but Thursday we added a diamondback orange gobi that was suggested by the fish store (to help with the sand) and within 24 hours all the fish were dying. Crisis adverted and everyone was fine again by Friday evening. Sunday evening - it appeared the same thing was happening all over again except this time all the fish and coral have died.

1) Could the diamondback gobi have sifted the sand enough to release toxins from the sand that would have destroyed the tank?

2) We are planning on cleaning the tank and restarting from scratch. He is a little more versed in salt water aquariums than I am but he is still very new and learning as he goes. I joined the forums so I could learn as much as possible as in my experience with other animals (rabbits and chinchillas) pet stores rarely know what they are talking about and I'd like to make sure we have the most correct information moving forward. What's the best way to clean a tank where everything has died that we plan to reuse? And what is the best information you can provide with starting anew?

I am open to learning as much as possible so if you have any other information to throw at me that will be helpful -- please do! PS. We are planning on mostly coral (like previously) so information that correlates with what coral will need would be best!

Thanks in advance for all your help & anything you have to offer-input-provide!

heathlindner25 · 07/17/2017, 02:45 PM

Did any of the water from the store get in your system ? My 1st thought Would-be copper .

patiof · 07/17/2017, 02:51 PM

i've never kept a goby, so take it for what its worth, but what happened to the goby, did it die too?

any chance you guys added some water from the bag the goby came in to your tank?

Valentini89 · 07/17/2017, 03:45 PM

The guy at my LFS said not to add their water to my tank because it contains copper. I don't know what that does to a system, I have always added their water.. how do you not?

heathlindner25 · 07/17/2017, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentini89

The guy at my LFS said not to add their water to my tank because it contains copper. I don't know what that does to a system, I have always added their water.. how do you not?

Easily

Starbies14 · 07/17/2017, 04:41 PM

We were super careful about not getting any of the water from the bag in with the fish so I don't think that would have been it. I don't think so anyways.

We are in the middle of cleaning and some of the coral ended up "okay" or rather okay for now.

Stolireef · 07/17/2017, 05:31 PM

Copper kills corals and all other inverts. Getting a little into your tank would not have hurt the other fish. We need much more information from you to help diagnose your issue.
1. What size tank.
2. What were the inhabitants (just the fish)
3. What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrates, Ca, kH)
4. What type of filtration do you use?
5. What was the timing of adding fish.
6. How much live rock do you have?

Start with those and then we can help quite a bit.

If you're tearing down and completely starting over, clean the tank and all other equipment with water and vinegar (on pumps, you can just soak in straight vinegar). Rinse well and you should be ready to go.

07/17/2017, 01:47 PM	#1
Starbies14 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 4	Newbie - Fish/Coral Died - Help! Hello - Long story short, my significant other has a salt water aquarium that has been active for about 6 months. It's mainly coral, as that is the focus, with a few fish. The tank overall has been doing well but Thursday we added a diamondback orange gobi that was suggested by the fish store (to help with the sand) and within 24 hours all the fish were dying. Crisis adverted and everyone was fine again by Friday evening. Sunday evening - it appeared the same thing was happening all over again except this time all the fish and coral have died. 1) Could the diamondback gobi have sifted the sand enough to release toxins from the sand that would have destroyed the tank? 2) We are planning on cleaning the tank and restarting from scratch. He is a little more versed in salt water aquariums than I am but he is still very new and learning as he goes. I joined the forums so I could learn as much as possible as in my experience with other animals (rabbits and chinchillas) pet stores rarely know what they are talking about and I'd like to make sure we have the most correct information moving forward. What's the best way to clean a tank where everything has died that we plan to reuse? And what is the best information you can provide with starting anew? I am open to learning as much as possible so if you have any other information to throw at me that will be helpful -- please do! PS. We are planning on mostly coral (like previously) so information that correlates with what coral will need would be best! Thanks in advance for all your help & anything you have to offer-input-provide!

07/17/2017, 03:45 PM	#4
Valentini89 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Bay county, Fl Posts: 624	The guy at my LFS said not to add their water to my tank because it contains copper. I don't know what that does to a system, I have always added their water.. how do you not? __________________ I have 1 1/2 years experience in this hobby. Take my advice with that in mind. Current Tank Info: 26g bowfront QT tank, -- 150g tall = http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2671045

07/17/2017, 05:31 PM	#7
Stolireef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scottsdale AZ Posts: 3,180 Blog Entries: 5	Copper kills corals and all other inverts. Getting a little into your tank would not have hurt the other fish. We need much more information from you to help diagnose your issue. 1. What size tank. 2. What were the inhabitants (just the fish) 3. What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrates, Ca, kH) 4. What type of filtration do you use? 5. What was the timing of adding fish. 6. How much live rock do you have? Start with those and then we can help quite a bit. If you're tearing down and completely starting over, clean the tank and all other equipment with water and vinegar (on pumps, you can just soak in straight vinegar). Rinse well and you should be ready to go. __________________ I want to burn twice as bright and half as long. Oh, and a full tank crash is just an excuse for a new build. Current Tank Info: 125 Rimless Leemar, Apex, Trigger 30 Elite Sump, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2 X Gen4 Radion XR30W, BM Doser, 2xMP40WES, 2xTunze 6095, Sicce Syncra 4.0.

07/17/2017, 02:45 PM	#2
heathlindner25 Moved On Join Date: May 2012 Location: flowery branch georgia Posts: 3,644	Did any of the water from the store get in your system ? My 1st thought Would-be copper .

07/17/2017, 02:51 PM	#3
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	i've never kept a goby, so take it for what its worth, but what happened to the goby, did it die too? any chance you guys added some water from the bag the goby came in to your tank?

07/17/2017, 04:41 PM	#6
Starbies14 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 4	We were super careful about not getting any of the water from the bag in with the fish so I don't think that would have been it. I don't think so anyways. We are in the middle of cleaning and some of the coral ended up "okay" or rather okay for now.