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90% of show tank dead this morning

C

cane

Members
Woke up this morning to a mostly dead tank.
No idea what happened. I am done with this hobby. This really sucks, selling everything. Any input guys and gals.

Stats:
125 gal
2 canister filters
Ph:8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
Tank temp:78
Weekly water changes
28-30 show males

Last added 2 fish 3 weeks ago
Tank has been established for 6 month or more. Everything has been perfect. Did a 40% water change last night.
 
rich_one

rich_one

Members
Acpape0 said:
Did you add dechlorinator and turn filters back on?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

Ditto this question... only thing I can think of, based on your posted params. Very sorry for your loss... hope you reconsider giving up though. I'd bet just about everyone in this club has experienced catastrophic loss once or twice in this hobby, if they've been keeping fish long enough.

-Rich
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Sorry for the loss. It sucks, for sure.

Based on your comments, I would suspect that there was an issue with the water change. Filters being off for 12 hours shouldn't wipe out the tank, but a 40% water change with chlorinated water (or perhaps chloramines) would wipe the tank out quickly, although I suspect you would have seen evidence of it rather quickly. How long after the water change did you watch the tank?
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
+1 to what Rich and Adam said.

I lost a 6' 150 with about 35 male haps and peacocks in it a couple of years ago. Decided that it was a lack of dechlorinator in the end.

The silver lining was that it gave me an opportunity to start up something completely different in the tank and went South Americans. While not happy that it happened, it certainly worked out in the end.
 
rich_one

rich_one

Members
If it helps to know my worse catastrophe... I once lost a group of 5 Hans discus. I was distracted while doing water changes, and forgot to double check the water temp. I ended up filling the tank with much cooler water than what was in there, and because I was trying to move quickly, I did not pay immediate attention. I ended up shocking them all so badly, they were not able to recover. Lost 3 pretty quickly, and the other 2 over the course of a couple days. That was an expensive lesson.

-Rich
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Sorry for your loss - there's nothing worse than waking up to a wipe-out like that!

When did you take those water parameters? I'd suspect that you'd have some nitrAtes if your tank was cycled. Or some (a lot!) of ammonia if your tank had 20 dead fish in it.

The simplest causes of an overnight mass death like that (vs. a fish or two dead from aggression) are 1) lack of aeration and 2) chloramine or chlorine in the water.

You've just recently discovered the club and it would be a shame to give up on fishkeeping now. Hang in there and move forward...starting with coming to the next CCA meeting on Nov 8 :)

Matt
 
verbal

verbal

CCA Members
Sorry for your loss

As stated earlier, I would see an issue with the water change being the most likely issue
- dechlor is the easiest critical step to forget(add a double dose of Prime if you haven't already)
- it could be "something" was in the water - extra chlorine or chloramine if your dechlor only addresses chlorine, or some other contamination could cause a quick die off
- pH swing/Ammonia
- a little more complex, but if your pH had dropped to say 6.0(or some solidly acidic value), you could have a lot of Ammonia, but it is terribly toxic
- you drop you Ammonia concentration with the water change, but you bring the pH up to 8(presumably with buffers) - now all of the sudden 60% of the ammonia level is poisonous

- temperature shock(low probability - only 40% water change, it wasn't that cold, most show males are at least somewhat tolerant of low temps)

And with Cichlids you can never rule out aggression - especially if you had an unknown female and spawning was triggered
 
Jmty

Jmty

Members
been there done that , water changes , been killing and learning but sucks to learn the hard way.
 
npbarca

npbarca

Members
Man, that really sucks. I'd say it was something to do with the water change. Did you forget to add dechlorinator, or maybe something was wrong with the water and the dechlorinator you used (if any) did not take the harmful stuff out?
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
So sorry for your loss! It REALLY sucks, but don't give up. This is a really cool hobby.....hang in there and give it another try!
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
I lost my entire show male peacock/hap tank like this. I was devastated and thought of getting out of the hobby as well. It, too, was after a water change and I assume there was a dechlorination issue. Ever since I only use aged water, which I know is not an option for folks with large tanks. I also never do a water change when I'm not going to be around to monitor, like right before leaving for a trip.

Take a deep breath and take some time before you bail completely. It feels awful because we care about our fish and feel responsible for them. :(
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Not sure about the water in Bowie. Does it have chloramines?

Aging won't remove those (which is kind of the point of chloramines vs. chlorine to disinfect drinking water)...

Matt

hollyfish2000 said:
I lost my entire show male peacock/hap tank like this. I was devastated and thought of getting out of the hobby as well. It, too, was after a water change and I assume there was a dechlorination issue. Ever since I only use aged water, which I know is not an option for folks with large tanks. I also never do a water change when I'm not going to be around to monitor, like right before leaving for a trip.

Take a deep breath and take some time before you bail completely. It feels awful because we care about our fish and feel responsible for them. :(
Click to expand...
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
As I told another club member who recently lost some prize fish, now you're a real fishkeeper. If you've kept fish for any length of time, you've had a disaster of some sort.

I agree with everyone who has posted about possible causes. I also recommend that you take a few days off and rethink quitting the hobby.
 
xny89

xny89

Administrator
Staff member
I agree with all the posters about hanging in there. It's really frustrating and sad to lose "friends". Sit tight, let a few days pass and then reconsider. Meeting auctions and club member sales are a great way to stock a tank with juvies and you can watch them grow and mature. If you love'd 'em before, you'll love them again!
 
C

cane

Members
jonclark96 said:
Sorry for the loss. It sucks, for sure.

Based on your comments, I would suspect that there was an issue with the water change. Filters being off for 12 hours shouldn't wipe out the tank, but a 40% water change with chlorinated water (or perhaps chloramines) would wipe the tank out quickly, although I suspect you would have seen evidence of it rather quickly. How long after the water change did you watch the tank?
Click to expand...

Changed the water around 9pm and at 11 they were fine. But I did treat the water turn filters back on
 
C

cane

Members
verbal said:
Sorry for your loss

As stated earlier, I would see an issue with the water change being the most likely issue
- dechlor is the easiest critical step to forget(add a double dose of Prime if you haven't already)
- it could be "something" was in the water - extra chlorine or chloramine if your dechlor only addresses chlorine, or some other contamination could cause a quick die off
- pH swing/Ammonia
- a little more complex, but if your pH had dropped to say 6.0(or some solidly acidic value), you could have a lot of Ammonia, but it is terribly toxic
- you drop you Ammonia concentration with the water change, but you bring the pH up to 8(presumably with buffers) - now all of the sudden 60% of the ammonia level is poisonous

- temperature shock(low probability - only 40% water change, it wasn't that cold, most show males are at least somewhat tolerant of low temps)

And with Cichlids you can never rule out aggression - especially if you had an unknown female and spawning was triggered
Click to expand...

I checked the temp of the water going into the tank and my tap water Ph is about 7.4 coming out. No buffers for a 8.0Ph or right below just cichlid sand and crush coral with a few texas rocks.
 
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