Alfredshouse is gone.....

[Jack]

You keep saying Nitrate - which is not really toxic to fish.

If you say Nitrate (No3) being 0.8 - I think you mean Nitrite (No2) - which is very toxic.

Sorry about your loss.

It was just too many fish added at once.

Bummer.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Jack

You keep saying Nitrate - which is not really toxic to fish.

If you say Nitrate (No3) being 0.8 - I think you mean Nitrite (No2) - which is very toxic.

Sorry about your loss.

It was just too many fish added at once.

Bummer.

Actually, nitrITE in marine aquaria is relatively NON-toxic to fish:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...hf/index.php#5

What is concerning is the presence of nitrITE in the water at all which almost always means that ammonia (which is very toxic) was there previously. There should be zero nitrITE in a tank more than a year old unless there was a mini-cycle - possibly brought upon by the addition of so many fish at once.

I believe that the oxygen deprivation theory may be correct especially if the FX5 was the only form of circulation: Lots of fish are added to a tank with poor circulation. This causes the death of the weakest fish which in turn causes a mini-cycle which kills off the rest. When you finally do the testing the cycle is at the stage where's there's a little nitrITE left and rising nitrATES.

Your Alk reading is actually normal.

[fishoholic]

So sorry to hear about your losses

I have had a lot higher nitrates then 20 before in my tank, did some water changes right away once I realized, and luckily I didn't loose anything. The nitrates probably spiked after the fish died, doesn't seem likely to be the cause of death IMO.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by alfredshouse

Yes, I did add some stuff this weekend

Bubble Tip Anemone
Zoas
Green Mushroom
2 Dartfish
2 Gudgeon
1 Cleaner Wrasse
Pair of Cinnamon Clowns
2 Tangs


this is a 160gl that has been up for 14 months

How big were the Tangs? How many fish were in the tank prior to adding these ones? How quickly did this crash happen after adding these new fish?

[naesco]

Originally Posted by alfredshouse

Yes, I did add some stuff this weekend

Bubble Tip Anemone
Zoas
Green Mushroom
2 Dartfish
2 Gudgeon
1 Cleaner Wrasse
Pair of Cinnamon Clowns
2 Tangs


this is a 160gl that has been up for 14 months

Did you add all these fish at the same time? A sudden death like you describe is likely caused by oxygen starvation. Do you have power heads operating near the surface of your water to allow for oxygen exchange?

[Myka]

^ Ya he did. Although that is a significant amount of fish to add at once, the tank is 160 gallons. I don't think that adding all the fish at once would be the only reason for the crash, although it may have been a significant attributing factor to a snowball effect.