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View Full Version : Please help--snail died and then I made things even worse...


sharuq1
11-24-2007, 08:59 PM
Well my tank crashed last week due to a dead snail I did not find in time. After that I subsequently made things worse by torching the algae I have had a hate-on for off of the live rock and putting that in a tub with a heater and powerhead as it, of course, smells terrible due to the die off. (I am waiting for the nitrate spike in there to settle before I return it to the 14g.)

After this happened I did a 100% water change in the 14g, the water was nasty as heck. My corals are sitting on a rack made of egg-crate in the 14g, and since the crash have all looked terrible. Many of them may be dead, but I am unsure which ones are and so I have not thrown them out. (holding out on hope I suppose)


I have been doing 5 gallon water changes every day since this happened as my ammonia is reading very high due to my wrecking everything and only comes down slightly after a WC (none of the colors on the test card match what is in the vial so I can only assume the worst, sayyyy over 8ppm?? :shocked!: >.<) I have also been dosing with prime to try and detox this water from hell.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had advise about what I can do to rectify this situation?

Please don't flame me or say "you should not have done this/that and it is all your fault"--I already know this, I know I made mistakes and went too far taking the LR--what's done is done though and I can't go back and change it and I really don't want to feel any worse right now. :cry: But if you have some advice so I can fix what is happening now I would really appreciate it. Some consoling would be nice too :sad:


Edit: yes there are 3 small fish in the 14g... I have nowhere else to put them with the exception of the vat where the LR is.... The nitrate in there is about 50-110 mg/L at present. I don't know what's worse, to put them into toxic levels of ammonia or nitrate. Suggestiions?

Der_Iron_Chef
11-24-2007, 09:03 PM
I'm a little confused--the live rock isn't in the 14G with the corals, right? What's causing the ammonia spike in the tank?

Are there fish in there, as well?

Aquattro
11-24-2007, 09:03 PM
only thing I can suggest is finding a sitter for your livestock until things settle down..

whosinpower
11-24-2007, 10:37 PM
Here is what I would do if I were in your situation -

1. Set up a seperate qt tank for your fish. Check water daily - use your skimmer on the qt tank and change water as required. Requires diligent maintenance!

2. Find someone to take the coral off your hands until you get your main tank up and running and stable.

3. Clean out your main tank. Get rid of the sand - and put in clean new sand.
Maybe this is not necessary....not sure.

4. Put your liverock back in the tank and allow it to cycle - rebuilding its bacteria to convert ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate.

Basically - you are starting over. After your tank has fully cycled and water is testing good - then add a clean up crew....followed by your fish after a couple of weeks.

Wait another month.

Then add back your corals if your friend has managed to save them. Sorry for your troubles. Not sure what you meant by torching the rock?!? But - it seems to me that you have inadvertantly killed off the bacteria that converts ammonia if your water is testing high for ammonia......it is this biological filter that you need to reintroduce - be patient and diligent with the qt tank - and you should be good to go in the future.

BC564
11-25-2007, 02:20 AM
one dead snail can do that? I have had snails die in my 20 gal nano before and never experienced this......am I missing something?

Slick Fork
11-25-2007, 02:21 AM
I'm in Spruce View.

What kind of fish? What kind of Corals? I could possibly babysit for you.

sharuq1
11-25-2007, 04:50 AM
If I remove the fish from the 14g and stick them in some sort of temp tank and leave the coral in the 14g as it is presently what are the chances they (corals) will be ok? I am inexperienced in this area and I feel rather hesitant and nervous to move the coral somewhere else. (especially seeing as no one in red deer that I know of has coral, so I would need to travel at least 45 mins to take it to someone else's established tank)

Der_Iron_Chef
11-25-2007, 04:59 AM
Honestly, I'm really confused as to what caused all of this. You put the torched rock in a separate tub, right? If there's no live rock in the tank and you did a 100% water change, what's causing the water to be so foul?

sharuq1
11-25-2007, 05:09 AM
It isn't "foul" per se anymore it is just having a very high ammonia spike. My only guess is that it is being caused by:
-my 100% WC
-removal and subsequent wrecking the LR, which effectively removed my bio-filtration almost completely (there was some BR in there for 7 mo. so hopefully some bacteria colonised that, it is still in the tank)
-dying zoo polyps, but I am unsure which are dead and which just look bad so I have only removed the ones that I know for sure are dead
-fish in the tank in "new" water that has not been cycled

Some corals look unaffected, some died, some are very damaged....

Der_Iron_Chef
11-25-2007, 05:22 AM
I'm really sorry about that :( If I lived closer to you, I would offer to help with the corals. I'm really not sure what to suggest....

Zylumn
11-25-2007, 05:39 AM
sharuq1 Sorry to hear about the problems your having. I wish I was closer to help but will chip in my 2 cents worth.

To me it sounds like with your ammonia high you are going through a cycle. This could have been brought on by the 100% water change. My suggestion would be use only R/O water prepared hrs in advance with exact tank temp and salinity. Change out a max of 2 gallons per day at one time or 2 x 1.5g per day. Feed your fish sparingly (maybe every 2 days) or feed then do water change and get out any extra food.
Good luck.
Kevin

Salmon King
11-25-2007, 06:09 AM
One thing I dont think doing a 100% water change was good idea.I think the ammonia is from everything dying in your tank.I would move anything that is 100% alive to somebodys good tank or maybe your local pet store will hold it.I wish you luck but it doesnt sound good.I think in the morning things are not going to be good.Taking your live rock out and cooking it was like taking out was like taking everything that helps stabalize your tank.Also zoos are one of the most deadly things to die in your tank.as it will kill everything alive including your fish.

Rippin
11-25-2007, 08:34 AM
Hmm....I'd say the best advice so far is from whosinpower.

Your main display tank is shot right now. With the absence of any live rock there is new source of nitrifying bacteria for biological filtration, hence the high ammonia levels and sickly livestock.

The main tank has to go through the cycling process again, which means that NO livestock should be in there, only rock, substrate and water. Your corals and fish need to be placed somewhere else - either QT, friend's, fellow reefer's or the LFS.

tang daddy
11-25-2007, 01:22 PM
how about adding carbon to dissapate the chemicals.

sharuq1
11-27-2007, 02:54 AM
Thanks for the good advice all. Slickfork has been kind enough to take my corals off my hands until my tank is stable again. (tytyty!)

In the meantime I will continue with water changes as needed based on how the tests turn out, run a bag of chemipure and 2 of purigen in the back and will add the LR back to the tank in the next several days. I guess I will see what happens. Wish me luck.

Slick Fork
11-27-2007, 05:30 AM
I would let the live rock "cook" for a while (4-5 weeks) in a tub with current, heat, but no light. It will take care of the algae problem that you had and give you the opportunity for a true fresh start. You will also find that the die off from the liverock will cause more ammonia problems for you with the fish in the tank if you stick it back in in a few days.

The second consideration, your corals have just gone through an extremely stressful time, don't rush to stick them back in. I don't mind holding them for as long as it takes. Get the rock cured properly, put it back into the tank in a month and a half and let everything settle down.

Rushing the recovery will just set you up for another crash down the road. I guarantee it will be worth the wait

sharuq1
11-27-2007, 04:41 PM
Ah I had not thought of that but you are right. I will let the rock "cook" for a bit then. Sucks for the coralline but at least it will get rid of the pest algae.