Diaster Recovery help please!

[michika]

I need help please! My tank (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=34944) suffered a nasty crash as a result of a recent move on the 24th.

Timeline:
24th
- 3pm tank contents goes into 5 buckets
- 7pm arrive in Calgary
- Everything unloaded (except one dead fish) into the new tank by 10pm. Temperature stable, everything looks good. Circulation provided by hydor koralia, 2 maxijets, and skimmer.

25th
- sump comes online

26th
- RTN beggins of SPS
- Death of 2 clams, crocea, and maxima

27th
- more death of SPS

28th
- more death of SPS

30th
- death seems to have stopped

4th
- death of another clam

There are photos in the thread above about what the tank looks like. I'm seeing brown algae on my rocks and the remaining skeletons. There is neon green algae build up on my glass. All the fish are eating well, all my inverts are doing well.

Ideas that have come up as possible causes
- ammonia from dead fish on the 24th triggered a cycle some how (I didn't use any of the water the dead fish was in, just the rock).
- sponge/bacteria die off triggered a cycle
- something got into the tank (if it did I'm thinking it happened the 25th, or 26th)
- Ocean Pro Pure salt triggered something. I began using it RIGHT before the diaster.

Possible Solutions
- Zeovit, or a similar product
- continual water changes (I do 7g a day, the system is about 45g in total)
- let the cycle run its course.

What I am doing
- running carbon
- running hypersorb
- running nitrate sponge
- running phosphate sponge (but at least all my GHA is gone)
- daily water changes
- ensuring all my fish eat a varied diet to keep their immune systems up
- running lights as normal
- watching the tank and photodocumenting its rise/decline/whatever its doing.

So help! Please!

[fencer]

Only thing you haven't checked is the Redox level of your water.

[michika]

Good point, I guess I should find someone who can do that for me. Thanks!

[Jason McK]

Did you transfer your Sand?
I had a similar experience and the cause was the locked up Nitrites, Nitrates, and Ammonia in the sand bed that where released during the move.
Even though I flushed the sand until it ran clear.

Sorry for your losses

[michika]

Nope, I tossed the sand once everything was out of the old tank. I was afraid of exactly what you said. I figured I would try B.B. and if I liked it, it would stay, if not I would add some in.

[Jason McK]

It's so hard to say. How much original water was transfered. How where the corals/Clams acclimated to the new tank. Could a huge swing in PH for the transport bag to the tank caused it?
What was the SG in the tank when the corals where added?

[michika]

It's so hard to say. How much original water was transfered. How where the corals/Clams acclimated to the new tank. Could a huge swing in PH for the transport bag to the tank caused it?
What was the SG in the tank when the corals where added?

I would say probably 80-90% of the original water ended up in the new tank. Some had to be thrown out after I found the dead fish upon arrival.

I had some jugs of just water, they were added to the tank first, then the pail with rock & water, the fish were next, but none of the water went in the tank. Clams were acclimated by adding some of their water to the tank, and some of the tank water to their bucket. The last thing to be added were the SPS as they were individually bagged up. I floated all the SPS first (like a mine field of bags!), then opened the bags to get some water into them from the tank.

SG was 1.025 before and after the move.

There was no "new" water added until the following day, and even then it was only about 5g. It was mixed up with RO/DI water I made in Edmonton.

[marie]

2 questions, do you know what the buckets were used for (possible contaminant?) before the transfer and was the water for the sump aerated and heated while the sump was waiting to be hooked up?


Edit Oh one other thing is it possible that your new place was sprayed with something like a pesticide just before you got there?

[michika]

- They were all salt buckets, always been used for fish stuff.
- Yup the sump was aerated and heated before I turned the pump on.
- Good question about the contaminants, I don't know, I will ask though.

Thank you!

[Jason McK]

WOW I don't think more caution could have been taken. Sound like the perfect move. It's hard to understand how such a well planed move could go so bad.

J

[michika]

I'm having loads of bad luck right now, I think its rubbing off on my tank and everything I touch.

[Chin_Lee]

Catherine
sps for me has always been touchy. I've had 98% of frags survive a transfer into my tanks over the past few years. But when I set up my 300g sps tank and transferred everything over from the 165, I lost no less that 75% of my colonies. Some people have success during transfers and some just have bad luck like you and me. It sounds like you've taken every precaution that most experienced reefer would have so I'm lost for suggestions or advice. Sorry to hear
BTW i re-used all my acro skeletons by putting them into the calcium reactor as a way of making the "best" of a pretty bad situation.

[michika]

Did you break down the skeletons into smaller pieces, or did you just break them off the rocks/plugs and toss them on in? At least if I toss them in my reactor I know they won't be going to waste. :D

[MitchM]

I think that the only thing that you can do now is to let the cycle run it's course.
If somebody else can house your remaining livestock, PDQ, that would be best.

See if you can obtain some cured live rock (beg, borrow or steal maybe?) to add to your system now.

Mitch

[SeaShell]

Count me in.... I lost every coral except my zoas and a devils hand in my last new tank transfer about a month ago. :(

[kwirky]

You could be experiencing the toxins of sponges dieing from being exposed to air. They're pretty toxic usually. Do you have adequate actively run carbon for the various toxins of the rock fauna dieing from the move? Carbon's like a protein skimmer I think: it makes things easy.

[michika]

What I am doing
- running carbon
- running hypersorb
- running nitrate sponge
- running phosphate sponge (but at least all my GHA is gone)
- daily water changes
- ensuring all my fish eat a varied diet to keep their immune systems up
- running lights as normal
- watching the tank and photodocumenting its rise/decline/whatever its doing.


Yes I'm running lots of carbon and removers.

Nothing was out of the water for more then 30 seconds (save the SPS), rock included. How quickly do sponges die?

[kwirky]

Yes I'm running lots of carbon and removers.

Nothing was out of the water for more then 30 seconds (save the SPS), rock included. How quickly do sponges die?

heard they're a goner with any contact to air, no saving them. They die a slow and agonizing death with a domino effect going over their tissue... :(

[kaboom]

Sorry to hear about your lost. I recently did a move and lost 75% of my sps colonies, that's about 25 pieces, some were over 12" in diameter.:cry: I cried for a few hours but I had prepared myself for such a lost, so it was understandable. I planned the move as best I can, but in the end time was the factor and the stress of the long move (8 hours in transit) caused many casualties. Ammonia build up caused by stressed corals and released toxin/slime was the culprit.

How much sps did you have? I can almost say that your losts was due to reasons similar to mine. Hope it recovers fast for you. My best advise is skim skim skim and you want as much algae to grow as possible to help polish your water.

[Chin_Lee]

Any update today Catharine? How are things looking?

[michika]

Nothing to update on yet. The lights are yet on for the day. Once they do come on I should have something to share, photos and test results for today.

[michika]

I'm cross posting this to the tank thread...

Lights came on today and all my fish are still alive. My shrimp molted, and my urchin is still pretty fiesty.

Something very cool, yet sad at the same time, is that some of my frags and colonys still have polyps, but no flesh. I now wonder how many frags/colonies I removed that weren't 100% dead. :( I am also seeing zoas opening up (I didn't even know I had these), which is a good sign. My remaining clams have gone to stay elsewhere until everything is resolved. Thank you Tony for watching over them.

The neon green algae on the glass isn't so neony anymore, and so far I haven't yet had to clean my glass. This is a huge improvement of the multiple cleanings the tank required yesterday.

Photos and today's water parameters to follow.

[kwirky]

good news :)

keep us posted

[Delphinus]

I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but anytime I've had an SPS (Acro or whatever) that got to that point (ie. polyps still there but the flesh gone around the polyps), they never recovered... Try not to dwell on it, you probably did the right thing.

[michika]

Okay so yesterday's photos and parameters, which I'm cross posting to my tank thread.

SG: 1.025
Ammonia: 0.75
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0.10?
pH: 8.1

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b286/michika/DSC_0004.jpg