Tank is crashing :(

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by MitchM

It's frustrating when you check all parameters which check out fine, but your corals are still dying.
I think reviewing the past conditions that the corals have been exposed to is more important than what the current conditions are.

Sometimes of course, changes are too great for even strong corals to withstand.
Think of what's currently happening to the Great Barrier Reef.

Thing is, I haven't really changed the parameters too much. They went up slightly but that was over the course of weeks so it shouldn't have bothers them right? Only real drastic change was the t5 to led but that shouldn't kill every coral in the tank.

I'm still thinking it's the sand bed that's releasing hydrogen sulfide because of the smell. I decided to remove half of my sand bed last night and the water and smell was disgusting. I'll post a pic later for you guys. I'm mixing more water right now to remove the rest of it.

[tang daddy]

Not the best move to remove your sand bed when the tank is recovering from a crash, next time have your water ready so you can do a large wc at the same time, people usually skim the top layer when removing their sand bed 1/2" at a time...

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

Not the best move to remove your sand bed when the tank is recovering from a crash, next time have your water ready so you can do a large wc at the same time, people usually skim the top layer when removing their sand bed 1/2" at a time...

I don't have much else to lose l'm down to a few spa frags now lol. I syphoned out my sand while I did a 50 gallon water change. Matched all parameters in the tank before I did the change.

I checked it out this morning and everything looked ok. First morning I didn't find anything dead. Fingers crossed!

[Myka]

Good luck. You're probably right that you don't have much to lose at this point. Hopefully the removal will help turn things round for you.

Originally Posted by tang daddy

people usually skim the top layer when removing their sand bed 1/2" at a time...

I wouldn't do it that way. Exposing deeper layers is the opposite of what you want to do. When I remove a sand bed I remove the entire depth of sand from say 1/4 of the tank, then replace that area with new sand, then next week remove the next 1/4 and replace, and so on.

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by Myka

Good luck. You're probably right that you don't have much to lose at this point. Hopefully the removal will help turn things round for you.



I wouldn't do it that way. Exposing deeper layers is the opposite of what you want to do. When I remove a sand bed I remove the entire depth of sand from say 1/4 of the tank, then replace that area with new sand, then next week remove the next 1/4 and replace, and so on.

I did another water change this morning and ended up siphoning out the rest of the sand. I checked up on the tank a couple hours ago and everything looks good. The trumpet corals were more open and overall the Lps looked happier.

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by iceman86

Thing is, I haven't really changed the parameters too much. They went up slightly but that was over the course of weeks so it shouldn't have bothers them right? Only real drastic change was the t5 to led but that shouldn't kill every coral in the tank.

I'm still thinking it's the sand bed that's releasing hydrogen sulfide because of the smell. I decided to remove half of my sand bed last night and the water and smell was disgusting. I'll post a pic later for you guys. I'm mixing more water right now to remove the rest of it.

Your corals look to be a large size, so maybe think of what conditions they were kept before this new tank setup.
H2S can be removed from the water with activated carbon or by oxidizing with ozone. Hach makes a kit for measuring H2S, but it's best of course to reduce sediment buildup in the first place.
H2S is deadly to aquatic animals as much as carbon monoxide is deadly to humans. It doesn't take much to be fatal.
Good luck!

[DKoKoMan]

When you do your WC, do you typically siphon the sand bed on a regular basis? Maybe I missed it but how often and how much of a WC do you do?

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

When you do your WC, do you typically siphon the sand bed on a regular basis? Maybe I missed it but how often and how much of a WC do you do?

I do 2-3 water changes per year and each one about 150 gallons. I do syphon the sand to get rid of any detritus in there. My last water change was October but I dose cal alk mag and trace elements. Then a big water change to "rebalnce" the trace elements.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by iceman86

I do 2-3 water changes per year and each one about 150 gallons. I do syphon the sand to get rid of any detritus in there. My last water change was October but I dose cal alk mag and trace elements. Then a big water change to "rebalnce" the trace elements.

Maybe this is a sign that your current approach is not working. Lots of people do these minimal or zero water change methods successfully. You may be missing some key point. Have you thought of doing a Triton test when you're some months into no WC? Which salt mix do you use?

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by Myka

Maybe this is a sign that your current approach is not working. Lots of people do these minimal or zero water change methods successfully. You may be missing some key point. Have you thought of doing a Triton test when you're some months into no WC? Which salt mix do you use?

Maybe a triton test might be a good idea. I didn't even think about that. I'm going to see if removing the sand helps, if not I guess my next step would be a triton test.

When I initially setup the tank I used h2oceans and then over the summer I switched to aquaforest.

This morning the tank looks stable again. No new die off and the water is incredibly clear. It's had a little bit of cloudy water for a few months. I just couldn't get it this clear even with all the filtration and filter socks, there was always a slight cloudiness to the water.