lost half my fish in one day. the rest seem fine

[jsker]

good question, well the weather finally cooled off in Florida so the AC has been off and windows open. The bug guy hasn't visited the house in about 4 weeks and he's well aware of where not to spray pesticides so as to not nuke the tank.

other then the windows being open I can't say anything is different around the tank or in the tank.

You are about 50 minutes east of me. I am still thinking environmental the tank, but once you post pictures I am sure that some more solid answer will come forth and help.

 

[beachsidereefer]

You are about 50 minutes east of me. I am still thinking environmental the tank, but once you post pictures I am sure that some more solid answer will come forth and help.

I've got a lot of cold beer in the fridge if you want to drive over! hehehehe

Lights will start ramping up in about 2 hours. I'll post some pics once I get some light on the duncan.

 

[beachsidereefer]

FWIW - I ordered a Triton labs ICP test kit. It'll take a while but maybe there's something in my water chemistry that's messing up my tank.

 

[jsker]

I've got a lot of cold beer in the fridge if you want to drive over! hehehehe

Lights will start ramping up in about 2 hours. I'll post some pics once I get some light on the duncan.

I am sooooo there LOL

 

[drawman]

Yeah if it's something chemical it may not hurt to get some carbon going and go for water changes. As humblefish said check for sources of rust too!

 

[DBR_Reef]

I would put a filter on the air intake just in case
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2578829

 

[beachsidereefer]

alright I have a update for everyone. First off, thank you to all that took the time to post their thoughts on this thread.

So on Saturday morning my mother in law visited and when she walked into the DT room she immediately commented that she smelled rotten eggs..... and that was a ah ha! moment.

So I opened the doors to the stand and asked her if the smell got stronger and sure enough, she thought the smell got stronger. I made up some water and did a thorough cleaning of the sump and I found some build up of detritus in a couple of areas so I'm theorizing this was the cause of the hydrogen sulfide/ rotten egg smell. For good measure I did another water change on Sunday so combined, over two days, I've changed out about 80 gallons of water, vacuumed the DT sand bed and cleaned out all the detritus that built up in the sump.

will continue to monitor the situation and will let you know how things go.

 

[Brew12]

alright I have a update for everyone. First off, thank you to all that took the time to post their thoughts on this thread.

So on Saturday morning my mother in law visited and when she walked into the DT room she immediately commented that she smelled rotten eggs..... and that was a ah ha! moment.

So I opened the doors to the stand and asked her if the smell got stronger and sure enough, she thought the smell got stronger. I made up some water and did a thorough cleaning of the sump and I found some build up of detritus in a couple of areas so I'm theorizing this was the cause of the hydrogen sulfide/ rotten egg smell. For good measure I did another water change on Sunday so combined, over two days, I've changed out about 80 gallons of water, vacuumed the DT sand bed and cleaned out all the detritus that built up in the sump.

will continue to monitor the situation and will let you know how things go.

That is interesting! I always thought you needed a deep sand bed to have a risk of hydrogen sulfide.

 

[beachsidereefer]

That is interesting! I always thought you needed a deep sand bed to have a risk of hydrogen sulfide.

only time will tell! The stuff in the sump was pretty nasty, best way I can describe it is like black slimy mayonnaise and it smelled bad. I keep a bunch of macro algae in the sump so I'm guessing it contributed to the problem.

I have to admit I probably let my sump slip on regular maint. it's out of sight out of mind so it's been over a year since I did a deep cleaning.

 

[Yoshi14]

Same thing happen to me a few months back everything was good and I couldn't figure out why I lost a lot of my fish. I went over everything and saw that my kids had thrown like two bottles on fish food in my sump and I guess that's what did it.
The little bit of fish that did make it take just about anything and they are very healthy and strong

 

[Brew12]

only time will tell! The stuff in the sump was pretty nasty, best way I can describe it is like black slimy mayonnaise and it smelled bad. I keep a bunch of macro algae in the sump so I'm guessing it contributed to the problem.

I have to admit I probably let my sump slip on regular maint. it's out of sight out of mind so it's been over a year since I did a deep cleaning.

I wonder if we can get @Randy Holmes-Farley to comment.

I was under the impression it would take a very low oxygen environment to form this. I'm really sorry you lost fish, but this could be a great learning opportunity for those of us watching the thread.

 

[beachsidereefer]

I wonder if we can get @Randy Holmes-Farley to comment.

I was under the impression it would take a very low oxygen environment to form this. I'm really sorry you lost fish, but this could be a great learning opportunity for those of us watching the thread.

Another step I'm taking is I'm sending a sample of water for Triton ICP testing. Once I have the results I'll share them to see how it squares up with the dirty sump theory.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

That is interesting! I always thought you needed a deep sand bed to have a risk of hydrogen sulfide.

no. Happens with bio pellets, reactors with really low flow and clogs and piled up gunk. also can happen inside rocks(randys article), and last week I saw one in a shallow sand bed in the DT. It had gotten piled on by algae and cyano in a corner.
I do get teased about my vacuum/stir shallow sand beds. but thats another reason why. you just have to choke the bacteria to make the hydrogen sulfide. any low flow zone will do.. A dsb with no flow(worms and never poked) will make it too.

Another step I'm taking is I'm sending a sample of water for Triton ICP testing. Once I have the results I'll share them to see how it squares up with the dirty sump theory.

Sorry to hear. Thats Awful.

 

[beachsidereefer]

Sorry to hear. Thats Awful.

I've got a lot of cold beer in the fridge if you want to drive over! hehehehe

Lights will start ramping up in about 2 hours. I'll post some pics once I get some light on the duncan.

Hey just want to follow up on Duncan. Once the lights ramped up it was back to normal so figured there wasn't any use to posting a pic of it healthy looking.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hey just want to follow up on Duncan. Once the lights ramped up it was back to normal so figured there wasn't any use to posting a pic of it healthy looking.

Great. SO we don't get pics of coral and @jsker does not get beer?

 

[jsker]

Good to here things are going better. After reading through what are the steps that you used to correct the issue?

I will always roll for cold beverages.

 

[jsker]

@saltyfilmfolks I think you just helped me out with a problem I have been having for the past month. I think I have been running my bio pellets to slow. [emoji95][emoji95][emoji106][emoji106]

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@saltyfilmfolks I think you just helped me out with a problem I have been having for the past month. I think I have been running my bio pellets to slow. [emoji95][emoji95][emoji106][emoji106]

Im kinda weird like that.

 

[Armydogracing]

Im confused as to how a little detritus build up killed half of your fish... there are people that use LR in their sump with no socks and never clean that chamber out.

 

[jsker]

Im kinda weird like that.

I have those moments all the time