Mass critter hysteria/paralysis?

[fishguy242]

have you checked alk ?

 

[sfin52]

A full water change and chang carbon. 50% water change only removes 50% of contaminates.

Remove fish and critters to new tank and retest your numbers. A large water change may be all that is needed. We really need to know your current alk, calcium ph and so forth.

 

[sav_lion]

have you checked alk ?

I have not, no. I need to buy a test kit or something for that today. It's not something I've ever had to check before.

 

[Spare time]

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Jay Hemdal Any suggestions?

 

[sav_lion]

Update: Turns out my external filter quit without giving a two week notice. I smacked it a few times after cleaning it and got it running again. I put some water clearing stuff in there, and all it did was turn the water into spoiled milk. Tons of chunks of stuff floating in the water still. I can only assume the stuff I put in there is binding to the stuff still in the water. I door dashed a bucket of reef salt (that's a thing here lol), so I can try yet another water change tonight.

Maybe it might be important to note, the sand bed is roughly 3 inches thick, 200 or so pounds of live rock there. Lots of area in the tank can't get churned. How can I solve this in the future without ripping out rocks?

 

[Spare time]

Wait so this just happened? If so, you need to do another massive water change. That could have dumped ammonia or hydrogen sulfide right into the tank

 

[sav_lion]

Update: A few of the engineer gobies seem lethargic/traumatized, and the anemone is barely alive. But all in all most of the critters are coming out, and the water is slowly clearing up. The vast majority are surviving "the event" it seems. I put some GFO phosphate remover in media bags (2 cups worth). I have a 2 step akalinity kit and meter coming tomorrow, best I could do today. Availability and all that.

 

[Cell]

Stop adding quick fixes and get a full water change done. You have so much added crap in that water now who knows how its all interacting.

 

[A Young Reefer]

dude you must stop adding stuff.
I never rely on test kits for ph, they tend to be inaccurate. the lowest reading on your test kit was 7.4 it didn't need freaking out in the first place, let alone dumping a bottle of buffer and baking soda.
Now just do a 100% water change as mentioned earlier.

 

[sav_lion]

Update: I did roughly 4 water changes, replaced all the filters (4 times each), and loving caressed every inch of sand with a siphon to get the sludge out from under the rock work the best I could. I added a wave maker to increase flow, since mine was too low, allowing crap to settle and leave voids where nothing circulates in caves and under rock ledges. The sludge from the sump was also gathering under all those surfaces in the display. The deep clean coupled with fixing the external filter and pressing the reset button on everything, it looks better, and everyone appears happy. Only two losses, an engineer goby that got smashed by a net in the cloud, and a damsel that died early on. Thank you everyone for all your help. Next step is check the alkalinity, study the flow to counter void areas, and watch my nitrates to keep things stable. I'll do my best to avoid bottled quick fixes. Desperate times, and all that.

 

[A Young Reefer]

Update: I did roughly 4 water changes, replaced all the filters (4 times each), and loving caressed every inch of sand with a siphon to get the sludge out from under the rock work the best I could. I added a wave maker to increase flow, since mine was too low, allowing crap to settle and leave voids where nothing circulates in caves and under rock ledges. The sludge from the sump was also gathering under all those surfaces in the display. The deep clean coupled with fixing the external filter and pressing the reset button on everything, it looks better, and everyone appears happy. Only two losses, an engineer goby that got smashed by a net in the cloud, and a damsel that died early on. Thank you everyone for all your help. Next step is check the alkalinity, study the flow to counter void areas, and watch my nitrates to keep things stable. I'll do my best to avoid bottled quick fixes. Desperate times, and all that.

Well done, glad to hear that you controlled it and had only minimal loses.

 

[PeterEde]

Wow.

 

[ADAM]

Update: I did roughly 4 water changes, replaced all the filters (4 times each), and loving caressed every inch of sand with a siphon to get the sludge out from under the rock work the best I could. I added a wave maker to increase flow, since mine was too low, allowing crap to settle and leave voids where nothing circulates in caves and under rock ledges. The sludge from the sump was also gathering under all those surfaces in the display. The deep clean coupled with fixing the external filter and pressing the reset button on everything, it looks better, and everyone appears happy. Only two losses, an engineer goby that got smashed by a net in the cloud, and a damsel that died early on. Thank you everyone for all your help. Next step is check the alkalinity, study the flow to counter void areas, and watch my nitrates to keep things stable. I'll do my best to avoid bottled quick fixes. Desperate times, and all that.

Quick fix bottled goods are the reason for desperate times more often than not.

**Preparedness Pack for Future “Desperate Times”… = Carbon, GFO, Cuprisorb, Poly-Filter, and Enough Salt and Fresh Water for at least one 100% water change.**

I’m sure the bottled stuff like AccuClear and pH Up have there place in the hobby but IMO 99% of the bottles like those so often seen at chain pet stores and some big box retailers are junk.

After all the “fix” products added (most hopefully removed during water changes), filtering, cleaning, and water changes you will very likely get a “mini-cycle” consisting of diatoms and “the uglies” but that’s normal after situations like this IME.

Research/reach out before reacting if you’re not 100% sure about what’s going on… doing so has saved me countless headaches.

Happy Reefing!

 

[Dburr1014]

Update: A few of the engineer gobies seem lethargic/traumatized, and the anemone is barely alive. But all in all most of the critters are coming out, and the water is slowly clearing up. The vast majority are surviving "the event" it seems. I put some GFO phosphate remover in media bags (2 cups worth). I have a 2 step akalinity kit and meter coming tomorrow, best I could do today. Availability and all that.

Nobody said to add gfo to your tank.
2 cups are going to bottom out your phosphates and you will cvs dinos next.
Pull that out now.

 

[sav_lion]

That stuff sounds like hydrogen sulfide. Here are tips for dealing with it if it was infact hydrogen sulfide (this is from http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/rhf/index.php#14 )

Nobody said to add gfo to your tank.
2 cups are going to bottom out your phosphates and you will cvs dinos next.
Pull that out now.

"Spare time" said is sounds like hydrogen sulfide, and I followed their steps since it did appear relevant. The GFO is on that steps list of how to address it. I replied afterwards showing what I had purchased to address that step/advice. No one has said anything. I didn't even know what GFO was prior to making this thread. Overall I have 150 gallons, and the directions from BRS said about 2 cups is the measurement required. What should I do here?

 

[Spare time]

"Spare time" said is sounds like hydrogen sulfide, and I followed their steps since it did appear relevant. The GFO is on that steps list of how to address it. I replied afterwards showing what I had purchased to address that step/advice. No one has said anything. I didn't even know what GFO was prior to making this thread. Overall I have 150 gallons, and the directions from BRS said about 2 cups is the measurement required. What should I do here?

You can mix it with some carbon in a bag or just use a pinch in a bag on its own. Use way less than what BRS recommends as you are doing this for a different purpose that to remove phosphate. I am assuming you have a phosphate kit to make sure you don't strip the tank completely of phosphates. If you run any other phosphate removing media, take it out. As I stated, GFO is commonly used for phosphate removal and does so very effectively, but can be used in this case as per Randy's article's recommendations. @Randy Holmes-Farley may be able to explain it in different terms (and more professionally). He may also have a better recommendation as to a general amount to use. If your issues are resolved, you can put a pinch of it in a bag with carbon as a general filter component, or keep it on the side for emergencies,

 

[sav_lion]

You can mix it with some carbon in a bag or just use a pinch in a bag on its own. Use way less than what BRS recommends as you are doing this for a different purpose that to remove phosphate. I am assuming you have a phosphate kit to make sure you don't strip the tank completely of phosphates. If you run any other phosphate removing media, take it out. As I stated, GFO is commonly used for phosphate removal and does so very effectively, but can be used in this case as per Randy's article's recommendations. @Randy Holmes-Farley may be able to explain it in different terms (and more professionally). He may also have a better recommendation as to a general amount to use. If your issues are resolved, you can put a pinch of it in a bag with carbon as a general filter component, or keep it on the side for emergencies,

I don't have a phosphate kit, no. I did however just remove the GFO media bags. I wasn't aware there were multiple uses for it. Phosphates and alkalinity are new to me. I'm just to the point in experience to start looking at dosing stuff. I've always been a fish guy, not a coral or reef guy. Right now I'm dabbling with zoanthids, star polyp, and easy stuff to keep to learn. So looking at all the trace elements required, and broadening my horizons to new levels of chemicals to keep balanced currently. Some stuff I've heard of, some stuff I've played with, but all in all I'm trying to take notes on what's new, and where it fits into the bigger picture. The input is helpful and appreciated.

 

[fishguy242]

with all the water changes, guessing you are ok with phosphates,
what is more important rt now is your alk level.
even with all the water changes ,may still be really high.

 

[sav_lion]

with all the water changes, guessing you are ok with phosphates,
what is more important rt now is your alk level.
even with all the water changes ,may still be really high.

I found this on amazon, and just got it last night. A lot of people have been mentioning managing the alk. Is that sufficient? I'm not sure how to raise or lower it, or if it needs to be.

 

[Cell]

You cannot properly manage the level of alk or calcium if you aren't testing for them. Get test kits first and get a handle on your water parameters then you can decide what is necessary.