Complete Wipe advice

[Bortass]

I just checked Nitrite and it came back at 0ppm. The test result strip seems to be missing on my Nitrate test kit, so i doubt I can find those levels.

Overall the levels all look ok, unless my test kit is bad. It's a few years old so maybe it's no good.

Depressing. I tore down the reef tank because it was too much effort and somehow wiped my FW tank when I was trying to make it better for the fish.

 

[Bortass]

Since the filter pad was out in the open for a long duration I would suspect that it picked up aerosols and other particulates that float around freely in the air. Filtering through that would add a concentration to your water. Enough to kill fish is a tough call though. If your washer/dryer is down there as well and you or your wife uses a spray pre-treatment, I suppose it would be possible.

An Emperor 400 is too little for a tank that size, but you said it has been working for you. (I use 2 of them on a 90).

To be honest, I doubt you will ever identify the real cause, sad to say. At least you have a pocketful of possibilities to work from when you set it back up.

Again, sorry for your losses.

I have 2 emporer(sp?) 400s on the tank but only ever really used one at a time. I know my filtration was a bit low which is why I went with the w/d to attempt to boost things.

The washer and dryer are upstairs on the first floor. We have a septic tank, so my basement floor is lower then the top of the septic system. The only thing that gets sprayed down there is air freshener once in a while.

I know I'll never know the true cause but you guys are helping me rule things out. The water params seem ok and it looks unlikely that the gear from my SW tank did them in.

 

[Rbishop]

I would suspect something from the SW tank lived and caused the situation....

 

[Bortass]

I would suspect something from the SW tank lived and caused the situation....

It could be. I drained the SW tank wednesday afternoon. So the Seio PH was out of water for 30 hours before I rinsed it off etc.

My ehiem return pump was in the sump and was wet until I got it ready to use. There were some barnacle type things on it but real small. I looked the return pump over and I don't see anything like a large worm etc in it.

Any thoughts on what it could have been?


I know that certain sea cukes and some inverts can release a toxin if they die that can wipe a SW tank, or so I've read. I didn't have any cukes in the SW tank and the only inverts that didn't hitchike were some mushrooms but those went with the rock.

I did find a worm in my sand bed that was at least 3 feet long and 1/4 inch thick though when I was taking the sand bed out Wednesday afternoon. That thing was freaky....

I'll be soaking all the SW hardware in some bleach and water before I use it again. I'll also be stripping it all down.

If it was something from the SW tank, is my FW tank useless now? Also should I pitch my driftwood?

I don't plan to use the 130 again. My plan had been to clean up the 120 and move the contents of the 130 into it, since the 120 looks better. That plan is out the window but if I sell or give away my 130, I don't want to have the new owner have a problem. I'm asking these question since if you dose a tank with copper, you shouldn't use that tank to house inverts in the future. If it was a toxin, could it hang around as well?

 

[Fishfriend1]

Boil the driftwood, that should kill anything living that may or may not have been on them.

Can't help with the toxin bit, IDK anything about toxins.