Canary in a coal mine

[hectorharvey]

My 14 gallon biocube has been on the decline for probably 5 months. I have lost most corals. I still have a couple of toad stool mushrooms that seem OKish. I also have a duncan and some zoanthids that I think are alive, but will not open. I have some blue clove polyps that are very happy (everywhere).

I have a royal gramma and a clown that have been here for the duration. Recently lost a blenny. Also have an emerald crab and two nessarius snails that have been there for the duration.

The back wall of my tank is now covered in algae. Lot of algae on the rocks as well, but not as bad.

Have taken numerous water samples to the LFS and all (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, ph and alkalinity) seem good to the LFS. Current temperature ranges from 80 - 84 pending the outside weather.

I have no snails. I added two turbo snails and 5 margarita snails that all died instantly (never moved). A week later I added another turbo and an astraea which also died instantly. I dripped acclimated both sets over about 20 minutes.

One other thought. I have not been vacuuming my sand. When I added the second set of snails, I turned the sand with my hands and picked out a lot of algae that was growing in it. This seemed to make the fish unhappy/sick. Next day or so the fish are fine.

It seems to me the snails dieing are a giant clue. I would welcome any suggestions for how I might get back on track to a healthy tank.

 

[elfloyd]

A couple of points / questions:
- Do you know the actual results of your water parameters? ("Seem good" is a bit vague.)
- Water temp (80-84) is a bit high.
- How often do you perform water changes?
- What type water do you use for water changes (RO/DI, Tap, store bought, etc.)?

 

[chris s]

Have you checked your salinity?
What do you use for replacing evaporation?

 

[hectorharvey]

I do watch the salinity. It varies between 1.025 & 1.028. It tends to drift up and I pull it back down with water changes. I recently installed a top off system that works very well.

 

[hectorharvey]

I change the water weekly, 2 - 2.5 gallons. Lights are on about 9 hours. 2 in the morning and 7 in the evening. I intentionally tried to get "hardy" animals. I went for about a year and a half before I started seeing a decline. I also just recently replaced my compact florescent bulbs.

>>The last maintenance on the biocube<<

This may be the source of my pain. I have never moved the rock since I put it in. I really haven't done any maintenance beyond water changes, light bulb changes, and cleaning the sponge in the back chamber.

Is there a spring cleaning/overhaul I should do once a year? If so the tank must be in desparate need of such a cleaning.

I am getting to a point where I thought I would move everything into a 5 gallon tank and scrub the cube with some white vinegar.

 

[rdnelson]

I don't see phosphate readings listed. High phosphates in the water you use for top off and/or water changes could be the cause of the algae problem. You mentioned you do not vacuum the sand but you stirred it up. If it had not been vacuumed or stirred in a long time there was a lot of bad stuff that you put into the water column which is what made the fish sick for a few days. Best thing would be to do a deep vacuum in a small area when you do a water change. Next water change do another area. Don't do it all at once or you will release a ton into the water column. This could be the problem with the snails too. Since they stir the sand, they are releasing high doses of nasty stuff all around themselves. JMO

Edit: You mention that the salinity slowly rises and you bring it down with water changes. You are using fresh water for top offs right? When water evaporates it leaves the salt behind. If you top off with salt water you are adding more salt and the salinity will rise. If it gets to 1.028 and then you bring it down to 1.025 all in one water change you are putting a lot of stress on the fish.

 

[jfoxx81]

rdnelson99;806092 wrote: I don't see phosphate readings listed. High phosphates in the water you use for top off and/or water changes could be the cause of the algae problem. You mentioned you do not vacuum the sand but you stirred it up. If it had not been vacuumed or stirred in a long time there was a lot of bad stuff that you put into the water column which is what made the fish sick for a few days. Best thing would be to do a deep vacuum in a small area when you do a water change. Next water change do another area. Don't do it all at once or you will release a ton into the water column. This could be the problem with the snails too. Since they stir the sand, they are releasing high doses of nasty stuff all around themselves. JMO

Edit: You mention that the salinity slowly rises and you bring it down with water changes. You are using fresh water for top offs right? When water evaporates it leaves the salt behind. If you top off with salt water you are adding more salt and the salinity will rise. If it gets to 1.028 and then you bring it down to 1.025 all in one water change you are putting a lot of stress on the fish.

was going to ask the same thing! check phosphates and 2nd the topping off with fresh or ro water

 

[hectorharvey]

I do top off with RO. The rising salinity may have been miss-stated. It definately rises, but it is more stable now that I have the top off system in place. May be the rise happens accross several weeks.

I haven't had a snail in the tank in a long time and I'm guessing they are pretty important for keeping algae in check.

Could that toxic sand be continuously leaking toxins that we don't have a way of measuring? Could the toxins in the sand cause my duncan and zoeanthids to not open?

These closed corals along with the dead snails are a big clue. Those are hardy corals that even the worst hobbiest can grow.

I may have played with the sand both times I added snails.

 

[rdnelson]

hectorharvey;806113 wrote:
Could that toxic sand be continuously leaking toxins that we don't have a way of measuring? Could the toxins in the sand cause my duncan and zoeanthids to not open?

.

Yes and no. Yes it could leech toxins into the water column but most should show up in what you test for. Some will not. If left undisturbed, it shouldn't release a lot but over time you can suffer from "Old Tank Syndrome" which is exactly that. The sand is saturated with nasty stuff and it leeches into the water column. Usually it is in tanks older than yours but since you didn't disturb the sand for a long time then disturbed it all at one time, you could have released a lot of toxins all at once. That is why I vacuum my sand when I do water changes. Keeps the nasty stuff from building up and when disturbed it is sucked out with the water I am changing.