HELP NEEDED URGENTLY

NanCrab

NanCrab

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Dacula, GA
Is anybody able to come to my house in Auburn, GA (between Winder and Dacula) this morning to help my husband with the tank? I just got out of the hospital yesterday and am on bed rest. He has to be at work by 3 but he’s clueless. He doesn’t even know how to test the water. Also if anyone has a Copper Hanna checker with reagents we could borrow, I will replace reagents but can’t get one shipped here fast enough.
My husbands name is Tyler. Please TEXT him at 678-936-7780 to let him know if you can help?
Thank you,
Nancy
 
No, fish are dying but not all, not quickly, haven’t added any new fish in over a month but did add a clam maybe 2 weeks ago and did not QT it.
First mandarin goby died after being very lethargic for about 4 days. Tried to get help with it but they aren’t very amenable to QT or meds. No spots on body, did try a FW dip but nothing came off of it after 5 minutes and I ended it because the fish was extremely stressed.
Then the file fish started acting strange. Same thing, eating well but not as active as usual and was laying on its side this morning. Everything else was fine when I went into the hospital and yesterday (I haven’t been up there since Monday so haven’t laid my own eyes on anything) but when he went to check on file fish found our larger PJ cardinal dead. I was in the hospital so if it was acting weird we missed it. Husband is setting up a hospital tank now and @Steve Burton was here and thought everything looked great, even file fish, but this is not this file fish’s normal behavior. Have no idea why pj cardinal died. Mandarin was pretty big when we got him, at least 2” so unsure of age but had plenty of pods to eat. Also don’t know how old pj cardinal is but much larger than the other one that is fine.
Tangs, clowns, gobies, blenny, wrasses, chromis all seem completely normal. No spots, no breathing issues, all are eating well, even the file fish. Multiple inverts and corals are fine including BTA and clam
Parameters an hour ago:
Ammonia 0 API
Nitrite 0 API
Nitrate ~30 API
TEMP 77.6 avg of all probes
pH 8.0 Red Sea
Sp Gr 1.026 handheld refractometer
Alk 7.5 Hanna
Phos .22 Hanna

Mag and Ca too tedious for me to do laying down lol.
Do not dose anything. Have chaeto refugium, skimmer and dual reactor carbon/GFO running.
 
Following to learn more. Hope NanCrab heals quickly too!

I observe the pH is a little low. We pointed one of our wavemaker heads towards surface to chop the water and raise pH from 8-8.2 overnight. Nitrifying bacteria are aerobic and might benefit from this change.

UV sterilizer probably kills off the bacteria unintentionally and might have weakened the nitrifying bacteria colony. I would dose something like Dr Tims All in One or Biospira after the next water change. UV must be turned off for a few hours to allow bacteria to settle in rocks and gravel.

I wouldn’t expect that phosphate level running GFO either, so maybe that media needs to be refreshed too. Good luck!!
 
NanCrab said:
No, fish are dying but not all, not quickly, haven’t added any new fish in over a month but did add a clam maybe 2 weeks ago and did not QT it.
First mandarin goby died after being very lethargic for about 4 days. Tried to get help with it but they aren’t very amenable to QT or meds. No spots on body, did try a FW dip but nothing came off of it after 5 minutes and I ended it because the fish was extremely stressed.
Then the file fish started acting strange. Same thing, eating well but not as active as usual and was laying on its side this morning. Everything else was fine when I went into the hospital and yesterday (I haven’t been up there since Monday so haven’t laid my own eyes on anything) but when he went to check on file fish found our larger PJ cardinal dead. I was in the hospital so if it was acting weird we missed it. Husband is setting up a hospital tank now and @Steve Burton was here and thought everything looked great, even file fish, but this is not this file fish’s normal behavior. Have no idea why pj cardinal died. Mandarin was pretty big when we got him, at least 2” so unsure of age but had plenty of pods to eat. Also don’t know how old pj cardinal is but much larger than the other one that is fine.
Tangs, clowns, gobies, blenny, wrasses, chromis all seem completely normal. No spots, no breathing issues, all are eating well, even the file fish. Multiple inverts and corals are fine including BTA and clam
Parameters an hour ago:
Ammonia 0 API
Nitrite 0 API
Nitrate ~30 API
TEMP 77.6 avg of all probes
pH 8.0 Red Sea
Sp Gr 1.026 handheld refractometer
Alk 7.5 Hanna
Phos .22 Hanna

Mag and Ca too tedious for me to do laying down lol.
Do not dose anything. Have chaeto refugium, skimmer and dual reactor carbon/GFO running.
Click to expand...
Oh no! So sorry! Hoping someone can get out there and help you soon!
 
Thanks Shari! Steve Burton came and Hui FaceTimed with Tyler and Shawn texted.
I think I’m going to send in a water sample with the ICP test I won at a meeting! Maybe there are heavy metals in our water supply? Idk but my testing shows not to much out of line. Alk and pH a little low but we do have ALOT of 2 and 4 legged creatures blowing out their CO2 here with every breath too. pH of 8 is actually pretty good for us lol.
 
NanCrab said:
Thanks Shari! Steve Burton came and Hui FaceTimed with Tyler and Shawn texted.
I think I’m going to send in a water sample with the ICP test I won at a meeting! Maybe there are heavy metals in our water supply? Idk but my testing shows not to much out of line. Alk and pH a little low but we do have ALOT of 2 and 4 legged creatures blowing out their CO2 here with every breath too. pH of 8 is actually pretty good for us lol.
Click to expand...
Most likely that pH would not cause fish death or illness, I have run low pH systems without issue. Maybe raise the powerhead to agitate the surface might help as above poster recommended. If there is nothing obvious and everyone else seems fine, it might be age related. :(
 
sharis100 said:
Most likely that pH would not cause fish death or illness, I have run low pH systems without issue. Maybe raise the powerhead to agitate the surface might help as above poster recommended. If there is nothing obvious and everyone else seems fine, it might be age related. :(
Click to expand...
Perhaps. My water is always agitated as the returns are right at the water surface not below. I would have to put in an additional power head to do that specifically. I hope my fairy wrasse doesn’t die. It’s pretty big too, bought him from another member and we live it. I love all my fishies. Wish I wasn’t stuck downstairs in my bed but following surgeons orders to the “t” to try to prevent complications.
 
NanCrab said:
Perhaps. My water is always agitated as the returns are right at the water surface not below. I would have to put in an additional power head to do that specifically. I hope my fairy wrasse doesn’t die. It’s pretty big too, bought him from another member and we live it. I love all my fishies. Wish I wasn’t stuck downstairs in my bed but following surgeons orders to the “t” to try to prevent complications.
Click to expand...
Sending off the water might provide clues. Also, stray voltage can affect fish so maybe someone can check for that for you? If there is nothing obvious, then you can try to eliminate causes. But sometimes these things remain mysteries.
 
sharis100 said:
Sending off the water might provide clues. Also, stray voltage can affect fish so maybe someone can check for that for you? If there is nothing obvious, then you can try to eliminate causes. But sometimes these things remain mysteries.
Click to expand...
I really do need to ground this thing before fish aren’t the only ones in danger of stray voltage!
 
MiggidyMike said:
When your tank is settled back in, you can have my mandarin.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Awe thank you! That is so sweet. My husband says he doesn’t want another one, we will see. Thank you for the kind gesture though!
 
NanCrab said:
I really do need to ground this thing before fish aren’t the only ones in danger of stray voltage!
Click to expand...
Yup, good call by Shari! You can put your hand in the water and see if you feel a zap, or even a slight tingle of electricity. Grounding probes cost $5-15
 
ActiveAngel said:
Yup, good call by Shari! You can put your hand in the water and see if you feel a zap, or even a slight tingle of electricity. Grounding probes cost $5-15
Click to expand...
Hands are in the tank or sump often, haven’t felt anything. It’s not the cost I just don’t know how to do it.
 
From a user’s perspective, it’s just a probe on a wire, and the other end plugs directly into an outlet (specifically to the grounding terminal of an outlet). It’s that easy. No programming, batteries, valves, or anything else. Definitely worth doing as a precautionary measure.
 
Hospital tank is set up and ready to go but the file fish isn’t to sick to get away from the net. I can’t go up the stairs but Tyler said everyone looked good this morning.
 
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