All fish dead?

[Bosco83]

I got home from work today and every fish in my wife's 55 gallon tank are dead we fed them last night and all was fine. She only had four fish, but also one dead Peppermint Shrimp, and some dead pods. All her corals are fine and two starfish are fine same with snails and the crabs appear ok. So I tested the water and everything looks good. I don't really know what could have done it the skimmer is doing fine I figure if something could have gotten in there like a chemical it would be going crazy right? So I would like to test for stray voltage but I don't really know how any help would be appreciated. I have a cheap multimeter but don't know what setting to use?

Ph 8.2
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia .5 due to dead fish I assume.

 

[kenargo]

I doubt that stray voltage is a cause; remember all the fixh in the water would be at the same electrical potential so it wouldn't have harmed them.

I am suspicous of the ammonia; I'm not sure that a level or .5 can be attributed to fish decaying (but it can certanly be the cause of the deaths).

It could have been that the ammonia has been creepig up over a few days and it wasn't noticed; just guessing.

 

[Bosco83]

Well it's not a new tank so we never really check ammonia and that is only the second tier on the api test chart.

 

[scottmdebord]

To check to voltage put both leads in the water and put it on MA and stater unpluging stuff till it gose away. If it is more voltage then MA you would feel it when you put you hand in the water. Like kenargo said i don't see how it would hurt the fish but nothing else. Sorry for your lose and good luck finding the cause.

 

[Crystalclear125]

This may sound dumb but how hot did your tank get??
DID you cook them?!?!

 

[tat2z_21]

Stray voltage could be the cause. It can also cause HLLE (head lateral line errosion). Stray voltage can be checked by setting your multi meter to AC voltage, setting the black probe into the ground in your outlet (third hole) and putting the red lead into your tank. You can check your differences by setting a small bowl of tank water off to the side and recording its readings, then reference those against what you get from your tank. If you do find leak then you need to unplug each item one at a time until the meter is comparable to the reference bowl of water.

 

[Bosco83]

This may sound dumb but how hot did your tank get??
DID you cook them?!?!

Sorry forgot to mention I did check it's at 78 we have two ac units running in the house. We would really like to get to the bottom of this my wife is really upset and she said she just wants to sell her tank.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[tat2z_21]

By setting your meter to MA you are looking for amperage, and if you have any amperage in your tank you are absolutely right your tank would shock the crap out of you. What you want to do is verify that you are not getting any voltage. The fish have a lateral line sensory system that identifies electrical pulses caused by muscle contractions. These are designed for minute voltages. So even if it is a small voltage leak it would drive the fish into insanity. Corals do not have this function and would be the reason the corals are fine and the fish are dead.

 

[Bosco83]

By setting your meter to MA you are looking for amperage, and if you have any amperage in your tank you are absolutely right your tank would shock the crap out of you. What you want to do is verify that you are not getting any voltage. The fish have a lateral line sensory system that identifies electrical pulses caused by muscle contractions. These are designed for minute voltages. So even if it is a small voltage leak it would drive the fish into insanity. Corals do not have this function and would be the reason the corals are fine and the fish are dead.

Can you please tell me what setting to put this thing on I have no clue lol.

 

[tat2z_21]

it should have a ~ above the setting. Hey if you want to give me a call maybe I can walk you through it.

#360-320-3184

 

[tat2z_21]

Put it to the 200 setting on the acV side. It will give you your reading.

 

[Bosco83]

Hey so I'm guessing this is nothing it reads .2 when on acv 200.

Thanks for you help on that.

Brian

 

[tat2z_21]

Did you happen to verify that the leads are good by going to resistance setting first. Glad to be of help I wish I had some other possibility. It is strange for them all to die like that all of a sudden. Either way tell your wife that it sucks, but it is only a little set back. It could be worse.

 

[Romewhip]

Do you have any oxygenation issues? I just had a major issue when changing over filter systems, there was not enough turnover and surface agitation and I lost several fish when a hose kinked slightly cutting off most flow- this happened literally overnight. Was there any kind of brownout in your area? Lose power for a period of time? Do you have any corals in the tank- if so what do they look like?

 

[Bosco83]

I don't think we have any issues with oxygen levels we never have before all equipment seems normal.

How could I tell if anything was put in the tank water by someone? Normally nobody is at our house but yesterday we had some people over. I have really studied the tank though and nothing seems out of place no oily surface the skimmer is working normally.

So a recap all fish were dead, I can see some dead pods, and one shrimp was dead. All the hermit crabs, snails, corals, and starfish are ok.

 

[kenargo]

Did you clean the glass? I've seen this happen with an overspray of glass cleaner. Anything in the air that might have been disolved into the tank water by the skimmer?

 

[Bosco83]

Did you clean the glass? I've seen this happen with an overspray of glass cleaner. Anything in the air that might have been disolved into the tank water by the skimmer?

Nope didn't clean the tank good thought though. The tank is in our bedroom and kinda close to the master bathroom where my wife was getting ready in the morning she uses a lot of hair products. I don't think that has anything to do with it though as she always does so it's nothing new and they were perfectly fine when we fed them before bed.

 

[Bosco83]

Another thought my wife had was everything that lived was either on the rocks the sand bed or the sides of the tank but everything swimming free in the water died. Another thing when the a/c unit in the room kicks on it dims the lights for a second atleast in the master bathroom. I also noticed the lights on my tank went off like 30 minutes earlier than normal but it's in the living room. The power to the house didn't seem to have gone out though because our clocks were fine. I don't know if any of this means anything but just trying to provide as much info as possible.

 

[barrierreefcf]

SPS corals are much more sensitive to stray voltage than fish. If you have SPS and they didn't bleach, I doubt it was stray voltage. I don't know the mechanism that causes this problem but at a certain level of stray voltage zooxanthellae bail out of SPS quickly.

I'd examine a few things-

1. Was any spraying with chemicals done in the yard that may have found its way in through the AC or window?

2. Could the hairspray have gotten in the tank? Was it applied in a slightly different manner? This could kill fish.

3. Any unusual lotions or soap residue on the hands that fed the fish?

4. Any chance the food had spoiled?

5. Was this new food? Could it have been contaminated during manufacturing and this was the first time you fed it?

6. Any painting or floor finishing?

7. Any medications or chemi clean dosed recently that might have disrupted the bacteria in the live rock/biological filter? Could have led to elevated ammonia.

8. Did you notice any rotten egg smell. Could a sulphurous pocket in the sand have been disturbed by you or a sand star etc?

 

[Bosco83]

SPS corals are much more sensitive to stray voltage than fish. If you have SPS and they didn't bleach, I doubt it was stray voltage. I don't know the mechanism that causes this problem but at a certain level of stray voltage zooxanthellae bail out of SPS quickly.

I'd examine a few things-

1. Was any spraying with chemicals done in the yard that may have found its way in through the AC or window? I was just wondering the same thing but I didn't have any weird odors in the room when I got home.

2. Could the hairspray have gotten in the tank? Was it applied in a slightly different manner? This could kill fish. I found out she put on spray on sun screen in the master bathroom that is about 8' away? Wouldn't that kill them faster though? She put on the sun screen at about 11:00 am and we were gone all day came home fed them around 11:00pm and went to bed and they were all eating just fine.

3. Any unusual lotions or soap residue on the hands that fed the fish?
Nope

4. Any chance the food had spoiled?
Nah good food it's a mix I always make and we fed my tank the same food.

5. Was this new food? Could it have been contaminated during manufacturing and this was the first time you fed it?
Nope

6. Any painting or floor finishing?
Nope


7. Any medications or chemi clean dosed recently that might have disrupted the bacteria in the live rock/biological filter? Could have led to elevated ammonia.
Nope

8. Did you notice any rotten egg smell. Could a sulphurous pocket in the sand have been disturbed by you or a sand star etc?

Don't think so no odd smells and I really did smell the water, and she has a very shallow sand bed like 1"

Thanks for chiming in I appreciate it.