Reef Discussion

[Kenneth]

Hi I was shifting live rock,coral& fish into new bigger home last week end hours after I moved everything the sump cracked while tank was still clearing all live sand/rock died,I've moved some substrate live rock coral and fish back to original tank,lost 3 fish some coral most cuc but still have foxface,2 angles,3medium tangs,clowns,possum wrasse,fire tail,cardinals and some LPS.
The water is murky and stinks(really stinks) I'm doing large water changes running 2 skimmers sump/ref the fish are feeding and swimming happily,coral is partially extended parameters reading good,I considered throwing live rock out but decided to let it run it's cycle 4 days ago will it work out?how long will this take

 

[chimaera]

If the rock was live and died, it's likely to have a massive amount if dead crap inside. I would ditch it to be honest given you have so much livestock.

Keep doing the big water changes, as big and often as you can manage.

 

[Kenneth]

It's been since last weekend maybe it's been though the worst?if I get rid of it will have enough filter medium(it's got live sand,marine pure,marcro in sump) to prevent a complete crash?

 

[Agent M]

If the rock is still fouling the water and stinks I would take it out rather than keeping the fish and coral in with it. If you want to keep the rock, take it out, rinse and scrub it thoroughly under the freshwater tap and leave it to dry outside. It will then be able to be used as 'base rock' when you set up your other tank again.

Like @chimaera said, keep monitoring your water quality where you have your fish and coral and do water changes as needed.

 

[Kenneth]

Yes lots white stuff coming of the rock clouding/fouling water strangely tangs are picking at it pigs,I would love to take the rock out if it'll help perhaps pressure clean it then leave it in the sun?one piece has small LPS on it still alive

 

[Kenneth]

Has anyone experienced this before?ive only lost a fish and the odd frag in the past this is the worst!

 

[Kenneth]

Poor tank

 

[Miller]

The offer is there to store the fish and corals at my place for a few weeks and let it all cycle
If you need to just send me a msg

 

[Kenneth]

Cheers mate,I've just finished testing ammonia 0,nitrite 0,nitrate 0 every day is an improvement on the last the fish are back to their old routines for the first time since it happened I'm not sure if it's best to leave them or stress them moving them, changed carbon again and I've saturated the sump with air using power heads the water is clearer but live rock is still giving of some white detritus.What do you think is it under control or risk of crash?

 

[Agent M]

Yes lots white stuff coming of the rock clouding/fouling water strangely tangs are picking at it pigs,I would love to take the rock out if it'll help perhaps pressure clean it then leave it in the sun?one piece has small LPS on it still alive

Actually from your pic its not looking too bad now - the corals are not fully open though which is a good indicator that the water quality still needs improvement. Try taking the rock out and pressure cleaning it thoroughly, then putting it straight back in if you think there is still some life on it. If it keeps producing white stuff after that, pressure clean again and put it out in the sun. You can always chip that LPS off with a chisel and hammer and keep it in the tank.

As far as 'crashing' goes - it already has crashed - the live rock has had major, if not total, die off of the life that was on it, including the bacteria that makes up your natural filtration. What can happen now is that the tank will get high levels of ammonia as a result of the die off - the ammonia MAY burn the fish ie. lesions on the skin or kill the fish - bottom line is its not good for them to be in high levels of it even if they appear fine. So thats what your water changes are for, but you can save yourself the worry by removing the rock altogether, up to you.

Because none of us are there to observe as cloesly as you can, I would say just use your common sense to decide what to do and don't risk your fish. I have had this happen with some live rock that was in a bucket that got exposed to high temps on a hot day. The water went milky and a brown scum formed on the top of the water. It stank to high heaven. I did daily 100% water changes, gave the rock a good rinse off and it took 1 week before the water would stay clear. The rock was officially 'dead' by that point. You would never think to look at it that rock could do that!

 

[Kenneth]

Thanks that's very helpful I'm going to run pressure cleaner on salt water might not be good for pressure cleaner but that's the least of my worries :)

 

[Kenneth]

Change of plans checked tank water is clear at long last one week of hell I haven't took live rock out however I will be closely monitoring water conditions for further action thanks for the advice guys :)