!!HELP!!

[erikharrison]

I woke up this morning and my tank looks like this!

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/9973/whitelz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It's a 47 gallon column with a proclear 75 gallon wet/dry, filstar xp2 running a basket of carbon, seio 820, and 150w Coralife clamp on mh.

I'll post my levels asap.
Livestock:
Striped Burrfish (still swimming around)
Mandarin (not swimming breathing hard)
Spotted boxfish (swimming)
Lawnmower Blenny (can't see)
Midas Blenny (can't see)
Blue Devil Damsel (can't see)
Maroon Clown (saw briefly)
True Clown (saw briefly)
Long tube anenome (can't see)
Sebae Anenome (can't see)
Pink Tip Anenome (can't see)
Sea Apple (can't see)
3 peppermint shrimp (hardly ever see anyway, can't see now)

Yesterday I added some Fiji Gold. It looks like what happens when I add it to the tank normally, I had put this in the wet/dry.

I have done a 15 gallon water change, swapped out my carbon and cleaned my filstar which houses the carbon.

Last night before I went to be at 2:30 AM everything was GORGEOUS.
Any ideas??

[erikharrison]

ok this is not good in anyway. All of my levels are OFF the charts. Nitrate is blood red 160, Ammonia is at 0, Nitrite is so high it wont register. Yesterday my levels were all at zero. Is it possible that there is something in the water causing it to read that far off? HELP ME PLEASE

[DaBird47]

My first thought would be the Sea Apple, I would do another 20 or 30 % WC ...

[urban79]

May be some one knock some sand around. just clean the filter. see if it goes away. and then do a count on what you got.

[erikharrison]

that was my first thought as well. I am running all new carbon, and I am keeping a close eye on my mandarin. My yellow spotted boxfish is turning white... I have seen him do it once before under extreme stress. I hope to God I don't lose my inhabitants!!! GOOOO CARBON! Has anyone seen what happens when a sea apple releases it's toxins??? Does it look like this?

[Noodle]

Sand being kicked up wouldn't account for the nitrates being 160. You've gotta get the nitrates down to a level somewhere safe or else inhabitants will continue to be extremely stressed/die. I'd also be worried about your boxfish dying and nuking stuff, so maybe quarantine him in a holding tank?

Some drastic water changes of 40% every day, new carbon every couple of days, remove dead/dying specimens if you can will help to get things back to normal levels.

[aprilmayjune]

I saw this article recently, I'm kind of skeptical about the effects on the inhabitants, but I guess it can't be too much worse than a sea apple and/or box fish poisoning the water and nitrates stressing everyone to the point of death.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/nitratecontrol/l/aa091901.htm

Let me know how things go. Sorry about your tank :( You don't have any macro algae in there by any chance? That could have gone sexual?

[JimD]

Thats exactly what happens when anemones ummm, errr, you know, spawn.

[DaBird47]

The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be for your fish...IF it's that sea apple, I wouldn't panic but if you don't get the fish and corals out of there their going to be history...gotta get em into quarantine or setup an emergency tank with new temp and salinity adj. ...good luck man...

[erikharrison]

Thats exactly what happens when anemones ummm, errr, you know, spawn. Will this cause levels to read totally inaccurately? Could it also show up incorrectly because the water is milky white? I have moved the inhabitants that I could see to a QT. I just set the qt up with a makeshift carbon sock. It's a 20 gallon that I used ten gallons of the water from the tank, and ten new gallons of water. I added another ten gallons of newly mixed s/w to the other tank for a new total of 20 gallons. It's still nasty looking. I can't see any further than before. My fish were easily caught by hand and my sea apple was easy to just pick up and move, which worries me because it has a zillion tentacles, and it secures itself pretty strongly to the rock. It is definitely not dead, it just had its feeder tentacles out and although they were out, they were out MUCH further than normal. I just can't get over how milky the water is, I am hoping that is the reason the levels are that out of whack.

[murkywaters]

good luck Erik and please keep us posted

[JimD]

Since the spawn is an organic, it can definately temporarily affect your levels as it decays. Ive had this happen many times with no ill effects. Crank up your skimmer and run carbon for a day or two, you should be fine. Your apple is just enjoying the freebie.

[erikharrison]

CROW My midas blenny is dead, I saved all of my other fish, my sebae is dead (or at least it looks like it. I have a minute cut on the top of my hand that stings like a jellyfish got me

[DaBird47]

Jim, would this Spawn kill fish?

[JimD]

I would imagine it could kill fish, depending on the concentration and ammount of time it remains in the tank. Best bet it to remove it as quickly as possible. Ive never suffered any losses when its happened to me but fortunately I was home at the time and was able to deal with it immidiately with wet skimming and carbon. A single anemone can produce an amazing ammount of spawn and in a 20 gallon, may cause considerable problems if not dealt with promptly.

[erikharrison]

I am doing an additional 60% water change as we speak. That advise came from Louis who is out of town btw, so I'd like to say thanks in advance to him for even thinking of calling me back! I have moved alot of stuff into the 20 gallon, and it all seems to be doing better. The galaxea coral that urban79 gave me is even seeming to be thankful, as it is starting to come back out, even though the only light on it right now is sunlight. I will post my levels again once they drop, and post more on what has been done so that if someone else encounters this thread they will have some knowledge as to what to do. THANK YOU, YOU MAASTARDS!!!! :) I'm just glad I don't have a tank that is totally setup, and by this I mean that alot of my frags of zoos etc, are all on plugs so they are easy to locate using the "feel around and hope to God you find your stuff" method.

EDIT::
After doing the water change the water is still looking the same as it did in the first picture. The fish have since stopped breathing hard, although their levels are still higher than liked.
QUESTION:
Since the qt tank doesnt have any LR or LS should I not feed my fish to prevent levels going any higher through the course of this?

WHAT A TIME TO BE OUT OF A JOB!

[erikharrison]

OK here is a pic of my sebae anenome, which looks like it is dead. Below that is my Midas Blenny and this pic shows the discoloration of it. It's face turned colors, i would love to tell you what colors, but I am color blind. I just know it went from like orange to purple. I am still suspect as to what caused this drama. I don't know if the anenome died before or after this, but I think it is the cause.

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/2927/sebaedeadvv1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/6784/midasdeadrs3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ping]

PM sent

[Ping]

The danger of a decayed anemone is the release of its nematocists.

[jap1]

I didn't realize anemone sex was so dangerous! Good thing you got your fish in QT.

[urban79]

its the same in human race too. Its start to eat at your pocket and slowly make you older. LOL

[dfowlks]

Erik,
How is your tank doing? I hope you get it cleared up. It looked pretty bad but it should stabilize. Good luck. Nice meeting you today by the way.

Dana

[erikharrison]

Fiji Gold cannot be overdosed. I usually only put in about a tablespoon per day anyway. It's used to keep the calcium balanced, or so it says.
Update on levels
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH 8.4
My tank is still cloudy, and I lost my sea apple, my red knobbed starfish, and possibly my orange linkia. They are still in the hospital tank. I will be moving them back over tomorrow

[Bill S]

Dang Erik - I've been busy this weekend and haven't logged onto MAAST. You could have borrowed my HIATT filter and pump, and I have some starter bacteria. Probably would clear it up in a few hours. Sorry I'm late to this, but you are still welcome to borrow. 663.8079. I kept one around JUST for this purpose.

[aprilmayjune]

That anemone doesn't look dead to me, only stressed. Usually when they die they shrivel and disintegrate, but I guess through a picture I can't see it or smell it enough to know how dead it is.

[erikharrison]

Nothing smelled, but that anenome was the size of a saucer plate. In that pic you cal tell its REALLY small.

[SoLiD]

Dude, I'm sorry to hear that it's still hasn't fully stopped. All 3 slimer frags are in bad shape, too. I'll let you know if they pull through. LMK if you need anything. -SoLiD

[Ram_Puppy]

whats the word Erik? things look better this AM?

[erikharrison]

It's a beautiful morning, everything looks perfect. Since all of my fish/corals are out of my tank. I am going to do some rockwork!

[erikharrison]

Ok... I finished my rockwork, and while I was in the process of doing it, I had put in my spotted boxfish. It's a very sensitive fish, IMO, I can tell easily if my levels are off just by watching it's mouth. It will start breathing rapidly whenever ANYTHING is wrong. I am about to put my trusty ol Berlin airlift in until I get to Ace's and snag a pump for my venturi. I just finished putting all of the fish back in and everything seems wonderful at the moment. Here is a pic, it's cloudy from doing the rockwork, and it's white because I am not yet a master like Brian with the cam cam camera yet.


http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/9909/thankgodmyfisharealiveen7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ram_Puppy]

man, those big green eyes... they just scream 'can I be your buddy?' 'come closer so I can nip your finger!' :)

went i went diving last year, our dive master was missing a finger, a lady asked if a shark bit it off and he busted out laughing and said:

"Mam, don't fear the shark, fear the puffer fish"

lol

[Ram_Puppy]

actually , i just noticed... he's not eating any of your coral or inverts?

[erikharrison]

no not at all, I feed him mass amounts of food though. He alone will eat a cube of brine daily, sometimes a half a cube of bloodworms. His name is Buddah, his nickname is fat---
I also had a Crimson knobbed star, never ate anything but the clams I threw in there for it. His eyes have that semi cloudy look, which makes them appear blue. My German grandmother LOVES that fish, and everyone that comes over always asks about him. He, like me, has little devil horns! :P

[Ram_Puppy]

pufferfish are without a doubt one of my favorites. When I setup a tank for non-reef safe fish (when i get a house) i will have to make a decision between radiata lions or a puffer.. elegant beaty vs. personality out the wazoo...

gonna be a hard choice.

[erikharrison]

I had a lion in there as well, which I had to trade because he quickly outgrew the tank. My spotted boxfish is supposedly not reef safe either, but I never see it pick at anything. I think my fish are just well fed daily, and that keeps everything cool!

[Ram_Puppy]

i think your more lucky than anything... with very few exceptions i hear that puffers like strippng the fins off a lion fish more often than not.

oh, and you do know your puffer needs to eat food that will wear down his beak right? otherwise your going to be sedating him and taking a dremel to it in a few years.

[DaBird47]

nice comeback on the tank Erik...see ya tomorrow...

[erikharrison]

oh, and you do know your puffer needs to eat food that will wear down his beak right? otherwise your going to be sedating him and taking a dremel to it in a few years.

I hand feed him a clam daily.