Tank Meltdown......

[Anonymous]

Not my tank but a buddy of mine. His Girlfriend came home and noticed the fish twitching. Everything in the tank is toast but maybe a anemone and some corals.

We have no idea what happened and the only thing I can think of is stray voltage or something shocking the tank. But we touched the water and no one got shocked.


The water is a dingy brownish ting to it. He recently had an anemone split in there, is it posible that it could have nuked the tank if the inadrs were exposed or something?? We are baffeled and he is very upset about it. He has no grounding probe so I suspect electricity was the culprit.

Any suggestions or ideas??

 

[leftovers]

run carbon and highly aerate the tank do 30% water change

there are many a reason:

if living in an appartment they could have recently sprayed for roaches/ants

a roomate being incredibly stupid

the girlfriend reaching in with perfume/hand lotion on

could be heat related - doubtful but possible

electrical is possible -grounding probe is a must... also check to see if anything trips when plugged into a gfci circuit - also a good thing to have your tank connected to - also a good thing to have water pumps and ph on two different gfci circuits in case one goes the other keeps working

or just incredibly bad luck

 

[Paradoxed]

also, please don't check electrical conductivity by putting your hand in the water.

can pick up a decent meter rather inexpensively.......

 

[cdeakle]

also, please don't check electrical conductivity by putting your hand in the water.

can pick up a decent meter rather inexpensively.......

Agreed, no need to loose a person with the fish and corals that have already been lost.

I would highly suspect a contaminate of some kind being introduced to the system (windex, cleaner of some kind). That is of course if the water params were good before this all happened...

 

[Anonymous]

But we touched the water and no one got shocked.

Great way to test. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[sawyerc]

Another reason that that's not the best way to test is because you might not be able to feel voltage that your fish can. Often you can have stray voltage in your aquarium and never feel it unless you have a small cut on your hand or your feet get wet or you touch something metal at the same time. Once, in a fit of curiosity I tested my tank for voltage and found a constistant 70millivolts (if I remember correctly) that dissapeared if I unplugged all of the electronics. I had never felt a shock before. I bought a ground probe and forgot about it.

All electronics leak a small amount of voltage, but if a powerhead or heater is damaged in the tank, it might leak enough to do some damage. It might be worth testing for voltage, because I've read that this will cause fish to behave strangely and do damage to corals.

 

[Anonymous]

But we touched the water and no one got shocked.

Great way to test. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I was pretty sure that I would be fine because his girlfriend got the last living thing out of there and I am sure she touched the water. She tried to save the eel but ended up killing it instead. So sad but her heart was in the right place

 

[cdeakle]

How did she kill the eel??

 

[Anonymous]

She ran to the store bought some pre mix salt water and threw the eel in it right after she droped him on the floor.

 

[Anonymous]

But we touched the water and no one got shocked.

Great way to test. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Don't laugh...that's the way I do it when I'm putting in light fixtures. Lick the finger and touch the wires...shock, it's live. No shock, good to go. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

There's old electricans, There's bold electricians.
There aren't any old bold electricians.

Go spend $20 on a meter!

Hope everything turns out okay, and you find the problem so it doesnt replicate.

B