disaster!

[dascab]

Hey all,
I moved my 12g nanocube last weekend and, ever since, things have been dying left right and center. I'm really frustrated as I have no idea why. The first casualty was my coral banded shrimp and a couple of hermit crabs (which surprised me since they've been through a lot and have always seemed to do just fine), then some of my snails kicked the bucket.
It's gotten worse as my corals have begun to die too. My plate coral was officially dead this morning *rips out hair*
When I first noticed things happening (the afternoon after the move), I checked all the parameters (my nitrates were a little high, and the pH was about 8 instead of 8.4 but everything else seemed fine-i added some buffer and replaced my bag of purigen to see if it would help) and did another water change. Things still kept dying!
The only things that I can think that might be to blame that there is now more natural sunlight hitting the side of the tank (for about 2 hours in the afternoon) and that I added about a cup of additional argonite to my livesand bed and took out some liverock.
I'm exhausted from worrying about it.
Do you(se) have any ideas on what could have happened?! Ideas on where to go from here?

 

[Len]

How is the salinity/specific gravity? Wrong salinity usually will kill off inverts (crustaceans and echinoderms especially) then move on to corals and fish (which can better osmoregulate). If it's not the salinity, then you may have accidentally added something toxic to the tank during the move (maybe it was embedded in the sand you added). In this situation, I would do a series of large water changes to dilute whatever is wrong in the water.

 

[dascab]

Thanks for the response!
I thought it might be the salinity at first but it always checks out at 1.023. I'm not home during the day so I don't know if it shifts much while I am away. I'll keep up with the water changes but I doubt I'll have anything in the tank worth saving by the time things get back to normal~
My favourite coral (a bright yellow stony) looks completely bleached this morning. It looked good yesterday. I don't understand what has happened.
Provided it survives, do you have any tips for getting colour back in distressed/bleached corals?

 

[Anonymous]

...Provided it survives, do you have any tips for getting colour back in distressed/bleached corals?

The only advice I can give is time, patience and excellent water quality.

 

[Rikko]

How disturbed did your sand bed get during the move?
There are all kinds of anoxic nasties sitting in a sand bed - if too much got disturbed you could be seeing the results of a cloud of hydrogen sulfide/methane/other foul crap getting mixed into your (aerobic) main water column.

Only thing I could suggest is as close to a 100% water change as you can perform.

 

[ezrec]

Two hours of summer sun?

I'd check the temp in the tank during that time - if the temperature fluctuates more than 5-6 degrees F, that's probably not making your critters happy at all.

 

[dascab]

thanks for all your replies and advice!
Yes, the sandbed got pretty stirred in the move (I had to move the tank up 3 floors without an elevator) and, even though I tried to get as much water out as possible before I moved it, there was still enough to make a slurry. Bah. I've done two full water changes since the move and I hope the things that are left choose life. *crosses fingers* How can you tell if a coral has died or is just bleached?
I just got home from work and I noticed that the tank temperature was about 5 degrees higher than usual!!! NooooO!!! Any ideas of how to regulate it without resorting to air conditioning a huge apartment for the 10 hours I am not home?

 

[ezrec]

A fan blowing over the top of the water will lower the temp via evaporation by at least 1-2 degrees, but that doesn't solve your problem, since it's the sandbed, glass, and live rock converting the light from the sunny window into heat.

A better solution would be to cover your tank with an insulating blanket (ie one of those metallic 'space blankets' at camping stores) while you're out for the day. Set your lights to run for the 12 hours you are at home, and off while you have the tank 'under the blanket'.

Or put up some blinds or a curtain in your window.

 

[extremepb319]

Im not too sure but during the move its likely that the water couldve touched some metals like copper that killed the inverts. I also dont think that the rise in temperature would harm anyhting too much unless you have delicate animals. For about a week this year when it was hot my temperature was off my scale which goes to 90F lol. and everything survived. i have some damsels, clownfish, reef crabs, snails, and a starfish and they all lived. so good luck and sorry bout all your corals that would rely stink...

 

[ezrec]

extremepb319: I don't think it's the temperature, per se, but the fact that it swings up and down by 5 degrees over a few hour period. As you said, your temp went up to 90 over several days.

His 15g is swinging by at least 5 degrees every afternoon!

 

[ChrisRD]

The stress of the move, nasties coming out of the sandbed and the temp swings might just be proving a bit too much for some of your livestock.

If you've done some large water changes already I'd just give things time to settle and try to get temps more stable. A fan on a temp controller would make a big difference in temp stability.

 

[ezrec]

Please see this Advanced Aquarist article about what mere metal halide bulbs do to the surface temperature of corals: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/2/aafeature2/view

 

[dascab]

Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions!
Over the last week, the tank has settled down some and everything seems to be more or less back to normal. I'm still going to wait a while before restocking but crabs and snails~