Tank wiped out - mystery solved

Hi all,

My tank wiped out six months ago and I thought I would log the experience in
case it helps others.

My tank was doing very well - 80g with Clown fish, regal tang, damsels, two
blenny's, feather duster, urchin, royal gramma, Mandarin. Snails

All going very well, in fact the tank was four months old, I'd added the
fish a bit quicker than advised, but everything still went fine.

The beautiful tang got WS and then the rest of the fish either got it or
looked poorly, using Copper free WS treatment had no effect. Gradually they
all died over two weeks. All this time the water parameters were fine, I
couldn't;t figure it out. I could only guess a bacterial infection or some
chemical had got into the tank. The was frustrating thing was not knowing
what happened so I could make sure it didn't happen again!

Anyway I was taking the tank apart a few weeks later and I found the
problem. My thermometer is for a marine tank, its a digital model that hangs
outside with probe inside. It has an "in or out" button or measuring the
temp from probe or the meter itself. Because of where the meter was mounted
the "outside" temperate was always about 30, because its near the lights. I
forgot that a few weeks previous to the wipe out the tank temperature was
high and I turned down the tats to help this, it didn't;t work and I assumed
it was the lights keeping the temp up.

Anyway, you guessed it, I thought I was monitoring inside temp but the meter
was switched to outside! The water in the tank would have been about 18 - 20
Giving the fish a slow death :-( While I thought the temp was 30!

Les

Since you are talking about temperature, I wanted to add something
about heaters.

One catastrophic problem that can occur is that the heater thermometer
can break. If it breaks, it can either be off all the time or on all
the time. One should keep on eye on the heater, especially during fall
and spring. The reason is that, unlike the summer/winter when your
home/appartment is either cold or hot, the changing seasons cause the
thermometer to turn on and off a lot. This can lead to wear and this is
the time of year they tend to break.

Thanks for sharing. So few people do this. I wish more of us would share our
mistakes. I think it would help other a lot.


I have made my own "thought a parameter was OK" only to find out differently
error (salinity)

"nanoreef" wrote in message ...
By WS do you mean "white spot" properly known as Ick? If so that is
what killed your fish. The low temperature didn't help, but it was the
ick that killed the fish. Ick is a small parasite. It is hard to
control, and often fatal. Ick is the primary reason why reef keepers
use quaratine tanks.

Agree... it is hard to believe a reef tank can reach 18'C
with all the water movement devices adding to the heat...
Not even mentioning the lights during day.

Plus you would feel the colder water when you reached in the
tank for any reason.

Marc


Pszemol wrote:

"nanoreef" wrote in message
...

By WS do you mean "white spot" properly known as Ick? If so that is
what killed your fish. The low temperature didn't help, but it was the
ick that killed the fish. Ick is a small parasite. It is hard to
control, and often fatal. Ick is the primary reason why reef keepers
use quaratine tanks.


Agree... it is hard to believe a reef tank can reach 18'C
with all the water movement devices adding to the heat...
Not even mentioning the lights during day.

--
Personal Page:
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"h153" wrote in message
ups.com...
Since you are talking about temperature, I wanted to add something
about heaters.

One catastrophic problem that can occur is that the heater thermometer...

Good advice. I've heard of a few cases of catastrophic failure of a heater
basically killing off a tank.

My approach is to use at least to small heaters instead of one larger one.
They are both set at about tha same temperature. If one fails to turn on,
the other will at least maintain the temperature at a lower than optimal
setting until I get a chance to replace it. If it fails by remaining on,
the lower power makes it more difficult for the water temperature to climb
dangerously.

I find most people use heaters that are too large. 300W may sound
impressive and therefore better than a 100W, but if the 100W is all that is
needed to maintain the temperature in a tank that is sitting in a heated
room, do you really need the extra power and the risk that goes with it?

Not too mention that the 100W will gradually increase the temp whereas the
300 W is quicker and tends to overshoot.

Robert

http://www.giftngadget.com/giftngadget/ci00734.html
i use the above thermometer. it has a probe w/ lcd display & sends
the temp to another remote display which has high/low audible alarms.
i have the remote display on my bathroom cabinet, so i see the temp
every morning when i get up & every night when i hit the sack.



"h153" wrote in message oups.com...
Since you are talking about temperature, I wanted to add something
about heaters.

One catastrophic problem that can occur is that the heater thermometer
can break. If it breaks, it can either be off all the time or on all
the time. One should keep on eye on the heater, especially during fall
and spring. The reason is that, unlike the summer/winter when your
home/appartment is either cold or hot, the changing seasons cause the
thermometer to turn on and off a lot. This can lead to wear and this is
the time of year they tend to break.