My 14 gal. Nano Crashed, Need Advice

klm

Small Fish
Apr 20, 2009
11
0
0
#1
I really need some expert advice here. Last Tuesday morning my 14gal. nano tank crashed. I had gone out of town the Thursday before and did a water change the day before I left. Everything checked out good on Thursday. When I got home Sun. eve. I noticed a droopy coral. I checked my water Mon. morn. and my salinity was very high. I put in about 16 oz. of water Monday afternoon and monday night the salinity was back down and everything in the tank looked great.
Got up Tuesday morn. and about 1/2 the tank was dead and the 2 fish that were still alive had ich. Everything else died by noon. As everything died I took it out and also did another water test everything was perfect, even the ammonia. I took a water sample up to my fish store they tested and everything again checked out fine. By Tuesday afternoon the ammonia had spiked way up.
I have done 3 big water changes the last being last saturday. also, started add 1/8tsp. of saltwater Biozyme each day. My ammonia has not dropped yet at all. I've never seen ammonia in a tank so high even when I cycled this tank last June.
Something else I discovered it must have been last thursday or friday when I discovered it. I keep a 1/4 cup of Zeolite in one of the chambers I decided to change it out I also had a heater in there when I went to get the bag of zeolite out I discovered the heater had busted.
I have 2 questions, any idea what caused my tank to crash did I drop the salinity so fast it killed everything or could it have been the broken heater. and why is the ammonia not going back down. Thanks for any advice.
 

KcMopar

Superstar Fish
#2
I would say its part due to the salinity and the temp. When you add water you need to drip it in so the salinity takes a slow decrease. The temp would have killed the corals and invert's. The ammonia is from everything dieing. You need to do bigger water changes to keep the ammonia in check. Keep treating the ich since the corals are dead anyway, the copper in the medicine are not good for corals. Once the ich is gone the cycle should be done and you can start over. I sure am sorry for your loss. Let us know if we can help.
 

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#3
I'd say the temp was probably the more likely culprit. What sort of temperature is it in your house? And yes, the ammonia is the result of so many coral deaths. The ammonia, paired with temperature and salinity changes are also the likely cause of the ich outbreak. How much was the salinity change? Usually, fish and corals are less stressed by a drop in salinity than a quick increase, but a large change can certainly cause a disaster.

Good luck with getting it up and running again.
 

klm

Small Fish
Apr 20, 2009
11
0
0
#4
Thanks for the help. I guess I will never know for sure what killed everything. I did not treat the tank for Ich since everything died. I was told to leave it about 12 days and the ich would die. I guess my real question is why after a week has the ammonia not dropped at all. I stopped the water changes thinking that the tank is trying to cycle again. So I just let it sit another week or continue to do water changes trying to get the ammonia back down.