all my coral in my saltwater fish tank are dying. i tested everything and its all fine.anyone know why?

Question

i have a 10 gallon reef tank with a clown fish and a cardinal fish and they dont look good at all. i had 2 shrip and they have already died along with a few snails. my pollups are dying, i have some sort of coral that looks like a tree that is all shriveled up and hand coral that is totally collapased. i tested everything in the water and everything is fine. i dont know what do.

i have a ten gallon reef tank with a clown fish and a cardinal and neither of them look good at all. all my coral is dying. a few people have said that its the lights but ive had this tank for well over a year and the lighting is on a timer and i havent had any problems yet. i have some coral that looks like a tree that is all shriveled up, i have pulsing hand coral that is collapsed and some other corals that dont look very good at all.

i had 2 shrimp that already died and a few snails have died. i didnt a 30% water change two nights ago and i noticed this problem yesterday. ive tested EVERYTHING, calcium, ammonia, nitrute, nitrate, carbon hardness, everything is where it is supposed to be. i took my fish out and just put them in a bucket for now after i acclimated them into some new water and they seem do be doing better.
please help i dont know what to do.

Answer 1

well when one coral is getting pick on by a fish or invert and begin to get ill they can release an algae slime substance that can later effect your other corals. with out good skimming it could be potentially dangerous to your other corals. What was the first one you noticed to start looking bad and just for a better idea of your tanks parameters post pH amonia nitrite nitrate sg dkh and calcium levels. also tell about your filtration and lighting. with all that info i can def give you a much better reason as to why this is all happening. pictures too if you can.
Additon: whats your water temp anything over 82 will cause the coral to release zooxanthellae algae and die off.

Addition: From my own expierence i think i have found your issue. was the Xenia waving hand the first to go? was it emmiting a brownish slime and the "hands" were closing and fading in color? Xenia is one of those corals that sometimes just dies and for no reason. I have had this happen to me. That slime it was emitting was the cause of everything else in your tank going. the tank is small so there isnt enough water to deal with all the slime and without added filtration or qurentineing the coral at first signs preferably, that everything else starting releasing the zooxanthellae in effect the whole tank dies. Many cases ive heard where you may be doing nothing wrong and the xenia just dies. it could have been from the shrimp picking at it and you just didnt see it happening. shrimp are know to eat polyps can thjat could have been the other cause.this is just an assumption by personal expierence. like Pyro said with out knowing species of everything and specific details. not just saying its all good then better info cant be given.

Answer 2

Can you give us the results for you testing (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity), temperature, and type of lighting system you use (fluorescent, compact fluorescent, T-5)? This will get you a better answer as to what might be happening. Also, how long have you had the tank set up?

You can add info to this question by using the pencil icon under the question to "add details".

ADDITION: Still need to know the details of the water chemistry and lighting type.

One thought that occured to me is did you at any time in the last two years change the tube in your light? Over time, they don't produce light in all the wavelengths that they did when new, and this begins to happen at around 10-12 months. If you haven't changed the tubes (and you WILL need to change them before they burn out) this may be part of the problem. If the needed wavelengths are reduced, your coral can't use photosynthesis to make food, and as your coral dies, it can be releasing ammonia or toxins into the tank.

Corals also produce toxins to keep other corals from growing too close to prevent competition in feeding. As your corals grow, so does the amount of toxins they produce. Do you use carbon in your filter to remove these?

Answer 3

Sounds like since you added rock and all those living creatures your tank is going to start to cycle again. You have too many fish for such a small tank. Baby puffer, be more specific, what kind? A lion fish? I'd take that out. You shouldn't have anemones in with either of those fish. Anemones need lighting as well, do you have the appropriate lighting (T5's, MH?)? You need to do a water change with RO/DI water mixed with salt asap, this will help lower your levels. Do about 25%, and monitor levels, doing 10% or so each day to keep the nitrites down until the tank is able to level out. Otherwise, you need to return the fish and let the tank recycle.

Answer 4

We do need more info on your tanks but in the mean time..Water changes are ALWAYS GOOD.. do more!

Is your tank GROUNDED??? You may have stray voltage leaking into your tank! Get a GFI strip and plug each component in one at a time.. if one trips the GFI it's bad and you can replace it. Have an electrician check the outlet, everything else could be fine but plugged into a bad outlet and ZZZZAAPPP! Here's a link you might find helpful as it almost word for word describes your problem!
http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/weekly/aa101602.htm

Look for any Foreign Objects! IE pennies! Kids love to put stuff in fish tanks! In a Reef copper is DEADLY to inverts!

Downsize your critters or upsize your tank... your overstocked for a 10g! Remember your bioload means all the critters not just fish! Snails, shrimp, corals ALL create waste!

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

With a ten gl. tank, even the slightest imbalence is an issue, which would explain the snails and shrimp. I bet the coral is dying because of lighting.

Remedy: 50% water change w/ RO Water, limit feedings, up wattage if possible.

Answer 6

Waving Hand Coral

Answer 7

ok what is EVERYTHIG you tested and what level are they, dont mean to sound rude but give me numbers not a "their ok" and what kind of lights are on the tank (what kind of flourescent)?? what kind of water and what kind of coral? what kind of snails, anyhting and everything be specific. how are the fish??

Answer 8

i bet you that you don't have enough light you normally need a high powered light