I would send out a water sample to be tested. Maybe you have something going on.
Super stable and consistent? You don't know what the readings were before. How could you possibly know it was stable?well whatever happened all traces are gone after a massive water change. It makes it almost impossible to track down now.
this tank has been super stable and consistent until today. It’s just so weird.
honestly sounds like an ammonia spike-- two new large tangs and then dumping in food 3x a day.
ammonia is the first stage of the nitrogen cycle. Also did you take the sample after the waterchange? That would've significantly diluted everything. Also, the test shows elevated nitrite which would immediately follow an ammonia spike--so by the time you took the sample maybe ammonia was safe again but ~10 hours ago it wasntokay so let’s say I buy into this theory. Why did the test show 0 amonia? Amonia won’t go away because it’s the last stage of the nitrogen cycle.
the other question is it seems very coincidental that in a 6 hour period all the tangs died after adding 2 other tangs in hours before
Not coincidental. Adding the two tangs caused an ammonia spike. You are running a canister filter with no skimmer with 4 tangs in a 55 gallon tank. Is anyone surprised?okay so let’s say I buy into this theory. Why did the test show 0 amonia? Amonia won’t go away because it’s the last stage of the nitrogen cycle.
the other question is it seems very coincidental that in a 6 hour period all the tangs died after adding 2 other tangs in hours before
ammonia is the first stage of the nitrogen cycle. Also did you take the sample after the waterchange? That would've significantly diluted everything. Also, the test shows elevated nitrite which would immediately follow an ammonia spike--so by the time you took the sample maybe ammonia was safe again but ~10 hours ago it wasnt
Yes, 100%. When I add new fish to my qt I feed sparingly for the first few days to let the bio filter ramp up.That sounds very plausible and logical to me. So it was just coincidental perhaps the two additional tangs were added when this went down, or do you think they pushed the ammonia levels over the edge causing the spike ?
Yes, 100%. When I add new fish to my qt I feed sparingly for the first few days to let the bio filter ramp up.
if your tank is gonna be stocked like a 125+ gallon you need comparable filtration to keep everything alive even in the short term. I think your tank re-equilibrated itself, and if you add more tangs a similar thing will happen. Best wait untill the 135 gallon is up and running
Could be low oxygen situation as well as bacteria multiply to try to deal with the extra ammonia
I’m not sure if you saw in this thread the 130 gallon I am moving to. It will have all the equipment you mentioned.Sorry for your lost but maybe your filtration isn't enough to handle your bio load?! Highly suggest you should get a skimmer, would definitely help in the long run. Skimmer also provide oxygen to water without needing an air pump.