PHOS-BAN = Poison?

[shift_9k]

Went to one of the best reef fish stores around my area and got my water checked, everything was good except the phosphates were a little high. So he prescribed phosban. So I took it home, didnt add it right away, I was mad busy. So.....


My two Ocellaris clowns were doing fine, til i put the phosban in, listened to what the LFS said and then read the directions twice over before putting it in. I have an AP24g with MH. I put it on the right side intake chamber on top of the blue sponge which I cut in half. Covered it with Filter floss, and made sure that i had did the rinsing right. (not too hard). 20 mins after the phosban was in the fish slowed down big time! I mean hardly swimming, pumping their gills and mouths really fast. I knew something was wrong took the phosban out right away, thank god I had water mixing for a change coming up. I quickly did a 4g change right away. When I came back in the room I saw them stuck to the intakes on the right, I didnt bother them just did the water change ASAP! They seem to be at least not stuck to the intake anymore. What could have been the cause, im really freakin ###ed right now.

I wanna go throw the ######in jar of phosban in the guys face.

 

[TheFool]

Hmm, well I had a load of softies killed once by using an Al based P remover, which apparently is not too uncommon......

But I have not had problems with either PhosBan (used one tub) or the equivalent RowaPhos. Are you sure you didn't jam the water flow through the filter by putting it in as you describe, and cause the oxygen content to crash? That's what it sounds like. If it really was releasing a toxin changing 4 gallons of 24 is not really enough to change/save anything I would have thought

Have to talked to two little fishies?

 

[shift_9k]

Huh? I dont know much about the oxygen crash, they are reaching at the top for air. My ammo has jumped to .25! And thats after the water change. I have the following in the tank:

4 nass snails

3 astrea

3 blue leg hermits

frag of zoa

frag of ricordea


The fish are seeming as if they are gonners, any suggestions!

 

[shift_9k]

Now i'm really confused. My ammo is reading 0! I just checked what 20 mins ago. I knew one of the clowns was dead for sure so i just moved the both of them into a bucket of LR that i had been curing and they seem to be doing ok! thank god. The tank is in really really bad shape. IN A MATTER OF AN HOUR!

You guys I have no idea, but you should have seen it before i put the phos ban in everything was awesome. Zoas open fully, ric open fully, the clowns playin around. Then freakin boom, the rug out from under my feet. I took some pics will post them up tomorrow.

 

[TheFool]

It's tough to make any sense of variable Ammo readings, especially as the test kits aren't that reliable.

What's the pH - the Fe based P removers can drop pH, so if you used too much on what is effectively a small tank you might have a calamitous pH crash.
Also you said you were holding down the Fe remover with filter wool. Have you used so much wool that no flow is going thro' the filter. That might explain the puffing at the surface. How much PhosBan did you use? Guess a weight , volume

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Phosban, like Rowaphos isn't an al based product..i tried phoszorb and was misinformed and it showed..lost a couple of softies..but phosban ?

 

[shift_9k]

The ph was at 8.0 that was my second test, its always been at 8.0. Both of the clowns died overnight, everything else in the tank seems to be ok, i'll post pics of the chaos soon. Its really freakin sad at how good things were and how quick they got bad...

 

[Lorna]

Okay I am going to throw something out there.......are you positive it was the phosban or what ever you were using? Is it possible that there is something else going on here? Even the minor problems are escalated when you have a smaller tank and things can go very bad very very quickly and sometimes in a matter of hours. Ammonia can do this also. What are all your params.....could there have been an introduction of another contaminant from another source? ie......something on your hand or even in the air.....I know someone who sprayed windex in the room and it was enough....

 

[shift_9k]

Honestly Lorna, there is no way. Step by step, i was alone. I went to the car to get the phos ban, i came down looked at the tank it was gravey, so i started to setup the phosban sponge. Made sure it was rinsed right. I put it in, they were doin ok so i went to grab a slice of pizza. I was a little worried cuz of the warning label that came with it. So after 15-20 I went in there and they were swimming in place pumping mouths and gills really fast. I checked my water params and ammo was at 0. I did a water change and by then everything thing was dying, pods floating all over corals closed, and clowns stuck to the intake. After the water change the ammo jumped to .25. Ph was at 8.0. So i was really surprised so i checked the Ammo again, and it was at 0.

Today the clowns are dead, the zoas are open and the mushroom is not. The astrea seem to have made it. Same with the hermits I think I can only find two out of three, and the nassarius snails are ok I found three of em out of four.

There is not doubt in my mind that the phosban triggered something, and its really scary and odd to think how many people use it. The tank is in my bedroom and I spray cologne in the same room but thats like two sprays on myself all the way on the other side of the room. There is nothing sprayed otherwise. Its just freakin sad. Those guys were awesome ate from my hand day one and would follow me around if I got up off the desk.

 

[Lorna]

I am really really sorry about your fish. I hate it when something happens to them as they are so personable and even if they are fish you get attached to them. I would bet onthe phosban in that case. I would go back to the lfs not that it will do you any good and explain what happened. They may have had other complaints. I am not sure if there is anything else you can do but let things sit for a bit, do a few more large waterchanges...as large as you can......just make sure your temp/ph etc are the same.....then start again....this sucks I know but don't give up.

 

[shift_9k]

Its just disheartening, I was on here alot and other forums to make sure that I did everything right, and thanks to you guys and all your help everything started great. The tank was ready for fish, and they did awesome since acclimation, ate, played swam around. It was nice to see the fruits of my labor so to say. To see everything in the tank doing good. And now this.. it blows.

 

[MrBungle]

wow.....that truely sucks big time. sorry to hear.

 

[iplaydafoozball]

i'm sorry dude, that sucks. just don't get discouraged. learn from your mistakes. if your corals are doing fine that means that your tank isn't ruined. keep it up!