fish dyeing in the tank

Question
hi i built my tank with seawater from the ocean at fl keys. i put in live rocks that i bought from some one who had them for about 10 years. i kept the tank only with the live rocks for about a month and the i put in a pair of clown fish. i tested the water before adding the fish and it was perfect. two weeks later i retest the water and added two more fish i end up adding some anemones and a live soft coral. one day my fish started to die one by one and all died except the anemones and the coral. i tested the water and the nitrate was a bit high at 80. then i notice that i had a large colony of bristle worms. i ask the local pet shop if they could have something to do with the death of my fish. they told me yes and told me to take them out of the tank i removed all the rocks and removed most of them about 60 of them rebuild the tank again and waited two weeks and tested the water and it tested ok. i added two six line wrasses and 2 coral shrimp. i read that these species will eat the worms 4 days latter the wrasses and the shrimp were dead i no longer think that the worms had anything to do with the fish dyeing. went back to the local pet shop and they told me to check for the possibility of a small amount of electricity leaking into the tank from either the heater or the jet inside the tank. can this be possible or do you have any suggestion on what should i do thanks

Answer
Hi Jake,

Great questions...

In my opinion I don't think the deaths were caused from Bristle Worms; I've had aquariums where the Bristle Worm population was extremely high, however they never caused deaths. I do agree that the population of Bristle Worms should be kept at bay; this can be done by using a pest trap. See the link below for an example of a good pest trap.

http://www.ocreef.com/aquamedic_pest_trap

Regarding stray voltage leakage into your aquarium, this is possible in most aquariums, even with brand new equipment. To zap stray voltage from the water, always use a Grounder Rod, in conjunction with a GFC (Ground Fault Circuit) outlet plug. I use a grounder rod in both my tank, and inside my sump. See the links below for an example of a good grounder rod, and a good GFC outlet plug.

http://www.ocreef.com/rid_volt_titanium_tank_grounder_rod?category_id=5021

http://www.ocreef.com/shock_buster_gfci_for_aquariums?category_id=5021

Possibly something in your water is causing these deaths. Even though most standard aquarium testers will show good parameter readings, these same testers cannot detect toxins in the water, for example: mercury, pesticides, herbicides etc...

Even though most municipal water sources are safe for human consumption, this same water will still contain many impurities, that can be extremely harmful to your reef aquarium inhabitants.To remedy this problem, start using water that has been filtered through Reverse Osmosis. This process removes most contaminants that are harmful to reef aquariums. You can purchase a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter and install in your home, or you can get Reverse Osmosis filtered water from most local fish stores.

I wish you luck with all your future saltwater endeavors.

Regards,
David

All Experts - Editor