# over aeration of an aquarium



## ob1985 (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi,
Apologies in advance for my terminology as I am quite new to this hobby. I have a 120g reef tank, the temperature is pretty stable always around 78 give or take a tenth of a degree. All of the ammonia, nitrate, and salinity levels are within norms and stable and I usually perform a water change every other week. For live stock I have kept it pretty simple there are clowns (5) damsels (3) Tangs (2) angelfish (2) anemones (2) (and a few others that were with the tank when I inherited it 7 months ago from a roommate who was moving across the country). The tank has been running and stable for about a year.
My question/ concern is this: since taking over the tank I have only lost one fish. This weekend I was away for a day and a half and and one of the return pumps under the tank worked itself sideways and started sucking air as well as water. When I returned last night the tank was milky from all of the air bubbles that were being pumped into the water. I fixed the pump issue and the water was crystal clear within a matter of minutes. Once the water cleared i found that both of my angel fish were dead. I am assuming that this over aerated condition is what caused their death, and not some other problem I should be looking for. The only issue is I cannot find any mention of over aeration killing fish. Thanks!


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

It is very possible that is what killed those fish. I've heard of this before, but not in this drastic of a deal. But, yes, it can happen. Can only imagine what the PH was doing also.
What were your other readings as this was going on?


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