Should i quit my hobby?

i would recheck your water parems by another test method. Maybe take your water sample to a store and have them check it. Sometime test kits give false negative and false positives. Even if it comes back negative you are going to have a massive cycle now with all your fish that died. But that would be the first thing you want to check.

Also what caused your skimmer to crap out? Could there been a power surge in your tank....that is the first thing that popped into my mind reading it. Stray electricity in your tank can kill your fish in a heart beat. Inverts tend to do better then fish and clowns are just tough little fish

I would put some extra powerheads in your tank right now and leave them running 24/7. In my experience, canister filters do not provide a lot of oxygenation and I personally prefer a lot of water movements and have several powerheads in all my tanks. I would put at least 1 more powerhead on the opposite side of the tank. What size powerhead do you have in there now.

Do you have any liverock in your tank and if so how much!

I know it is super frustrating when something like this happens, but sadly it does happen. I agree it is up to you as to whether or not you leave the hobby, but I took it as a learning experience when I had something similar. Figure out what went wrong and fix it. If you are dedicated to making it in this hobby and enjoy it (which I think you do) then move on. HOWEVER....my most important recomendation....move slowly. Your tank is under a lot of stress right now and I would take it as a tank that has just been set up. Do not rush out and buy any fish right now...even if you figure out what the problem is....wait a month or so and let everything settle back down, then add 1 fish at a time.
good luck

 

I would do that tomorrow since the LFS would be closed by now...phew i was thinking what if i had an anemone...Just gave it away last week to my friend

I am not sure but the pump actually stopped working...The skimmer is an old one..i had bought the entire tank & accessories from my friend who had his tank running for nearly 2 years..maybe it got burnt inside..didnt want to even look at it when i saw the whole mishap

I have 1 powerhead and nearly 25Kgs of live rock

This is something which i would do the least right now

Thanks mate

 

water movement behind the rocks is also a must have. put it in a place you can reach it and put a sponge on it if you plan on anemones. key is as little dead spots as possible. place the pump so it shoots across the glass and back of the rocks. dont rely on suction cups. get that magnet holder. you dont want to have to mess with that pump to much. and suction cups fail very easy and fast. and can all of a sudden point down into your sand and stir up a mess.

 

Made a note of this...thanks..

Will try to add another powerhead to see if it helps in the pH as well..have one lying around...Difficulty is in wiring all these stuff to the power socket..I have two 6-way distribution boards(and one 3-way timer plugged)...So in total of 15 wires already being used...This is the reason why i didnt want to use more powerheads..but i think there aint an option...isnt it?

 

I added the power head into the back top corner in fact i modded the power head with a elbow facing downwards well at a 45 degree.. a dead spot ( especially behind rocks in a tank can make make a drop in PH some reasons and tips on low PH
Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

I don't know what your set up is as in return pumps but you could always mod a return to flow more at the back if you really don't want to add a power head.. main thing is water movement behind there

 

smiley give it a few days to work it's not going to happen overnight.. I think it took mine 3 days in a 45gl but keep us updated in this thread if it worked of not.. my gut feeling it's going to work

 

The thing is, even though (most) of the fish would be using the least CO2 during the night, there would be 0 O2 going in to the water from photosynthesis from all the coralline and other algae in the tank. Those would switch (in the net sense) from producing O2, to producing CO2.

A dead spot is another highly likely scenario, though.

 

Bottom line is it sounds like very poor watr movement and gas exchange.

I live at high altitude and have been concerned about O2 concentrations. I don't want to rely on my skimmer. I didn't have power for 8 hours when I changed out my service and the fish made it fine with no powerheads. A battery backup for my Vortech would work much better.

I route my returns down the back of my tank and have always provided good flow through my rocks. I feel that is very important for a healthy reef is healthy flow through the reef.

 

Was the pump on the skimmer the kind that sits in the tank? If so like schackmel said, if it shorted out it could have electrocuted the fish.