Kick me when I'm down

[danny zubot]

So after scrambling to recover from an Alk and Ph spike which caused a few coral fatalities. After my pump siezed draining my pocketbook even more, what else could go wrong this month?

Last night I went home to find my glass top broken and all of my lights swaying in the current in my tank. The MH bulb shattered instantly and my PC bulbs broke too. The pins were very corroded, probly because of the power was flowing through them for a while. I have no idea if the balasts are ok, but just by looking at them there is no damage.

Surprisingly my fish were all still alive! My corals were all closed up and shedding and spitting and burping etc. and the water was really cloudy. My skimmer was foaming out really red skimmate from the iron oxide in the water and there was glass everwhere in the tank.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1071corals_2-med.jpg

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1071rusty_skimmer-med.jpg

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1071broken_bulbs-med.jpg

I did a 25% water change and my levels are fine accept for those I can't test for like heavy metels etc. So I'm probly going to take my corals over to my friends to watch until after I move.
Please tell me nothing else can go wrongwith this tank

[AJ_77]

Man, that is just terrible - unbelievable Danny. :eek: Do you know how the top broke?

Maybe after you guys move and get settled would be a nice time to think about a puppy... who knows... :neutral:

[danny zubot]

I'm sure it was the heat. Just trying to keep everything alive until we move and I get the new tank.

[medican]

OMG..... :eek:

If it wernt for bad luck you wouldent have any luck at all..... :cry:

But kutos for keeping on top of it and trying to keep everything going


Good luck

[Delphinus]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. Wow, that's gotta suck.

Hang in there. We've all been through disasters (believe me). Good luck.

Sorry that you have to replace your lighting though, that's gonna be a small setback in the pocketbook. What do you think happened, what broke?

What wattage is your halide bulb. I might have some old lamps you can use to test fire your ballasts to see if they're still OK. You can use them until you can get a proper replacement as well. Let me know.

[danny zubot]

Hey thanks guys, I'm trying to laugh about it and not dispair, kind of a character building thing I guess.

Tony, the MH was a 250 watt mogul bulb. It would be great if I could test the balast, have you got one of those? Also, if anyone has old 65watt PCs (4 pin) that I could use to test that balast that would sure be handy!

BTW, iron oxide will lower you ph from 8.6 to 7.9 in a real hurry. :biggrin: I guess some good did come of this.

[BMW Rider]

I have a new pair of 250w 10,000k bulbs on the way to me from J&L. I should have them early next week. Your welcome to my old Ushio 10,000k 250w mogul bulbs to get you by for a bit till you can afford new ones. They are a year old, so they should be ok for a month or two yet.

[danny zubot]

Hey Ed, I just ordered a new bulb from Aquaria.ca and they should arrive by next week but thanks. I think I'm going to just going to store all of my livestock at my friends until after I move so the lighting really isn't that important right now.

[LostMind]

Too bad you are in calgary, I've got 4 spare bulbs...

wow, I feel for you tho.. thats some bad luck on a scale I thought only I experienced :)

[danny zubot]

I guess everyone has their turn.

[Chin_Lee]

Aww that sucks man. I hope everything works out for you. Good to see that the skimmer is working well for you :cool:

[clownchick22]

Sorry to hear Danny.. Hope everything makes it to your new tank :)

[Beverly]

Dang :exclaim: Just when things were turning around, you get another kick in the reef butt :sad: Sorry to hear it, Danny :sad:

[KrazyKuch]

Sorry to hear man hope things start to go better for you!!

[vanreefer]

Man that sucks :cry:
But all you can do is dust yourself off and move on, I admire your determination and commitment to your animals.
you should get that Ph up to 8.1 or so... and if you do go for the puppy make sure you drain your tank first. sorry for the jokes couldn't resist :redface:

Keep up the good work
Dano

[danny zubot]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I plan to keep on reefing even if it kills me! :smile:

[Nemo]

I think you should be more concerned about the safety of your self and you livestock with the mercury that was in your MH bulb which is now most likely in your tank.

In most MH bulbs there are the following

Rare earth gases
Argon Gas
Mercury


Robert

[danny zubot]

I did think of that briefly but aside from a large water change and using carbon, what else can be done? I have moved all of my corals to my friends place where they are recovering nicely. All that is left in the tank is two fish and an RBTA.

[Nemo]

I did think of that briefly but aside from a large water change and using carbon, what else can be done? I have moved all of my corals to my friends place where they are recovering nicely. All that is left in the tank is two fish and an RBTA.

I am not sure the best course of action but I would probable continue with large water changes, pulling the mercury out would be the big concern, maybe some one call tell if carbon will absob it

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I'm not sure but I think Polyfilter or some product like that is supposed to be good for absorbing heavy metals. But mercury is dense so you should take a close look at your substrate to see if any is there.

Sorry about your troubles.

Anthony

[danny zubot]

If its liquid mercury that you are refering to then no there isn't any. The inner bubble type chaimber of the bulb (what ever its called) didn't break. I was more concerned with the iron companants of the bulb and the vapour they use internally. (mercury vapour?)

[Nemo]

As far as gasses go it is too hard to tell, if the bulb broke before it was submerged then most of the gasses will have gassed off into the room and you will only be dealing with trace amounts. If the bulb broke under water then the gasses will be everywhere the water circulates, and time will release them hopefully. But you have left you anenomea in the tank and if it is doing well then things may not be doing that badly.

[danny zubot]

Thats kinda what I thought too. The amenone is doing fine.