HELP!!! Things are going sideways and bad!

[ScubaSteve]

Alright, So I got home this afternoon after picking up some frags to find that my HOB filter isn't running water. I guess the motor jammed up and I don't know how long it has been sitting like that. When I popped the top off to look inside, it smelled of hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs) and the junk which normally accumulates in the filter (usually looks greyish) looked black. Bad, bad, bad, bad...

I am guessing that with no flow and an overheating motor the crap in the filter when anaerobic on me.

I ripped the thing off the tank right away (making sure not to get any of it in the tank), gave it a serious clean (we're talking spotless...), threw away the sponge and bag of carbon and replaced them with a new filter sock of carbon and some filter floss to replace the sponge.

Just tested the water:

Ammonia: Less than 0.25 ppm but greater than zero
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 5 to 10 ppm (looks closer to 5 ppm)
pH: 8.0
Salinity: 1.026
Phosphates: 0

Doubled checked everything.

I'm heading off to my lab now to pick up more water to do a serious water change. Does it sound like the filter just when anaerobic from no water flow? Is there anything else I should be worrying about?

[reefwars]

thats the worst about them hob filters they have to die sometimes and you never can tell ,thats why i keep 2 small ones side by side . a few weeks ago one of mine sprung a leak and leaked onto a powerbar , it set it on fire and everything was shut down, i was lucky i kept a filter,heater and powerhead on a different bar as well:) i think a water change and some carbon will do wonders, any losses???

[ScubaSteve]

Eh, none as far as I can see. In fact everything (including the new stuff I got today) has full polyp extension. I'm just hoping this isn't just the beginning of something bad.

[marie]

Everything is probably going to be just fine.

I once had my return pump quit on me and it took 2 days to get parts in for it. I kept the water in the sump aerated but completely forgot about the water in the overflows. When I turned the pump back on the whole house wreaked of rotten eggs..... the livestock in the tank never even noticed

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks guys. Aside from being stinky it looks like everything is fine. I still did a really big water change to just be on the safe side....and everything actually looks waaaay happier after that.

[daniella3d]

You should be worried about the ammonia in your tank. This should be at 0 all the time. Put more cured liverock instead of using a filter. I have a tank that is running skimmerless and no filter for 5 months and there is never any ammonia. Even when I introduced a yellow tang and feeding it heavily there is no ammonia. My liverock and micro-algae are doing all the work.

[ScubaSteve]

Yeah, tell me about it. My ammonia is always zero, that's why I was was worried when it spiked after this filter ordeal. I can't fit any more rock in the tank, so I'm pretty good there. After a large water change and some time this is back down to zero, though nitrates are still high. I typically keep these near 0 ppm as well.

I ran skimmer less for close to a year without any issues. Since I'm moving my tank towards being more SPS oriented I have since switched to skimming and it makes a HUGE difference.

[daniella3d]

If your nitrates are now high and they are usualy near 0, this means that probably your ammonia went really high for a while and then was converted to nitrates.

Yeah, tell me about it. My ammonia is always zero, that's why I was was worried when it spiked after this filter ordeal. I can't fit any more rock in the tank, so I'm pretty good there. After a large water change and some time this is back down to zero, though nitrates are still high. I typically keep these near 0 ppm as well.

I ran skimmer less for close to a year without any issues. Since I'm moving my tank towards being more SPS oriented I have since switched to skimming and it makes a HUGE difference.

[ScubaSteve]

Sure was! Good thing I've got a ton of really good rock in the tank, huh? Well, that and a nice big water change.

Yes, there was a spike in the ammonia but that really wasn't the concern to me as I knew the rocks could handle it. It was more the fact that the ammonia and nitrates spiked in a matter of hours AND the HOB filter was putting hydrogen sulphide laden water into the system. Ammonia spikes typically mean somebody dead or dyin'; hydrogen sulphide can be the killer.