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View Full Version : TANK CRASH: MH Exploded?!


GMGQ
02-08-2012, 04:37 PM
This morning as I was just about to leave for work, i glanced at my tank and it was cloudy. I went over and all the SPS are bleached :S Urchin was DOA in the corner, LPS and zoos all closed up and/or spewing :S

Then I looked up and saw one of my Radium 250W SE MH bulbs was broken! The end of it was missing. It must have happened sometime last night between 6-10pm, because I came home after work and it was fine. I couldnt find the glass in the tank, but I was too busy doing damage control to really look.

I immediately started doing a water change, but I only had 10gal of change water on hand, better than nothing. The skimmer is going crazy, but I've extended the drain tubing into a bucket and letting the foam drip into there while i'm at work. I also changed out the carbon reactor with a fresh cartridge of ROX1.3.

The change water tank is refilling with RO water right now, I'll probably boot home to check on everything at lunch. I'm going to have to make more RO water tonight and do another big water change as soon as I can.

Another reason could be that I dosed 1 packet of maracyn yesterday morning to battle some cyano. I've used it before and had no issues though. I put in 1 packet, and my system is about 80gallons. When I looked at the tank after work yesterday, most of the cyano had turned stringy and was floating away. None of the corals looked affected. So I'm still thinking it's the MH.

Any tips or explanations what the exploded MH did?? The metal bits inside still seem to be in tact.

Thanks everyone.

Lampshade
02-08-2012, 04:43 PM
That sucks, i don't think the MH in the tank would cause a crash unless the centre arc tube dropped in the water as well, there could be some nasty stuff in the tank then. As for why it exploded, they can over time, manufacturing defect, etc. but if you've been running it awhile, then might have just been a gust of cold air as it was cooling down. I cracked one a couple weeks ago testing it, then walking outside into the cold. The temperature drop popped it like a balloon.

As for most recovery's, water changes and carbon will be your best bet. I'm just getting over one and it SUCKS... but even some coral that had totally bleached is actually returning.

Hope everything gets better.

lastlight
02-08-2012, 04:44 PM
Was the bulb shielded with a plate of glass under it? If not I'm sure you nuked the tank with UV... Also all these bulbs contain mercury as far as I know... the radiums definitely do.

ScubaSteve
02-08-2012, 05:05 PM
Ah crap dude! That really sucks.

If it was the halide that caused it, there could be a couple things going on (just going to toss some ideas out there). Metal halides use mercury vapor and some keep a small mercury pellet inside to keep the vapor pressure up; may e that got I to the tank. Is there something that hit the lamp and got fried (jumping fish, etc)? Re the bulbs SE or DE? Were they uncovered?

The coral behavior sounds like a chemical issue to me. Run tons of carbon and add an ammonia remover pad to battle the die off. I am suspicious of the maracyn.

Let me know if I can help you out at all.

Edit: sorry for the stupid iPhone autocorrects. Apparently the default language on my phone is illiterate hillbilly.

whatcaneyedo
02-08-2012, 06:09 PM
I've heard of a few partial tank crashes caused by exploding MH bulbs on this forum so that could very well be the case.

Christy had a bulb break but continue to run:
UV burn...what to do??
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=58910&highlight=broken+bulb

GMGQ
02-08-2012, 06:12 PM
No shield separating the bulbs with the tank :( Single ended moguls. In 6 yrs I've never had a MH bulb blow. My bulbs have had salt creep and splashes on them. I'd just wipe them down once in a while at night with a wet paper towel.

Is the mercury rolling around in the 'big' glass part, or in the little glass bulb thing in the middle of the MH bulb? I have to check if that little one burst...

A few SPS were totally bleached white. But a bunch were white, but the polyps appear to still be there and just retracted... I took out a few, ran them under a splash of tap water, and put them in the frag tank for now.

Yeah I was just in a meeting at work, and all I could think about was the tank :S I'm definitely thinking about getting double ended pendants now, so that there is the glass shield. Sunlight Supply Lumenmax 3 for $130/each, then maybe some phoenix 250W DE bulbs at $66/ea at JL... But sorta hard to think of dropping money on an 'upgrade' right now...

Damnit, tank was starting to look pretty good again too, everything colouring up. Thanks Kevin, I'll hit you up later when this crash blows over...

lastlight
02-08-2012, 06:17 PM
You can shield your SE bulbs if your reflector allows for it. I should as well but didn't want to lose PAR or buy the shields. Good luck and sorry to hear.

Gripenfelter
02-08-2012, 06:18 PM
This happened to another board member on a local forum. A dragon wrasse jumped out of his tank and smashed his MH bulb. The chemicals in the bulb are volatile and extremely poisonous.

Metal Halide bulbs use rare earth salts along with argon and mercury vapour. The metals and vapours are poison.

Your best bet to ensure the survival of your fish and coral would be to do HUGE water changes.

I always have a quarantine tank running as a back up filled with water from the DT. If possible, transfer everything to a friend's tank ro a quarantine tank until you clean out the tank completely. The metal and poison will not decay and will stay in the water for a very long time.

Bblinks
02-08-2012, 06:21 PM
Sorry to hear that Gary, I have a big batch of salt water in the garage mixing if you need, just come by and grab it. Let me know.

GMGQ
02-08-2012, 06:23 PM
You can shield your SE bulbs if your reflector allows for it. I should as well but didn't want to lose PAR or buy the shields. Good luck and sorry to hear.
No, it's the old style with a mogul at the base, and above the bulb is a wide chrome reflector. No housing around it.

This happened to another board member on a local forum. A dragon wrasse jumped out of his tank and smashed his MH bulb. The chemicals in the bulb are volatile and extremely poisonous.

Metal Halide bulbs use rare earth salts along with argon and mercury vapour. The metals and vapours are poison.

Your best bet to ensure the survival of your fish and coral would be to do HUGE water changes.

I always have a quarantine tank running as a back up filled with water from the DT. If possible, transfer everything to a friend's tank ro a quarantine tank until you clean out the tank completely. The metal and poison will not decay and will stay in the water for a very long time.

Thanks for the tip.

I have a 30gallon skimmerless frag tank which has 4 fish in there already. Maybe I can move a few of the smaller fish over...

Reefer Rob
02-08-2012, 07:38 PM
I don't think the bulb would be the cause of your cloudy water, unless the inner bulb broke. I had an outer bulb break on my 180, and ended up cooking 1/3 of my tank, but no cloudy water, and the fish were unaffected.

Gripenfelter
02-08-2012, 07:58 PM
I agree, cloudy water is more indictive of either an anemone exploding or a bacterial bloom.

GMGQ
02-08-2012, 08:15 PM
I'm thinking the cloudy water could also be from everything that died. All the flesh on the SPS are gone, and the LPS were spewing stuff into the water...

Reefer Rob
02-08-2012, 08:53 PM
Is everything not under that light OK? If so the damage is done. All you can do is some water changes to export the extra nutrients, and I would leave that light off for a couple of days, then slowly bring the photo period back up. Hopefully you can save some of the flesh that was in deep shade. This is assuming the inner bulb is intact.

GMGQ
02-08-2012, 10:33 PM
Is everything not under that light OK? If so the damage is done. All you can do is some water changes to export the extra nutrients, and I would leave that light off for a couple of days, then slowly bring the photo period back up. Hopefully you can save some of the flesh that was in deep shade. This is assuming the inner bulb is intact.

Nope, all SPS have bleached, LPS and zoas long the bottom are closed up. No difference between the left and right of the tank.

This morning I turned off the timer for both MH's, so right now only actinics will turn on. I think i'll get a XM bulb replacement for now...

Here's a pic of the MH bulb:
http://reefblog604.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/photo.jpg

The inner bulb is in tact. I still couldnt see where the glass went in the tank.

Reefer Rob
02-08-2012, 11:21 PM
I'm thinking it's not the bulb then. It looks like you have enough of the outer casing to give you some shielding. My bulb cracked the same way, but exposed the tank to the whole inner bulb. It cooked only the corals under that halide.

fishytime
02-08-2012, 11:50 PM
I'm thinking the cloudy water could also be from everything that died. All the flesh on the SPS are gone, and the LPS were spewing stuff into the water...

+1.....when my tank crashed it looked like milk.....sorry to hear about your troubles man.....the cause is neither here nor there now.....your main focus is damage control.....worry about what caused it after you save your tank...large water changes and get anything that is dead or on its way out, out of the tank asap

Reefer Rob
02-09-2012, 12:25 AM
+1.....when my tank crashed it looked like milk.....sorry to hear about your troubles man.....the cause is neither here nor there now.....your main focus is damage control.....worry about what caused it after you save your tank...large water changes and get anything that is dead or on its way out, out of the tank asap

How will he know how to treat the tank if he doesn't know what caused it? Water changes are a good idea, but he needs to get to the root of problem in order to fix it. JMO of course.

Casey8
02-09-2012, 12:41 AM
I don't think it caused from your broken bulb, it must be from something else. Do you have a refugium having some plants that go sexual at night ?

Bryan
02-09-2012, 01:54 AM
The inner envelope is intact, so no heavy metals would have entered the tank, I believe you cooked the tank with UV, The glass shielding although covering the majority of the bulb still does not stop UV from leaving and bouncing all over the inside of the canopy into the water column.

fishytime
02-09-2012, 02:29 AM
How will he know how to treat the tank if he doesn't know what caused it? Water changes are a good idea, but he needs to get to the root of problem in order to fix it. JMO of course.

with the variables we were given, it doesnt matter if either A) the bulb leaked toxins into the tank or B) the uv shielding broke or C) it was the maracyn or D) a combination there of......my advice would be the same...... large water changes and removal of anything that may be decaying......He's already running fresh carbon (which should be changed more frequently) so I didnt mention that..... if I were to add anything, it would be to think about picking up some prodibio "Start" or at the very least an emergency dose of "Prime"


my guess is, the dose of maracyn stressed the acros enough that when the bulb broke, irradiating the tank, the stressed acros on that side of the tank started dieing....this caused a chain reaction of acropocaplypse ....I know first hand how a chain reaction can lead to a total crash in a hurry

sumpfinfishe
02-09-2012, 02:42 AM
Sorry to hear that, yeah we run so many risks in this hobby but most of the time it really is worth it! Good luck on a healthy rebound:biggrin:

christyf5
02-09-2012, 04:44 AM
I cooked my tank a couple years ago when a fish splashed the bulb and it cracked. I have no idea how long the bulb remained on for but I only discovered the reason the tank was looking so weird when I found a piece of glass sitting on one of the rocks. I had no idea the bulbs could still run while being "broken". I ended up losing 2 or 3 fish to severe UV exposure and pretty much one side of the tank. The rock was bleached white as well. It was an eerie look. I didn't have much LPS and what I had was at the bottom of the tank and "less" exposed so there was not much bleaching for them. I lost all the SPS but some of the SPS undersides survived so I left them in the tank. The tank did have a slightly cloudy look to it but it wasn't milky. I would imagine that if you had both zoas and LPS "spewing" they would have attributed to the milky look.

I currently have glass on my lumenarc reflectors (they're designed to hold glass the same as the double ended ones) and will always have glass from now on. I lost a 7 year old scopas tang and a 2 year old powder blue tang that I nursed back to health (fish store rescue, stupid I know) and it was just too traumatic. Of course the fish that did the damage is a big stupidhead and hid in the rocks for most of the time the other fish were swimming around getting hugely irradiated. He continues to splash the reflectors and I can see just how much showing on the glass which makes me happy I got them.

No doubt water changes and carbon are in order, regardless. I'd hold off on the maracyn treatments until you have things stabilized. Did any of the cyano die at least?

tang daddy
02-09-2012, 07:31 PM
Aww man sorry to hear about the tank crashing and mh exploding, not a good week for you.
I think it was definately a combo of the bulb and maracyn. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help, again sorry for your losses man.

When I had a tank crash in march it was along similiar lines, I dosed medication for cyano and removed 1/4 of my sand bed, the clams couldn't take the meds or toxic gases released in the sand bed. All 8 clams died, inturn the tank was cloudy soup all the sps bleached and died aswell.
I lost about 5k in collector pieces of acro and some irreplaceable clams, needless to say I thought that was it and basically out of the hobby, gave it a few months and now slowly restocking my tank.

It's hard to see all the hard work gone in a day but keep your head up bud, things will come turn around for the better soon!

daniella3d
02-09-2012, 07:56 PM
Another reason why I don't want SE bulb. I prefer to have DE and have a glass in front of it so if something like that ever happen, it will not fall into the aquarium.

I am always afrais that a splash of water on a hot bulb will make it explode.

But maracin is antibiotics and you should never ever put that in your main tank. If you want to treat for cyano in your main tank use Chemiclean instead as it is an oxydant rather than antibiotics.



This morning as I was just about to leave for work, i glanced at my tank and it was cloudy. I went over and all the SPS are bleached :S Urchin was DOA in the corner, LPS and zoos all closed up and/or spewing :S

Then I looked up and saw one of my Radium 250W SE MH bulbs was broken! The end of it was missing. It must have happened sometime last night between 6-10pm, because I came home after work and it was fine. I couldnt find the glass in the tank, but I was too busy doing damage control to really look.

I immediately started doing a water change, but I only had 10gal of change water on hand, better than nothing. The skimmer is going crazy, but I've extended the drain tubing into a bucket and letting the foam drip into there while i'm at work. I also changed out the carbon reactor with a fresh cartridge of ROX1.3.

The change water tank is refilling with RO water right now, I'll probably boot home to check on everything at lunch. I'm going to have to make more RO water tonight and do another big water change as soon as I can.

Another reason could be that I dosed 1 packet of maracyn yesterday morning to battle some cyano. I've used it before and had no issues though. I put in 1 packet, and my system is about 80gallons. When I looked at the tank after work yesterday, most of the cyano had turned stringy and was floating away. None of the corals looked affected. So I'm still thinking it's the MH.

Any tips or explanations what the exploded MH did?? The metal bits inside still seem to be in tact.

Thanks everyone.

Reefer Rob
02-10-2012, 05:24 AM
How are you making out with this? Any improvement yet?

ScubaSteve
03-02-2012, 11:26 PM
Dude, how's the tank going? Let me know if you're needing some frags and I'll see what I've got for ya.

GMGQ
03-07-2012, 05:35 AM
Hey guys,

So the tank seems to have stabilized.

- most LPS are fine
- most of the chalice frags were down to their skeletons, but some flesh is growing back
- amazingly most SPS are growing back! Albeit it's only a little bit of flesh regrowing at the base, there are still a few that look pretty dead...
- lost my square back anthias

I actually tried to add a couple of peppermint shrimp a week ago, but my mystery wrasse ate one (damnit! Forgot they like shrimp, it left my other cleaners alone, but that was cuz they were there first, but died during the recent crash). The other peppermint wasn't doing well by the next day. I put it in the frag tank, but it died the next day. So that leads me to believe there's still something funky in the tank... I think I'll have to do another bug water change on the weekend...

Kev,
Do you have any Mille frags? My blue mille and pink mille dont show any signs of recovery yet
;(

ScubaSteve
03-07-2012, 08:01 AM
I got a mini colony of blue milli from Ken on the weekend that I could probably cut a piece off for ya. I'll take a look to see if I can make a piece of the green milli monster but it's doing some funny things right now and I'm not sure I want to poss it off at the moment. I've got a few branches of a neat purple acro I've been holding aside for you in case you wanted them and I may have a few small pieces of rainbow stylo as well.