How did your reef tank crash?

[Myka]

Poll is multiple choice! Don't forget to also check off "I was away when my tank crashed" if you were on vacation or away for the weekend (at work for the day doesn't count).

I'm wondering what the top reasons for crash are, I think I have an idea...

[Zoaelite]

Does your idea begin with A and ryhme with schmatotopoff?

My very first crash almost 5 years ago was from over dosing sugar while trying to lower my nutrients. Learning lesson: Take it SLOW when carbon dosing.

I have also had a mini crash (Killed most of my SPS), by adding far to much baking powder directly to my sump. Learning lesson: Take it slow and ALWAYS dissolve your additives & salt prior to addition.

[Leah]

Maybe it was the baking powder.

[sphelps]

I just everything that applied.

First being ATO float malfunction
Followed by power outages resetting controller alarm
Following by more sensitive corals dying and releasing toxins aiding in the complete wipe out of other corals
Followed by me not being home
And a few "other" factors

[Myka]

^ I think I should have just said "power outage" as it doesn't have to prolonged to cause trouble...

[Aquattro]

Only ever had a partial crash from switching tanks and not planning for enough new water.

[Myka]

Ohhh, I forgot tank transfers...that's a common killer too. Dangit. You can't mod the poll can you Brad?

[Aquattro]

Ohhh, I forgot tank transfers...that's a common killer too. Dangit. You can't mod the poll can you Brad?

Looks like I can. Added moves/transfers

[Myka]

Awesome, thanks Brad!!

[fishytime]

I answered in two categories....I did something stupid while transferring/moving the tank:mrgreen:

[lockrookie]

i havent had a crash yet knock on wood...my time wil come..

this should be an option as well

[whatcaneyedo]

The closest I've come to a full tank crash was loosing a few fish in a move in my first year. But I have had a few close calls since then including "Tank sitter did something stupid".

[daplatapus]

Does doing some thing stupid during a move causing your friends tank to crash count? :(

[Enigma]

I'm waiting to see if anyone's children caused a crash. My little guy is very good around the system, though I do threaten him regularly.

[Oilers]

I'm waiting to see if anyone's children caused a crash. My little guy is very good around the system, though I do threaten him regularly.

Well, I am sure I am not the only one. If you look through my threads, you'll find the baby shampoo incident :sad:

[NightShadeFairy]

I had an incident many years ago when my daughter (15 now) was only about 4 or 5.. I was cleaning the canopy and stand of my 120 gallon salt tank, and I was using Murphey's wood/oil soap (the canopy and stand were oak) and the phone rang.. I ran and answered it and the moment my back was turned, my daughter poured the soapy water straight into my sump.. I watched in horror as immediately the oil soap was pumped into the tank.. The water immediately turned white.. It was freaky and awful!! I did a massive water change immediately, and let the sump do the rest (I was glad to have bio-balls back then to rinse off instead of live rock in the sump!) the sump was so powerful, that unbelievably I lost NOTHING! Unbelievable huh? :)
I wish I could say the same about my other crash.. I may add that one another day.. Don't want to talk about it right now :( lol ;)

[NightShadeFairy]

Well, I am sure I am not the only one. If you look through my threads, you'll find the baby shampoo incident :sad:

Your post reminded me of my soap incident

[Nano]

Don't forget rotten carbon ;)

[Enigma]

Well, I am sure I am not the only one. If you look through my threads, you'll find the baby shampoo incident :sad:

I just read it: and the couple of other incidents that were shared in your thread.

Toddlers and preschoolers can be such monkeys! It's a good thing that they're so darn adorable (most of the time). My three-year-old is well behaved around our system, for the most part.

[Myka]

Don't forget rotten carbon ;)

Ohhh, I did forget about that. So many things can go wrong it's hard to think of them all while making a poll! :redface: I guess that falls into "other".

[NightShadeFairy]

I just read it: and the couple of other incidents that were shared in your thread.

Toddlers and preschoolers can be such monkeys! It's a good thing that they're so darn adorable (most of the time). My three-year-old is well behaved around our system, for the most part.

So was mine! She was always soo good! That's why it blew me away when she did that.. And she seemed so surprised that I was upset, she started crying! So I had to comfort her while trying to get the soap out of the tank! Lol! You called it, such monkey's! :)

[fishoholic]

Disease would be my downfall. I had a marine velvet outbreak a few years ago (my ex added a fish without my knowledge from a lfs everyone knows to stay away from) and it ended up killing almost all my fish. Not a total crash but there was many losses.

[toxic111]

Well the poll don't seem to show up in tapatalk. Anyway my 33 crashed when I was away for a long weekend & the heater broke causing the gfi to trip. Water temp was 65F when I got home. Lost all the fish, all the SPS and nearly everything else. One brain coral made it (still have) some hermits & snails and a RBTA that I still have today

[NightShadeFairy]

Well the poll don't seem to show up in tapatalk. Anyway my 33 crashed when I was away for a long weekend & the heater broke causing the gfi to trip. Water temp was 65F when I got home. Lost all the fish, all the SPS and nearly everything else. One brain coral made it (still have) some hermits & snails and a RBTA that I still have today

Yes, I'm using tap a talk as well...
So my worst crash ever was in my 55g, I had worked a long day at work, and I came home just beat! The sump I was using on the 55 was major overkill, as I had bought it a few years prior to go in the 120g I had at the time..
Anyway, I unplugged the return pump to feed my corals, and my heater is in my sump. I was just so dam exhausted that instead of plugging it back in half an hour later, I forgot I unplugged it at all and went to bed!! Tank is on lino covered concrete, it was winter.. My temp dropped dramatically and I lost every fish I had. No corals. I was absolutely devastated... The money you loose is totally secondary to knowing such a stupid slip took the lives of those beautiful creatures.. I felt like such a horrible murderer for a long time. It was hard lesson, and a mistake that I will NEVER make again! And yes, I did it, I said NEVER!! Lol :)

[Nano]

Ohhh, I did forget about that. So many things can go wrong it's hard to think of them all while making a poll! :redface: I guess that falls into "other".

Hehe that's what I picked

[marie]

What is the definition of a tank crash. I have always thought of it as something happening that starts a domino effect where you end up losing everything and have to restart from scratch.
I have never had a tank crash unless losing more then half the fish stock to a disease counts as a crash......

[lockrookie]

i just realised one missing option tothis poll...

..thank you fro making me relive my worst nightmare now im going to curl up in a ball sucking my thumb and sobing lines from nemo ,,just keep swimming....


sorry im in a strange place tonight

[Lampshade]

Voted for multiple, because it was multiple.

Power outage for 12 hours in January, caused die off. Excess nutrients cause macro algae to grow like crazy, fill refugium andcaulerpa to go sexual. This caused another cycle, too long for SPS, so there was SPS die off. Calcium reactor was still outputting the same (I did sometihng stupid), and my levels went nuts. API Test kit still showed 7KH, i thought i was good. Got water tested at LFS, 14DKH, bought another test kit(salifert), and showed 14 as well. (Other) Ouch, lots of water changes, small issues with salt being high KH (12KH in new water), but didn't cause too much issue, got more salt and rolled the bucket better this time :P. So things are finally looking up and i wake up to find thatmy kids put a graphing calculator in the sump, complete with batteries the day before. (my fault too, i left the fish room door unlocked with a 3 year old and a 2 year old) Big reset button again for the tank. Overall, lots lots, learned lots, and now things are going GREAT. My tanks still got some aiptasia issues, but coral that had completely browned out(bleached then brown, totally dead) is coming back. I went through and purged the dead-dead stuff, the recovering stuff is looking good.

[Locke]

I got caught in the bad batch of instant ocean that came out a few years ago(2003). Painful experience.

[rastaangel]

Ya ready for my list?
1. First encounter with velvet, killed everything but I was green and didnt even notice it
2. Tank broke
3. Ex-GF killed my 2 large volitans, mini crash as 100% fish died
4. Land lord poisoned tank with ant spray
5. Hair algea took over so I shut down, put corals in another tank and heater cooked that tank
6. Mom overdosed Alk/VSV
7. And just recently I lost a bunch of very rare expensive fish due to a combo of moving stress, bad infestations and suspected bad meds

[steve fedyk]

Painted the hole up stairs and killed all my clams and some of my corals.