Buh .. :( Just a random rant

Delphinus · #1 04-01-2008, 05:39 AM

After a weekend where I was only home for a few brief hours at nights and spent the daytimes in the hospital with a new baby, I come home at the end of it to find my tanks in a fairly sorry state.

In one, I find my longspine urchin upside-down and unable to move around on its own, unable to feed. I can only assume it's on the way out, which is odd since it's only a year old and their lifespan is reported more like around 5 years or more. Not sure why he's not doing well, but he's not dead yet, but it wounds me to see this thing languish like that.

Plus the tank he's in, the cube, is starting to once again accumulate nitrates, despite being dosed by Polyp Labs. The ability of this tank to resist any form of nitrate management is truly remarkable. ... although I mean remarkable in a demoralizing sort of way.

Somehow during the night I found my 75g tank's skimmer feed hose popped off the feed pump. The resulting water spray from the sump kicked the GFCI off and the sump return and heater were off during the night. However the GFCI servicing the powerheads did not, so they were still running. BUT, the siphon holes were blocked (I clean these things every week, man it boggles the mind how fast they clog up), so the tank drained to the point where the powerheads were above the waterline. And water of course on the floor.

Of course I don't notice this until after I wake up, of course it must have happened shortly after I went to bed because the tank temperature was 67F. This tank has been flatlined before for several hours and never had a temperature drop like that (setpoint is 77F, but usually runs more like 78-79 with all pumps and lights on).

Tang obviously got a little freaked out because he looks like he's been through a blender. Sides all scraped up, few chunks of flesh missing.

I know what fate is telling me .. it's time to take these tanks down and retire them. I have to find a way to work on the replacement tank.

I think that since I'll be home now from work for the next couple of weeks, it's time to find a way to continue working on my basement project. Now that my older son is almost 3, and loves tools, I think I should put him to work. This will be interesting. Either my basement will get done in record time ... or .. my basement will be "done" in record time.

Der_Iron_Chef · #2 04-01-2008, 05:58 AM

Damn dude

I mean this when I say....if you need help, please let me know.

Zylumn · #3 04-01-2008, 06:05 AM

Congrats on the new family member. Its too bad that during your busy time in life your tanks and inhabitants scream in their own way for your attention.
I guess if keeping a reef tank was easy then everyone would have one ( then can you imagine the price of LR)
Just my opinion but children, hammers, and fish tanks don't do well together. LOL
You need a hand with anything feel free to speak up.

Kevin

Tarolisol · #4 04-01-2008, 06:14 AM

This sounds like the time i turned my huge SW tank into a FW tank.

Keri · #5 04-01-2008, 06:20 AM

Aww! That's disheartening!! Sorry to hear that but it's gunna get better now that you have time to deal with it

Pan · #6 04-01-2008, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

After a weekend where I was only home for a few brief hours at nights and spent the daytimes in the hospital with a new baby, I come home at the end of it to find my tanks in a fairly sorry state.

In one, I find my longspine urchin upside-down and unable to move around on its own, unable to feed. I can only assume it's on the way out, which is odd since it's only a year old and their lifespan is reported more like around 5 years or more. Not sure why he's not doing well, but he's not dead yet, but it wounds me to see this thing languish like that.

Plus the tank he's in, the cube, is starting to once again accumulate nitrates, despite being dosed by Polyp Labs. The ability of this tank to resist any form of nitrate management is truly remarkable. ... although I mean remarkable in a demoralizing sort of way.

Somehow during the night I found my 75g tank's skimmer feed hose popped off the feed pump. The resulting water spray from the sump kicked the GFCI off and the sump return and heater were off during the night. However the GFCI servicing the powerheads did not, so they were still running. BUT, the siphon holes were blocked (I clean these things every week, man it boggles the mind how fast they clog up), so the tank drained to the point where the powerheads were above the waterline. And water of course on the floor.

Of course I don't notice this until after I wake up, of course it must have happened shortly after I went to bed because the tank temperature was 67F. This tank has been flatlined before for several hours and never had a temperature drop like that (setpoint is 77F, but usually runs more like 78-79 with all pumps and lights on).

Tang obviously got a little freaked out because he looks like he's been through a blender. Sides all scraped up, few chunks of flesh missing.

I know what fate is telling me .. it's time to take these tanks down and retire them. I have to find a way to work on the replacement tank.

I think that since I'll be home now from work for the next couple of weeks, it's time to find a way to continue working on my basement project. Now that my older son is almost 3, and loves tools, I think I should put him to work. This will be interesting. Either my basement will get done in record time ... or .. my basement will be "done" in record time.

Maternity leave = more time to set up new tank

digital-audiophile · #7 04-01-2008, 01:49 PM

Thats just crappy Tony

It always seems that the worst seems to happen when there is not time to deal with it.

Phanman · #8 04-01-2008, 03:56 PM

Sorry to hear about your bad news Tony.. but congrats on the new member of your family.

michika · #9 04-01-2008, 10:43 PM

Ouch on your run of bad timing/luck/whatever you want to call it.

Let us know if you need help, I'm more then happy to volunteer Kevin for some work in exchange for a cup of coffee.

Delphinus · #10 04-02-2008, 07:06 AM

Well, tank looks like it ought to recover. Things were looking a little stressed yesterday but better today. Tang is still scratched up of course, but it's all superficial. I'm pretty sure what happened was he wedged himself in between rocks covered with those @^%$^%$!!! vermetid snails. Man, I have got to find a way to rid my rock of that nuisance.

With a little luck tomorrow (well technically "later today") the baby can come home from the hospital and that will cut down on me spending a lot of time at the hospital. Although I have to say that I think the staff at the Rockyview are an AMAZING bunch of people that literally restore my faith in humankind (not to try to sound too corny or anything ... but they really are just a very pleasant bunch of people).

Did manage to find some time to fish what was left of my diadema out of the cube tank today. Still a little bummed about that, I wonder what went wrong there. My green urchin is in the same tank and is still going strong... plenty of food in this tank.

Anyhow thanks for the offers of help .. Think for now what I'll do is redo the sump return outlets so they are higher up. That way I don't have to worry about siphon holes clogging, and just call it a day on that one.