Tank Crash. Lost all my corals :(

Tangman · #1 08-07-2006, 11:11 PM

So very sorry to here about the fate of your tank, I had the same thing happen to my old 120 gallon before I got a chiller.
So do you still think that a 20 gallon is too small for a chiller ?

revgeoff · #2 08-08-2006, 02:39 AM

Sorry to hear/read about your tank.
I know what it feels like to have to start from scratch, it can be very demoralising. When my heater broke in two and fried all my fish, coral and inversts (except, as I found out two weeks later, my 6 line and lawnmower blenny) I decided to quit the hoby. Luckily my wife convinced me keep going.

Beverly · #3 08-08-2006, 02:53 AM

Hang in there, Scott. I know you feel really lousy right now, but in a month or so, you'll be back in the saddle again. Now might be a good time to consider "cooking" your rock to get rid of the algae. Don't mean anything punny with that statement BTW, but "cooking" may give you a break from your tank and give your rock a renewed look.

Sorry to hear about your huge loss

Flusher · #4 08-08-2006, 04:25 AM

Ouch. That's a lousy way to end a weekend...

My nano reef hasn't gone much higher than 84*F this summer (it usually stays under 82*F, thankfully), but my smaller mantis shrimp tank hits 86*F fairly frequently (no corals, just aipstasia in this tank). I haven't had any problems, though the mantis is far more active at cooler temperatures.

Do you know how hot your tank was? (I guess this question goes out to anyone who's lost livestock to heat issues.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tangman

So do you still think that a 20 gallon is too small for a chiller ?

Do they make them small enough for 20 gallon tanks and under? I don't know much about chillers, except that they're expensive.

Kabong · #5 08-08-2006, 05:43 AM

Theres the iceprobe

Around $100, Should do a 20Gal.
Theres even a version you can get thats built right into a HOB filter.

reeferaddict · #6 08-08-2006, 09:27 AM

My condolences for your loss, it would be discouraging to anyone.

It seems that all of us in this hobby must go through our individual growing pains to arrive at a comfort zone. My 90 had developed into a soup a couple of years back, and I too was at the point where I just wanted to get rid of it and get out of the hobby. It was taking too much time and money, and it just seemed that I was killing everything I bought...

To the rescue came my girlfriend... she asked some very good questions that I was forced to answer, and let me know that it was allright to really attempt this with the right approach, both timewise and financially. Though she has virtually nothing to do with the tank, her acceptance when I come home with thousands of dollars worth of gear DOES allow me to pursue this in a free manner, because no matter what you WILL pay... especially if keeping delicate species like SPS is in your sights. I thank her for her encouragement, and I take pride in my attempts to make all of this work.

With this hobby, failures create challenges, and sometimes the simplest successes give us the most incredible feeling of accomplishment. Don't give up, we have all been humbled. Those that say they haven't are liars. Our best hope is to learn as much as we can from the failures we encounter, our own or others - thank you for sharing with us and I wish you the best of luck down the road.

OCDP · #7 08-08-2006, 02:49 PM

Wow, thanks for all the kind words everyone. Really appreciate it.

Just a small update, but the tank is still quite cloudy and still has quite a stink to it. Is it all the dead tissues that is causing this foul smell? (i have removed all the dead corals) . I did 8g water change yesterday and things were looking alright. I think I'll do another 8g or so tonight . I am skimming heavy as well at the moment.

Ruth - So sorry to hear about all the recent troubles (and losses) Hope everything is back to normal soon. I think I will definitely do more water changes this evening. I also think I'll stick around for a while, I just need the stench and cloudiness gone and I am back in business. The rest is all algae which can be beaten.

revgeoff - Glad your sticking around in the hobby! Sorry to hear about the heater troubles... such a crappy way for a tank to die off, basically melting like mine was and boiling the fish.

Bev - Your right.. in a month I'll be back at it, it's just overwhelming (or was overwhelming) when I came home to that... now I know I just need to get the stench and cloudiness gone and it shouldn't be too , too bad. I think adding some snails (seeing how I lost 90% of mine) will help my case. Cooking the rock is an option as well.

Flusher - I couldn't tell ya how hot the tank got... definitely above 86 though. The tank was warm, even after being cooled.

Kabong - I've never seen anything like that before, that's neat... any links with info on those guys??

reeferaddict - Thanks a bunch for the post.. and I agree that everyone must go through something like this to get to a certain comfort zone. I still don't quite know what I am doing with the tank next, but I'll figure it out soon enough.

I am hoping a few more good water changes and things should stabalize. I'll keep the thread updated as well.

Thanks again everyone.

christyf5 · #8 08-08-2006, 04:09 PM

If I were you I'd do water change after water change, you need to get all that gunk out of the water before the tank can return to "normal". You don't want any of it settling out and rotting on the sandbed, possibly suffocating it. I'd do at least 4-5 water changes (or more) and then leave the tank just to recouperate for a couple weeks before you make any major additions. Chances are not only the corals croaked in that tank, some of the sandbed probably died due to less oxygen in the water from the die off/increased temperature. Oh and run some carbon if you have it handy.

OCDP · #9 08-08-2006, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

If I were you I'd do water change after water change, you need to get all that gunk out of the water before the tank can return to "normal". You don't want any of it settling out and rotting on the sandbed, possibly suffocating it. I'd do at least 4-5 water changes (or more) and then leave the tank just to recouperate for a couple weeks before you make any major additions. Chances are not only the corals croaked in that tank, some of the sandbed probably died due to less oxygen in the water from the die off/increased temperature. Oh and run some carbon if you have it handy.

Yeah.. as I said I am going to do more water changes once I'm home from work. I only had time for 2 yesterday, I just got back from camping and had a lot of things to get done last night. Is it just me , and it probably is but doesn't it seem wrong to change out 2g, replace it, then take another 2g out and replace it? Wouldn't the "correct" way of doing this be to just change out the whole amount (whatever that may be, probably another 8g in my case) and replace it all? Seems like this would be more effective?

I have nothing in there that it can further harm really (coral wise) . I don't have any carbon unfortunately.. I'll turn on my AC500 and stick the foam insert in for a bit though . I'll try to get some carbon today .

I also will turkey baste all the rocks and sand... hell, I may even remove my sand bed ... it's just full of crap and it's not doing my tank any good these days.