UV burn...what to do??

christyf5 · #1 12-15-2009, 12:15 AM

Lucky me, I just arrived home to find half a bulb at the bottom of the tank. Is it burnt out? Of course not, its frying all my corals.

So....wtf do I do now? I turned off the halides immediately. Do I run with just actinics for awhile? Replace the bulb and run as normal? Most of my frags look like they're gonna be hitting the trash bin, couple poccis don't look happy. Zoos are extremely ****ed. Fish are freaked.

Ugh, you know those days where you wonder why you're in this hobby? Today is one of them

Borderjumper · #2 12-15-2009, 12:34 AM

aww Christy that sucks! I dont know if theres anything you can do for the burn.. I would guess just keep your water quality up. I think if it were me I would replace the bulb and then run a few days or a week with some screen over the tank and a reduced photo period.

Im just basing this on how a sunburn feels worse if you go back out in the sun.

PoonTang · #3 12-15-2009, 12:43 AM

Noooo Christy thats so awful. Dont give up. I will have frags here for you ASAP of course. I would think a few days of subdued lighting would be the best thing, give things a chance to heal if possible.

Myka · #4 12-15-2009, 12:50 AM

I would replace the bulb, and run actinics only for a couple days. The frags will appreciate a couple "cloudy" days!

christyf5 · #5 12-15-2009, 01:06 AM

The frags are dead except for 3 which were sort of tucked under the eurobracing, I don't have hope for most of the right side of the tank. Whatever.

Anyway, my scopas and powder blue tang both have "cataract" looking eyes on the upper parts. The PBT is swimming but looks confused and I'm pretty sure he is going to ick up in the next few days.

Do eyes fix themselves or have I got a couple of "special" tangs now?

effing hobby. I am so ****ed off.

Lance · #6 12-15-2009, 01:17 AM

PoonTang · #7 12-15-2009, 01:20 AM

hopefully the eye thing is temporary like "snow blindness"

Borderjumper · #8 12-15-2009, 01:22 AM

what kind of bulb was it Christy? You dont have glass on your reflectors?
What frags did you loose? I will send you home with some frags when you pick up the GFO.. it should be delivered tomorrow

christyf5 · #9 12-15-2009, 01:45 AM

I'm not worried about the frags, they can be replaced (and its not like I don't have any frags

) Most were from Sarah and a couple from Snappy. Life isn't over, its just so bloody frustrating. First the wavebox and now this. Things just happened too close to one another I guess.

The bulb was an ushio single ended, just under a year old. I never bothered to put glass on the reflectors simply because it wasn't required and I never thought the bulb would break and keep running (of all things! in my world when a lightbulb breaks it stops working, apparently this isn't so in metal halide land). In hindsight I really should have glass covers on my reflectors and I'll be measuring them right quick. My regal tang is a complete arsehole and loves to gulp air after eating which often results in his tail flipping water as he dives downward. He sometimes does this when he's bored too.

I've put several screens over the tank on the affected side. It looks kind of funny actually, I'm using an old piece of undergravel filter that came out of a sump I bought, some plasticky green netting and a couple small chunks of eggcrate I found. It still lets too much light through IMO but I'll do the reduced photoperiod too.

I fed everyone some mysis just a bit ago to see if my royal gramma was still around as I hadn't seen him yet. He's a belligerent bastard but timid when he's spooked. I saw his butt as he flashed by so everyone is accounted for (unlikely that he would be affected by the UV as he likes to hide out in the rocks). The PBT ate, so he can see. The scopas doesn't look too bad except for the eyes and he ate. Its mostly the PBT that is affected the worst as he likes that side of the tank and was probably too stunned to clue into the fact that he was getting burned.

Lesson learned: put glass on your reflectors regardless of bulb type if you have retarded fish.

Delphinus · #10 12-15-2009, 01:48 AM

I had a lamp crack in half on me. I lost all the SPS under it, but other things in the tank recovered. I'm not sure about the fish's eyes. I'm hoping for the best that they'll come around in a few days.

Really sorry to hear this BTW.

Ugh, one thing or another.