Please be gentle. I'm a mess HELP

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

Ok sooooo, last night the worst possible thing u could imagine in the tank world happened. Yep, brand new hardwood floors DESTROYED!!!! Last night I kept hearing a dripping sound and figured it was coming from outside due to it raining. Then as the night went on it became a trickle...I got curious and started snooping around. Couldn't find anything dripping or wet. Went to bed and this morning woke up to 3/4 of my tank on my brand new hardwood floor. Looks like the seam on the BOTTOM OF THE TANK had a loose end :( well not only is that the problem, but I have 200 nassarius and cerith snails showing up Monday along with a goby and pistol shrimp. My tank has to be drained and fixed and restarted. WHAT DO I DO? Is there magic in a bottle that will cycle a tank in 48 hours? I only have about 5-10 gallons of my original Water left. Lost alot of my live sand from seepage. I'm a mess. Husband is talking about going to buy a brand new tank and new live sand, transferring the live rock, mixing our new water and adding it straight in and mixing it with whatever water we can salvage from our other tank. I'm so lost. I can't gather my thoughts enough on what to do here. Floors are not my concern (however my husband is boiling at the fact I am more concerned about the tank then floors lol) any help?

Ryan2428 · May 3, 2014

Wow I am not your answer guy but some one will help I am sure but that stinks and good luck

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

All my husband sees is $$$ signs. I see and empty tank through blurry eyes lol. It's 2 months old and I was just getting ready to add my first fishy :(

Ryan2428 · May 3, 2014

What about a small nano tank to hold what water and live u have left till u get a new bigger tank

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

I have 75 pounds of live rock plus all my new stuff coming Monday :/

dankreef · May 3, 2014

If it was me I would buy a new tank for sure and probably new stand as well. If your stand is wood and got soaked it could be compromised. Wood will soak in water and then become weak. Just put your order on hold email them today, probably better to cancel your going to have to start over. Use as much old water as you can but 5 gallons isn't going to do much. Welcome to the wonderful world of fish tanks. I had 2 stands go on me, and a cracked tank issue. Had to start over 3 times with full 180 of coral and rocks. Don't give up!

Ryan2428 · May 3, 2014

Yep not sure I'm new at this as well just thinking of the top of my head I'm sure a saltwater wiz will read it soon I hope

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

It's already in transit :/ we are doing new stand and tank but question is...can I keep goby in the 5-10 gal of sales water in a small tank I'm talking like the smallest nano for 4-6 weeks till my new once cycles? Will the snails survive the cycle?

Usctom · May 3, 2014

get a large rubbermaid to keep everything in until you decide on what your going to do about the tank.

bonomo53 · May 3, 2014

After losing my tank to sandy i wanted to get it back up quick. I used prodibio start up and added a clown the next day. Tanks been up for a year and a half now with no issues. Ive also heard of people having success with start smart and instant ocean bio-spira.

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

Won't the plastic give off chemicals?

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

After losing my tank to sandy i wanted to get it back up quick. I used prodibio start up and added a clown the next day. Tanks been up for a year and a half now with no issues. Ive also heard of people having success with smart start and instant ocean bio-spira.<br/>

Isn't that the instant cycle in a bottle I'm hearing about?

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

bonomo53 said:
After losing my tank to sandy i wanted to get it back up quick. I used prodibio start up and added a clown the next day. Tanks been up for a year and a half now with no issues. Ive also heard of people having success with smart start and instant ocean bio-spira.

Isn't that the instant cycle in a bottle I'm talking about?

Reefing Madness · May 3, 2014

If your tank has been cycled, then your ok here.
Fill a large tote from Walmart, mix up your salt, get it to within specs. Or fill up your bath tub, I've done this before on a tank move. Put all your rock into the tub or tote, and your set, wait a day til it settles and you will be able to add your critters, no problem. the majority of the bacteria is in the rock and sand.
The sand, the same thing. Get a tote from Walmart, mix up some saltwater, bring it to specs, throw in a powerhead, and throw in the sand. All this will be fine until you can get your new setup.

GoingPostal · May 3, 2014

If your live rock is cycled and has been kept wet you are fine to use all new water, most of the bacteria is going to be on the rock and will quickly repopulate, the cleanup crew isn't much bioload and neither is the fish you are getting. Reefingmadness gave great advice and exactly what I would do. Sucks about your tank and the mess though.

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

Ok went to Walmart and got a 45 gal Tupper ware. We ended up saving about 14 gallons of our original Water. We have the live rock (which yes my tank has already cycled) and the left over live sand all in the tub. Now, we are going to pets mart to buy a new tank and stand, when I get it home, will it be ok for me to mix my old live sand with a bag or 2 of the new live sand, add my live rock, add the 14 gallons of my old water and mix the new using the RO/DI system and putting it straight in? Or should I mix the new water and let it sit overnight or what??? Because my tank was already cycled, my husband asks "what's this any different then doing a 50% water change? We never had to add any bacteria or anything before with the other water changes so why do we now?" Is he right? Can I do the process mentioned about and my goby survive upon arrival??

Reefing Madness · May 3, 2014

Well, it wouldn't be any different than doing a 50% water change, except you had to remove the sand. Which is going to be a pain in the butt, because theres alot of garbage held in there, that when stirred up will cause a mini cycle. I'd rinse out the sand you removed, just to keep the spike to a mimimun, then yes, by all means go ahead and add sand if you wish. Other than the sand, yea, mix up the water bring it to temp, SG, Cal, Alk, Mag, and throw it in the tank, then add sand, and rock.
If you rinse your sand out, and keep the spike to a minimum, yes, I'd give your Goby a real good chance, he should be ok.

jrbates08 · May 3, 2014

Reefing Madness said:
Well, it wouldn't be any different than doing a 50% water change, except you had to remove the sand. Which is going to be a pain in the butt, because theres alot of garbage held in there, that when stirred up will cause a mini cycle. I'd rinse out the sand you removed, just to keep the spike to a mimimun, then yes, by all means go ahead and add sand if you wish. Other than the sand, yea, mix up the water bring it to temp, SG, Cal, Alk, Mag, and throw it in the tank, then add sand, and rock.
If you rinse your sand out, and keep the spike to a minimum, yes, I'd give your Goby a real good chance, he should be ok.

Reefing madness u rock!!! Thanks

gemini9 · May 3, 2014

Wow lol and I thought I was in a panic over my nitrates lol My problems seem mild now. :) Sorry about your luck. I hope you get it all straightened out.

fishroomlady · May 3, 2014

good luck! so sorry to hear about your experience. You've gotten sound advice, I hope everything pulls through. I doubt that your hardwood is ruined though, one benefit to having saltwater is that it's not prone to mold like freshwater (I've been told) - dry up all of the water and put some fans on it...if they are brand new, I'm thinking they should be ok.