briancarterkc
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2016
- Messages
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I realized the other day that I never started a build thread for my tank when I started over in October 2015. Time to remedy that.
To explain why this is a REBUILD thread. We have to go back to Thanksgiving 2013. After a great six days in California visiting family (my profile pic was shot on that trip; serves as a reminder to me not to get complacent with my maintenance), while I was unloading bags from the car at 11pm, I heard my wife yell what no reefer wants to hear; "BABE! THERES A BIG PROBLEM WITH YOUR AQUARIUM!"
I run inside and find a pool of water around my tank, and everything inside was obviously dead. Later I found it wasn't everything; somehow my clownfish and my goby were alive. But, 5 years of coral, including some huge colonies I started as frags were all dead.
The culprit; idiocy. I had my RODI hooked up as my ATO. Despite having a hose timer and a float valve, both failed while we were gone and ran (just trickling) for at least 5 days. I know it was that long because our housekeeper comes every other Monday and noted that she saw a little water on the floor in front of the aquarium.
LIFE LESSON: NEVER, EVER, EVER connect your RODI up as your ATO. Use a reservoir that is smaller than what would kill your tank if it all emptied into your system.
After tearing it all down and a very expensive insurance claim (which turned into a basement remodel, much to my wife's delight), I took almost two years off to get over it.
So, with that as a backdrop, let me post some updates to catch us up to current.
To explain why this is a REBUILD thread. We have to go back to Thanksgiving 2013. After a great six days in California visiting family (my profile pic was shot on that trip; serves as a reminder to me not to get complacent with my maintenance), while I was unloading bags from the car at 11pm, I heard my wife yell what no reefer wants to hear; "BABE! THERES A BIG PROBLEM WITH YOUR AQUARIUM!"
I run inside and find a pool of water around my tank, and everything inside was obviously dead. Later I found it wasn't everything; somehow my clownfish and my goby were alive. But, 5 years of coral, including some huge colonies I started as frags were all dead.
The culprit; idiocy. I had my RODI hooked up as my ATO. Despite having a hose timer and a float valve, both failed while we were gone and ran (just trickling) for at least 5 days. I know it was that long because our housekeeper comes every other Monday and noted that she saw a little water on the floor in front of the aquarium.
LIFE LESSON: NEVER, EVER, EVER connect your RODI up as your ATO. Use a reservoir that is smaller than what would kill your tank if it all emptied into your system.
After tearing it all down and a very expensive insurance claim (which turned into a basement remodel, much to my wife's delight), I took almost two years off to get over it.
So, with that as a backdrop, let me post some updates to catch us up to current.
