I just need to vent and ask a question

[vlangel]

Yep, if the fish feeder is a non aquarium person just helping out, such things can happen unfortunately. I can't tell you how many times I flooded the basement with RODI water and I have been a reef keeper a long time. Its a live and learn experience and now you have learned that you need to make RODI ahead of time.
Be patient with the algae. Scrape as much off the back glass as possible and do several big-ish (30%) water changes close together. Add to your CUC. If possible remove some of the worst rock and scrub with a toothbrush and do a peroxide treatment for the worst algae. Then rinse the rock in water removed from the tank before replacing back into the tank. You can make a big dent in the current condition by doing these things.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I've done it twice myself. I forgot to turn off the sink while it was filling with water, and when I came back to my bathroom, there was water everywhere. At least I made my ATO water

I may have told this story here before. A similar flood is part of why the BeanAnimal Overflow was born. It was not an overflow clog that started the idea, but a major RO/DI flood that put me in the position of being homeless if another flood of any kind happened.

Of course, 20+ years later there have still been numerous “oops, the RO/DI” type floods....

The most embarrassing part of the first one went like this.

I had just set up the tank, joined the local reef club, and attended a meeting or two. I volunteered to help a long-time member move his tanks. A 500, a 220, and a 130 or something like that. The whole club was at his house and I was the new guy.

My Motrola flip phone rings.

The Warden: “There is water on the basement floor. Something is leaking.”

Me: “How much and where is it coming from?”

The Warden: “Your fish room. A lot.”

Me: “How much is a lot?”

The Warden: “I stepped off the bottom step in my socks and my feet are ** sopping wet. Does that answer your dumb ** question?”

Me: “Umm… so… umm…”

The Warden: “Tell me what to **ing do. There is water everywhere.”

Now I am standing there red-faced because everyone in the room can hear the Warden yelling about wet socks and water -- loud enough to turn the flip phone into a conference room speaker.

Me: “Okay… umm… just pull the main plug to the left of the door.”

The Warden: “That made it 10× ** worse. Now the whole sump thingy is overflowing everywhere. Now what?”

Before I could respond, the homeowner and a few club members said, “You better go. She sounds very mad.”

Upon arriving home I found that I had left the house and forgotten to turn off the RO/DI that was filling the sump for evaporation makeup. No ATO yet. Over the hours we were both gone, it overflowed the sump and flooded the basement. When she pulled the plug, the backflow -- maybe another 3–5 gallons -- made it even worse.

When I returned to the tank move a few hours later and explained what happened, expecting to be laughed at, the tank owner’s wife said:

“Don’t feel bad. Ask this idiot how many times he has flooded our basement and what it cost us to fix it.”

She then held court for the group and explained two RO/DI floods that required professional cleanup, including industrial fans, carpet and drywall replacement, mold remediation, etc. Then several other members told their own stories.

I felt better. The Warden did not.

To this day the club member and his wife still our good friends. Every once in a while when we get together she will say, “Hey, did he happen to tell you what happened last week? He fell asleep with the RO/DI on” and he gives me the look that says: please do not respond, it's bad".


Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

 

[MadreeferNJ]

Messed up my RODI filter once with an overflow in the floor. Now I run a long line to shower from under my bathroom sink. If it overflows down the drain and no mess.

 

[Rocks reef]

Yeah it is probably true that I already had bristleworms. I am going to test my numbers today, but whenever I left nitrates were at 20 and phosphates were at .5, I had just done a massive water change before we left because the phosphates were at 2.1. Going forward I will premake the Rodi water and put it in a bucket. I will see if my lfs has a sea hare. I don’t think I remember them having one, but they also do have a huge wall of inverts, so I might have overlooked it.

I'd recommend keeping NO3 and PO4 within close range of the Redfield ratio. With phosphates being quite a bit out that range, the algae is going to win. Since your NO3 is 20, PO4 should be near .2.
Also, if you can, I would take out the rocks and scrub them in a separate bucket, rinse in a clean bucket and then place back in the tank. Work on your parameters. You tank isn't as bad as you think, it will just take some time.

 

[Rocks reef]

I may have told this story here before. A similar flood is part of why the BeanAnimal Overflow was born. It was not an overflow clog that started the idea, but a major RO/DI flood that put me in the position of being homeless if another flood of any kind happened.

Of course, 20+ years later there have still been numerous “oops, the RO/DI” type floods....

The most embarrassing part of the first one went like this.

I had just set up the tank, joined the local reef club, and attended a meeting or two. I volunteered to help a long-time member move his tanks. A 500, a 220, and a 130 or something like that. The whole club was at his house and I was the new guy.

My Motrola flip phone rings.

The Warden: “There is water on the basement floor. Something is leaking.”

Me: “How much and where is it coming from?”

The Warden: “Your fish room. A lot.”

Me: “How much is a lot?”

The Warden: “I stepped off the bottom step in my socks and my feet are ** sopping wet. Does that answer your dumb ** question?”

Me: “Umm… so… umm…”

The Warden: “Tell me what to **ing do. There is water everywhere.”

Now I am standing there red-faced because everyone in the room can hear the Warden yelling about wet socks and water -- loud enough to turn the flip phone into a conference room speaker.

Me: “Okay… umm… just pull the main plug to the left of the door.”

The Warden: “That made it 10× ** worse. Now the whole sump thingy is overflowing everywhere. Now what?”

Before I could respond, the homeowner and a few club members said, “You better go. She sounds very mad.”

Upon arriving home I found that I had left the house and forgotten to turn off the RO/DI that was filling the sump for evaporation makeup. No ATO yet. Over the hours we were both gone, it overflowed the sump and flooded the basement. When she pulled the plug, the backflow -- maybe another 3–5 gallons -- made it even worse.

When I returned to the tank move a few hours later and explained what happened, expecting to be laughed at, the tank owner’s wife said:

“Don’t feel bad. Ask this idiot how many times he has flooded our basement and what it cost us to fix it.”

She then held court for the group and explained two RO/DI floods that required professional cleanup, including industrial fans, carpet and drywall replacement, mold remediation, etc. Then several other members told their own stories.

I felt better. The Warden did not.

To this day the club member and his wife still our good friends. Every once in a while when we get together she will say, “Hey, did he happen to tell you what happened last week? He fell asleep with the RO/DI on” and he gives me the look that says: please do not respond, it's bad".


Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Wow Bean, and you are still married! Kudos to you my friend. I've been there, done that. My Warden actually bought me an Aquaticlife RO buddy with auto shut off to make sure that never happened again!

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'd recommend keeping NO3 and PO4 within close range of the Redfield ratio

The "Redfield Ratio" does not regulate how organisms use nutrients. There is no reason to keep N and P at or near the "Refield Ratio" or any other specific ratio. This is hobby wide misinterpretation of research into what certain types of phytoplankton end up incorporating into their tissue, conflated to prescribe what ratio needs to be in the water for them to do so.

I don't fault you for repeating it, it is everywhere these days. It causes more problems (people chasing unimportant ratios) than it solves. I am happy to explain if needed.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Wow Bean, and you are still married! Kudos to you my friend. I've been there, done that. My Warden actually bought me an Aquaticlife RO buddy with auto shut off to make sure that never happened again!

Ohh she does not buy aquarium things. But she does like watching the shrimp. The aquarium usually flies under the radar, because I am often in trouble for much more obvious things.

 

[StartingATank]

I went to my lfs and got an emerald crab, or so I think. It doesn’t look like an emerald crab to me but I could be wrong. Could someone ID this for me?

 

[StartingATank]

Ok so I looked online and it appears to be a red Mithrax crab, so I released it into the tank

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'd recommend keeping NO3 and PO4 within close range of the Redfield ratio. With phosphates being quite a bit out that range, the algae is going to win. Since your NO3 is 20, PO4 should be near .2.
Also, if you can, I would take out the rocks and scrub them in a separate bucket, rinse in a clean bucket and then place back in the tank. Work on your parameters. You tank isn't as bad as you think, it will just take some time.

Hi Rock's

Thank you for the motivation to finally publish my Redfield Ratio article - it has been sitting in the drafts bin for months, or years. I posted part of it here in a thread a few months back, but it was not well polished. I tried to clean it up and make it more clear.

https://beananimal.com/articles/the-redfield-ratio-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-the-reef-tank-buffet/
Let me know what you think. Hopefully it helps to put Redfield into perspective. As I said, not picking on you at all. What you proposes is posted here and everywhere every day, as new prevailing wisdom. I don't know who started it or what prominent voice pushed it... but here we are.

 

[Rocks reef]

Hi Rock's

Thank you for the motivation to finally publish my Redfield Ratio article - it has been sitting in the drafts bin for months, or years. I posted part of it here in a thread a few months back, but it was not well polished. I tried to clean it up and make it more clear.

https://beananimal.com/articles/the-redfield-ratio-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-the-reef-tank-buffet/
Let me know what you think. Hopefully it helps to put Redfield into perspective. As I said, not picking on you at all. What you proposes is posted here and everywhere every day, as new prevailing wisdom. I don't know who started it or what prominent voice pushed it... but here we are.

Bean,

Thank you for posting that. It makes sense in the regards of molar vs ppm and the misguided information.