My tank is crashing again... who else has had a tank crash?

[vetteguy53081]

My previous tank had 5 crashed the last year. The one just happened this april was a total lost along with 22 of my fishes. So dont feel too bad about yours.

Ooh - that hurts!! Thought mine was bad

 

[Beth Villmow]

Mine crashed the beginning of this year from an ammonia spike, lost everything but a couple crabs and little starfish. Since then I have had an outbreak of red slime (gone now),hair green and brown hair algae (thought was gone but brown is back). I have lost 4 CUC, an order of 2500 copepods, 2 mandarins,2 clowns, 1 cardinal, 1royal gamma, and a lawnmower blenny. I have also lost all of my starfish.I can't keep any coral alive and im about ready to give up! I dont have the resources to have a dosing system or sump or refugium. HELP! I don't want to give up!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mine crashed the beginning of this year from an ammonia spike, lost everything but a couple crabs and little starfish. Since then I have had an outbreak of red slime (gone now),hair green and brown hair algae (thought was gone but brown is back). I have lost 4 CUC, an order of 2500 copepods, 2 mandarins,2 clowns, 1 cardinal, 1royal gamma, and a lawnmower blenny. I have also lost all of my starfish.I can't keep any coral alive and im about ready to give up! I dont have the resources to have a dosing system or sump or refugium. HELP! I don't want to give up!

Ouch. I feel for you!

 

[Hulley]

I had a tank crash many years ago, the bad thing was it was a completely dumb thing I did and could've been avoided. I took the opportunity to "cook" my rocks for about 10 weeks, made a few changes and all was good. Lesson learned for sure.

In case you were wondering, this was a 90 gallon with a wet/dry system full of bioballs. I read on reefcentral that bioballs for harmful for some reason, so I took them all out. Basically the live rock I had in the tank was not up to the task of supporting the fish I had and they all suffocated. I was in the middle of getting my Scuba certification so by the time I noticed what was going on, it was too late.

 

[Animal Chin]

Carbon dosing crashed my tank hard. Lost most of my big sps colonies that had grown from frags over the years. I took all carbon and GFO off line and now just skim with a fuge and my tank looks amazing. I think keeping things simple is the key. Maintain and don't over think things. Thats what I've learned over the years.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I lost my previous tank to Hurricane Irma last September - I lived on the island that suffered the most damage in the Florida Keys (Ramrod Key). I kept the tank going for a week with a generator, but we lost water for 17 days, power for 28 days, and ran out of gas in a week. There was nothing I could do...

 

[Beth Villmow]

Ouch. I feel for you!

Thanks

 

[Beth Villmow]

I had a tank crash many years ago, the bad thing was it was a completely dumb thing I did and could've been avoided. I took the opportunity to "cook" my rocks for about 10 weeks, made a few changes and all was good. Lesson learned for sure.

In case you were wondering, this was a 90 gallon with a wet/dry system full of bioballs. I read on reefcentral that bioballs for harmful for some reason, so I took them all out. Basically the live rock I had in the tank was not up to the task of supporting the fish I had and they all suffocated. I was in the middle of getting my Scuba certification so by the time I noticed what was going on, it was too late.

 

[Prestigereef]

It's truly amazing just how many ways things can go wrong with our tanks... I wonder if we all knew this at the start of the hobby if we would have started it?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I lost my previous tank to Hurricane Irma last September - I lived on the island that suffered the most damage in the Florida Keys (Ramrod Key). I kept the tank going for a week with a generator, but we lost water for 17 days, power for 28 days, and ran out of gas in a week. There was nothing I could do...

These are the true Horror stories we only hope we never endure.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's truly amazing just how many ways things can go wrong with our tanks... I wonder if we all knew this at the start of the hobby if we would have started it?

You will find many are up for a challenge and currently are. There are rules to success (not easy rules). It takes just one shift of dosing or change to turn the whole picture around

 

[Prestigereef]

You will find many are up for a challenge and currently are. There are rules to success (not easy rules). It takes just one shift of dosing or change to turn the whole picture around

Thats probably why we do it... if it were easy everyone would do it

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thats probably why we do it... if it were easy everyone would do it

Agreed. When we beat the odds- we are proud reef owners

 

[Halal Hotdog]

A while ago I had a mini crash, didn't lose any fish but lost a few corals. I was cleaning my ATS and decided to use a a surface that was just scrubbed clean. What I didn't realize is they used quite a bit of soap to clean the surface. I did wash it with plain water before placing my ATS mesh on it. When I added the screen back on my ATS it smelled floral, like soap. Immediately I realized this will be a problem. Everything was closed for a month and a few colonies died. Most corals recovered but there was definitely loss in tissue.

 

[The Black One]

I’m a new reefer and a tank crash is my biggest fear...

 

[pirate2876]

The output line for the cal reactor became submerged and I didn't notice it. I also didn't notice that water was unable to get out of the reactor because of the blockage. I lost a few nice colonies and made everything else unhappy. All this and it's only Tuesday...

 

[CherBear811]

Had my first crash ever this past winter... lost about 55 sps, torches, almost all favia, xenia wiped out (but of course it has come back from the tiny smear of it that managed to survive), and all my chalice. I noticed it within minutes of when it happened. My normally great PE sps were all shriveled up tight and so was pretty much everything else... clouding started a half hour after that. Made water, did a big wc, replaced my ROX carbon and put fresh rowa in. Still continued to get worse and by the next morning was so cloudy I could barely see my fish looking at me desperately just a few inches in. Did another huge wc, replaced rox and rowa again, and dosed some dr tims, and added an air stone to the main tank. For 2 days the tank smelled like a bag of coral after a rough shipment. I managed to save my fish and all 3 nems (which were very close to death for a few days I believe), and all my gonis (oddly, they did fine). A frogspawn and my favorite rainbow echi made it as did all of my acans. At least half the zoas melted in days.

I've been in this hobby for 30 years, had several tanks, and worked at a lfs for 3 years where I guided countless customers through new tank setups and several day power outages, with almost no losses - let me tell you, it can happen to anyone. I cried when I watched my tank crash, and I still get choked up when I see pics of some of the corals that I lost. But, Im grateful for what I saved. Hang in there.

 

[Ghost25]

Had my first crash ever this past winter... lost about 55 sps, torches, almost all favia, xenia wiped out (but of course it has come back from the tiny smear of it that managed to survive), and all my chalice. I noticed it within minutes of when it happened. My normally great PE sps were all shriveled up tight and so was pretty much everything else... clouding started a half hour after that.

I don't understand what happened. Did a doser malfunction?

 

[CodyRVA]

The irony is after the fact seeing "coral skeleton" on a shelf for sale in a random store; as if it was something I wanted to be reminded of on a daily basis....

 

[TheTwistedHippy]

I haven't had a coral wipeout, but I somehow ended up with Clown Disease, which took all my fish, 3 months after starting up my first saltwater tank.

I learned about not quarantining the hard way and started over right away. Now I am in the process of setting up a 360 gallon system and I couldn't love the hobby any more than I already do