reeferab
Community Member
Hi all,
Unfortunately I had a catastrophic tank failure whilst on holiday. Lost all fish, inverts and corals, with the possible exception of some zoas I’m trying to revive). Totally devastating.
The tank was crashed (water turned super milky) for approx 5 days. There was a strong putrid smell - mix of hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs) and dead fish.
It’s a Fluval evo 52L/13.5G nano.
Essentially I’ve rinsed through the rocks and substrate and got the tank filled with fresh saltwater again. (Longer info below)
What should I expect to see in terms of cycling? And should I measure ammonia along with nitrate, phosphate, salinity? If there’s still die off is this effectively seeding the tank similar to adding ammonia or food/shrimp to cycle the tank?
In the reset, my biggest worry is the aiptasia surging the crash and coming back with vengeance!
Thank you
Process following tank crash :
My aim with the below was to try and preserve life on the rocks to not have to start from scratch.
Following the crash, I’ve dumped all of the water out. Took out the rocks (they were sitting dry for a couple of hours max), substrate, and dead corals.
Cleaned the tank up as much as possible but did leave some coraline algae around incase the spores are alive.
With the substrate, I washed with tap water until it ran clear and smell was mostly gone. Then rinsed through with rodi.
The rocks were sitting outside (British summer temps) in fresh saltwater along with dead/dying corals for 2 days.
Rocks were rinsed through saltwater and added back to the tank. Added the rinsed substrate.
Equipment was cleaned through with citric acid bath.
Unfortunately I had a catastrophic tank failure whilst on holiday. Lost all fish, inverts and corals, with the possible exception of some zoas I’m trying to revive). Totally devastating.
The tank was crashed (water turned super milky) for approx 5 days. There was a strong putrid smell - mix of hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs) and dead fish.
It’s a Fluval evo 52L/13.5G nano.
Essentially I’ve rinsed through the rocks and substrate and got the tank filled with fresh saltwater again. (Longer info below)
What should I expect to see in terms of cycling? And should I measure ammonia along with nitrate, phosphate, salinity? If there’s still die off is this effectively seeding the tank similar to adding ammonia or food/shrimp to cycle the tank?
In the reset, my biggest worry is the aiptasia surging the crash and coming back with vengeance!
Thank you
Process following tank crash :
My aim with the below was to try and preserve life on the rocks to not have to start from scratch.
Following the crash, I’ve dumped all of the water out. Took out the rocks (they were sitting dry for a couple of hours max), substrate, and dead corals.
Cleaned the tank up as much as possible but did leave some coraline algae around incase the spores are alive.
With the substrate, I washed with tap water until it ran clear and smell was mostly gone. Then rinsed through with rodi.
The rocks were sitting outside (British summer temps) in fresh saltwater along with dead/dying corals for 2 days.
Rocks were rinsed through saltwater and added back to the tank. Added the rinsed substrate.
Equipment was cleaned through with citric acid bath.
