Tank crash :(

[Korkuc36]

Hey all. I'm new to the forum. Thanks for having me. I experienced my first major crash. Lost all my fish, snails coral and my ritteri who was thriving. (Extra sad faces). I think what hurts the most is I had a very successful ritteri journey and lost it. But anyways the only things left are 3 rock flowers so far. I believe it was due to silicone that wasn't fully cured. I let it sit for almost a week but apparently it wasn't long enough. I changed the water completely and I am running carbon, carbon, and more carbon. Is my live rock doomed or can I keep the tank up and running and eventually restock?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all. I'm new to the forum. Thanks for having me. I experienced my first major crash. Lost all my fish, snails coral and my ritteri who was thriving. (Extra sad faces). I think what hurts the most is I had a very successful ritteri journey and lost it. But anyways the only things left are 3 rock flowers so far. I believe it was due to silicone that wasn't fully cured. I let it sit for almost a week but apparently it wasn't long enough. I changed the water completely and I am running carbon, carbon, and more carbon. Is my live rock doomed or can I keep the tank up and running and eventually restock?

Here are a few questions below to help determine what went wrong. . . . .

What is age of tank and how long did you let it cycle?
What were test results of cycle?
What test kits are you using?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?
What is current ammonia- nitrate - ph- Salinity- Tank Temperature?
Any pics of tank?
Also - How did you acclimate/introduce livestock and for how long ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Reeferjunkie]

Welcome to r2r and sorry to hear about the tank crash but keep your head up and build it even better. Good luck

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey all. I'm new to the forum. Thanks for having me. I experienced my first major crash. Lost all my fish, snails coral and my ritteri who was thriving. (Extra sad faces). I think what hurts the most is I had a very successful ritteri journey and lost it. But anyways the only things left are 3 rock flowers so far. I believe it was due to silicone that wasn't fully cured. I let it sit for almost a week but apparently it wasn't long enough. I changed the water completely and I am running carbon, carbon, and more carbon. Is my live rock doomed or can I keep the tank up and running and eventually restock?

You mention uncured silicon sealant.

Were the tank inhabitants and live rock transferred from a fully cycled system, or is this a new system?

Graham.

 

[Tamberav]

I believe the problem with uncured silicone is ammonia. Also worth reading the label to make sure no mold inhibitors.

Sorry for your losses. I would have thought a week was enough. I am almost certain my sump did not cure that long.

 

[Korkuc36]

Here are a few questions below to help determine what went wrong. . . . .

What is age of tank and how long did you let it cycle?
What were test results of cycle?
What test kits are you using?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?
What is current ammonia- nitrate - ph- Salinity- Tank Temperature?
Any pics of tank?
Also - How did you acclimate/introduce livestock and for how long ?

It is a year and a half old. Ammonia and nitrite are zero. Nitrates are 2.5 (salifert)
Alk, calcium, and mag are whatever reef crystal is due to the 100 percent water change.
Yes rodi is a must for me. I do not use tap water. I keep my salinity at 1.026. all my live stock has been in since month 6. I had a year of success with all live stock I introduced. I decided to upgrade my sump. Sooo I built my own. I have seen all the horror stories about uncured silicone. And I'm pretty sure I have fallen victim. Everything was fine and thriving until I added the sump. About 4 hours later I noticed everything closing up. About an hour after that my fish were being picked off left and right. That's when I knew something was wrong. I am down to some rock flowers and some zoa's that are still closed. Just hoping whatever leached out of the silicone didn't do my live rock in

 

[Pale Morning1]

What type of silicone did you use?

 

[vetteguy53081]

It is a year and a half old. Ammonia and nitrite are zero. Nitrates are 2.5 (salifert)
Alk, calcium, and mag are whatever reef crystal is due to the 100 percent water change.
Yes rodi is a must for me. I do not use tap water. I keep my salinity at 1.026. all my live stock has been in since month 6. I had a year of success with all live stock I introduced. I decided to upgrade my sump. Sooo I built my own. I have seen all the horror stories about uncured silicone. And I'm pretty sure I have fallen victim. Everything was fine and thriving until I added the sump. About 4 hours later I noticed everything closing up. About an hour after that my fish were being picked off left and right. That's when I knew something was wrong. I am down to some rock flowers and some zoa's that are still closed. Just hoping whatever leached out of the silicone didn't do my live rock in

Sounds like you may have found it. I knew it was associated with water hence the questions asked. I never use silicone but rather aquarium sealant (aqueon brand).
Run chemiPure blue pouch which will remove any toxins, keep nitrate and Phos in control;
If you monitor nothing else- do keep tabs on Alk. I never rely on salt capability as batches do change

 

[Korkuc36]

Sounds like you may have found it. I knew it was associated with water hence the questions asked. I never use silicone but rather aquarium sealant (aqueon brand).
Run chemiPure blue pouch which will remove any toxins, keep nitrate and Phos in control;
If you monitor nothing else- do keep tabs on Alk. I never rely on salt capability as batches do change

Sounds like you may have found it. I knew it was associated with water hence the questions asked. I never use silicone but rather aquarium sealant (aqueon brand).
Run chemiPure blue pouch which will remove any toxins, keep nitrate and Phos in control;
If you monitor nothing else- do keep tabs on Alk. I never rely on salt capability as batches do change

Thanks for the response. Do you think my live rock will be okay? I'm pretty good about things. But that is one thing I do not know

 

[Korkuc36]

Thanks for the response. Do you think my live rock will be okay? I'm pretty good about things. But that is one thing I do not know

Also I used GE. Yes I know. I'm kicking myself in the butt. I pulled the sump and rebuilt using aqueon. I used GE trying to save a few bucks but it cost me hundreds. (Kill me)

 

[polyppal]

If the silicone has a mold inhibiter that’ll do it

 

[Korkuc36]

If the silicone has a mold inhibiter that’ll do it

It's sure did do it... I seen horror stories and I also seen success stories. I was on the unfortunate side. Never again will I ever use anything other than aqueon

 

[dadnjesse]

Maybe you didn't use aquarium safe silicone. I built my sump and put in online same day never had a problem.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the response. Do you think my live rock will be okay? I'm pretty good about things. But that is one thing I do not know

It should be. You can add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria such as micro bacter 7 or XLM to boost bacteria cultures

 

[vetteguy53081]

Maybe you didn't use aquarium safe silicone. I built my sump and put in online same day never had a problem.

Silicone likely not fully cured and will leach if not fully cured

 

[Korkuc36]

Maybe you didn't use aquarium safe silicone. I built my sump and put in online same day never had a problem.

I used GE. I seen alot of success and alot of failure. I am unfortunately on the failure side

 

[Korkuc36]

It should be. You can add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria such as micro bacter 7 or XLM to boost bacteria cultures

I did throw in some bio spira.

 

[Korkuc36]

This is day number 4. Things are looking a little better. The 3 rock flowers are still acting a little strange but no deteriorating. Zoa's are still closed and looking pretty iffy. I have 1 gsp polyp out catching some light. Parameters are the same as yesterday. So no cycle. I think the bio spira saved my butt. But just wanted to let you all know I will not be giving up! I get the heartache and headache that comes from a crash but that's a risk every reefer takes everyday. I still love the hobby. This gave me a great chance to rearrange my scape, clean the sand nice. (Had a goby so sand was pretty clean. No nitrates). I think I will also upgrade my lights. And since my rock flowers and zoa's are still around I'm gonna do some rock flower gardens with zoa's sprinkled throughout. I may do the ritteri again if I can find another in good health at a lfs.

 

[shakacuz]

i am glad you're not giving up. sometimes going to cheaper route ends up costing more... hopefully you learned from this experience and can apply it to your future success.

also, welcome!