Tank crashes, what has been the root cause?

[ScottB]

I'm quite a newbie, in fact, all I have so far is the glass tank (90 gallon). Just the tank... nothing else. I've always wanted a marine tank but wanted to do it right when I did so I thought I would learn by joining a group (like this) and see what others did.

My question is just regarding the power issue. I'm in IT and we always tell our customers to purchase a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply) to protect their investment. Wouldn't it be worth the $200 or so to get one so that you do not need to worry about that? It would keep it running for quite some time (at least 3 to 4 hours I would think if you purchased a 1450 W).

Yes, I have a generator. I also have two separate 20amp circuits run to each system with flow and heat equipment split across them.

 

[RIC13]

Bare bottom this time i hope

Considered it but went with crushed coral. I just like sand. I do have another bare bottom tank that is 1 yr old. So I have both.

 

[LOVEROCK]

Just crashed sps when trying to raise nitrates (mine are always undetectable).
So just took a decision i will NOT intervene with the tank anymore!!!

hows your sps doing now

 

[mkwarner77]

ive had 2, one totally my fault, poor knowledge about proper maintenance that lead to a dino explosion, lost half my corals and a few fish. the other, power loss due to an ice storm last fall. 4 days no power in 30 degree weather = total loss

 

[LegendaryCG]

My kid tossed about a years worth of dry food into my tank and even though I removed a ton of it there was still too much and I had to break down the tank to clean it. I’d say about 90% of my coral survived that ordeal but my SPS were really not happy.

 

[Chrille26]

Wiped my whole tank out this past summer. Had to remove 90% of my corals, mostly sps and lps. Biggest contributors were too high water temp and unstable parameters, mostly alk.
Also did the huge mistake of doing a high Fluconazole dose to remove Bryopsis in the middle of this.
The Bryposis vanished but I got a outbreak of Cyano AND Dinos, so I had to battle these two, plus the core issues above with high temp and swinging alk.
I never restarted, I just let the tank stabilize for several weeks while resolving the issues before beginning to rebuild.