Protein Skimmer Power Bar Failure Death Toll....

[kien]

Hindsight is 20/20. It is easy enough to say now that the skimmer going titz up should not have killed your fish, but how could one have predicted that before hand? Like so many people here suggested, their tanks are fine
without a skimmer or powerheads pointing at the surface so yours should be fine too. Well, what happend when the skimmer went offline? How could you possibly account for all possible scenarios that are affecting your thank, many of which are intangible.

No doubt this hobby is tricky like that. It is difficult for anyone to predict these sorts of things. Running BioPellets shouldn't nuke my tank, but can it? Will it? Running ZeoVit shouldn't nuke my tank, but can it? Will it? This heater shouldn't die, but can it? Will it? Turning my skimmer off shouldn't nuke my tank, but can it? Will it?

[ensquire]

Originally Posted by kien

Being in Yellowknife your house must be fairly sealed up for a good portion of the year. Curious, what form of ventilation do you have? This is yet another variable that is different from some other people. Not too many reefers in Yellowknife I dont think. There is typically a major in house CO2 spike during the winter months especially for cold weather climates. The skimmer could have been keeping O2 and CO2 in the tank in a fragile balance, but once it was gone, the scale tipped in the wrong direction.

Sure, a lot of people can get away with not using a skimmer or not having to point their powerheads at the surface, but those same people may not have the same environmental challenges that your tank might be faced with being in Yellowknife. Again, there are so many variables from one tank to the other that you can't always say, "hey, well, Fred over there has the exact same tank as me and he doesn't use a skimmer, so I'll be perfectly fine without one too". "And hey, Joe over there doesn't point his power heads at the water surface, so why should I??" We all know the hobby doesn't work that way. It may very well be that your tank needs more aggressive oxygenation and gas exhaust than other tanks.

Houses here are sealed up tightly yes. And in this older home we have a very passive exchange system. Just a couple of vents in washrooms and kitchen.
I have to get my test kit back from work and retest everything again to verify things. But everything left in the tank is healthy, happy, & hungry again today.
I agree with the idea that the skimmer shutting down for 12 hrs shouldnt have killed 7 previously healthy inhabitants, and until I confirm parameters I (we ) just don't get it .
I will change angle of powerheads if everyone thinks that that could be a problem, but the fluval return does point at the surface and agitates quite well. Maybe the fluval needs to be taken out of the equation , maybe it is a nutrient trap?

Final Tally
2 Pink Clowns
Bi color Blennie
Flame Angel
2 cleaner Shrimp
Coral Banded Shrimp

[ensquire]

Originally Posted by outacontrol

What is the temp of the tank, the higher the temp the lower the oxygen capacity of the water is and the wasted the metabolic rate of the fish is.
I do not think the death is from the skimmer failure, I have 7 fish in a 33gallon tank that has no overflow, no sump, no skimmer and I have no problems. I have an mp10 turned way down and a koralia that's it that's all. With weekly water changes everything is awesome.
How often do you do water changes? Do you have a lid? What about salinity swings due to evaporation?

Current temp is 79

[The Grizz]

Hey Mike, canister filter can be nitrate bombs if they are not cleaned out weekly. I found this out the hard way as well when I first started SW. There are a few peeps using canisters so it would be interesting to find out how often they clean them out.

[jorjef]

Weekly with water changes... Floss should be twice a week.... only run carbon and floss in canister.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by kien

but how could one have predicted that before hand?

Not sure of the point here. I don't think anyone is trying to assign blame for not predicting this could happen. It's just more of a surprise that this can happen, and at this point, hindsight is all we have. Point is, stuff died. Maybe some of the suggestions can alleviate it happening again? Or to someone else...

[ensquire]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Not sure of the point here. I don't think anyone is trying to assign blame for not predicting this could happen. It's just more of a surprise that this can happen, and at this point, hindsight is all we have. Point is, stuff died. Maybe some of the suggestions can alleviate it happening again? Or to someone else...

Thats the biggest advantage to cruising these forums, the wealth of info is unparalleled and a real resource as I am now learning.
If it prevents me from having recurring problems and keeps it from happening to others we have acheived our goals..

Fluval is going BYE BYE
Water change to follow

I will post further results

[daniella3d]

I do have one large canister filter on my tank and my nitrates are undetectible. I clean mine every 6 to 8 weeks when I do my water change. Never had a problem with my canister filters. I had one before on the nano 21 gallons but it broke so I stop using it but I still use it in my 75 gallons.

I have filter floss in it and GFO.

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Hey Mike, canister filter can be nitrate bombs if they are not cleaned out weekly. I found this out the hard way as well when I first started SW. There are a few peeps using canisters so it would be interesting to find out how often they clean them out.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Not sure of the point here. I don't think anyone is trying to assign blame for not predicting this could happen. It's just more of a surprise that this can happen, and at this point, hindsight is all we have. Point is, stuff died. Maybe some of the suggestions can alleviate it happening again? Or to someone else...

Agreed, I don't think anyone is passing blame here, nor should they! However, there does appear to be a lot of predicting going on as to how this tank should or should not have behaved in this scenario but it is hard to predict these sorts of things.

[golf nut]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I can't tell why, but the skimmer appears to have been the "last straw", indicating some other factor in play.

I agree, there is something else happening.