Tank Crash. Lost all my corals :(

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by reeferaddict

Hey Scott - just one final word. I just had someone look after my tank for the first time a couple of weeks back, a local LFS owner who knows his stuff. He did a great job, (only had to stop by once to fill the Auto Top Off in a week), but I had told myself before I left that even if I came home to a fresh seafood broth that I couldn't hold him responsible.

While your friend has made you an honourable gesture by offering to replace the rock, I'm sure it was an honest mistake and he was as horrified as you were - otherwise I doubt he would have made the offer. IMHO I would let it go, and in fact he would be the best candidate to watch it if you left again - he certainly would be a lot more wary of problems that may arise. Like I said in my earlier post - everyone can learn from this, but that's just my opinion....

Yeah, see.. I know he was scared shitless, I would be too. I was very calm about the entire thing, didn't really bother me a whole lot that I lost the corals, more so the following problems and work it creates (he thanked me very much for being so calm and understanding with him about the whole thing). Anyhow, he said he'd replace everything (I would have said the same as well) I told him not to worry about anything, everything was fine. He insisted on replacing things or helping me pay for things. (he just setup his own first ever SW tank) anywhoo, I told him no it's okay... I don't need you to replace anything, we're cool. It didn't seem to matter, he just said okay on Tuesday we'll go to the LFS and I'll get you anything you may need...once again I said it's fine, but he said we'll go... anywhoo....

This morning I was trying to think of how to make this work for him and not only myself (because he just setup his first tank) I told him he can take some of my rock, some bad pieces, some good... and he can have those, and if he'd like to buy me a couple new bigger pieces, then I'd be okay with that ( so at least he gets something out of this deal, and isnt buying a bunch of stuff for me.. I figured I would try to help him out here as well) He still insists he buys me some rock when he goes to the LFS.

It's kind of one of those situations where you have to just go ok ok fine . Don't worry, it's been in my head the entire time, I can't take stuff from him as I know it was a complete honest mistake. I would feel like a douche bag taking stuff from him. He insists though... just one of those guys in one of those situations I guess? If I do end up getting rock, I will be making sure he doesn't break the bank .. there's no need for any of this, he's just being very polite I guess.

I'm in a pickle!

[reeferaddict]

Ya I know where you're at Scott... I would have been the same way as your friend. If it makes him feel better even though you have declined then that's a different story... good luck!

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by reeferaddict

Ya I know where you're at Scott... I would have been the same way as your friend. If it makes him feel better even though you have declined then that's a different story... good luck!

Yeah, oh I've declined... once, twice, three times, four , five... hahaha... Ahh well, I'll keep the thread updated.

[midgetwaiter]

One thing to think about when you are setting your tank back up.

If you are in a situation where a simple failure like leaving your lights on overnight will kill off the tank then IMO your system is broken. There will always be something that can go wrong but little things like someone making a really simple mistake should not put the whole system at risk.

To address this specific problem, a temperature controller costing less than $100 could have saved you. I know hindsight is 20/20 etc but this is how you learn things like this. Any time you are building a system you have to consider possible failures and have a plan for them.

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

One thing to think about when you are setting your tank back up.

If you are in a situation where a simple failure like leaving your lights on overnight will kill off the tank then IMO your system is broken. There will always be something that can go wrong but little things like someone making a really simple mistake should not put the whole system at risk.

To address this specific problem, a temperature controller costing less than $100 could have saved you. I know hindsight is 20/20 etc but this is how you learn things like this. Any time you are building a system you have to consider possible failures and have a plan for them.

You are right.. no denying that, such a small mistake cost me too much time and money.

Another update: I just did another big water change, and things are clearing up nicely, and the smell is going away slowly. Things are looking up . The fish look fine, and even better since the water change. My buddy and I are off to the LFS tonight for some more rock, I have the old SW I am going to put the old rocks in, I will decide what to do with them when the time comes (most likely cook them)

I am going to most likely get rid of my sandbed and vaccum it all out, I am also going to buy some carbon for my AC500, and a couple new chunks of live rock. Things are slowly looking up...

[Beverly]

Scott,

How deep is your sandbed? If it's deep enough to have an anaerobic layer, I would remove the fish from the tank and have water on hand for a large water change before removing it.

[OCDP]

Well, did another water change and I bought some carbon, and a vacuum. Cleaned the sand fairly well, too hard to siphon in such a small tank. But, got 90% of my sand clean... all I can say is WOW disgusting.. I had 3 pails full of dark brown water. Glad it's gone.

Now I just need to work on getting the rocks clean.

[Flusher]

I've never cooked rock, but I think this might work:

If you were to find a temporary new home for your surviving corals and maybe your fish, couldn't you just keep the tank more or less intact and cook the rock right where it is? Leave everything running (heater, skimmer, powerheads) except for the lights. That might be the easiest way to do it. Maybe throw in more cleaners (crabs, sea hare), too?

Just a thought. You might even be able to keep the fish in there; I don't think they need much light (probably not enough light to grow algae, anyway). You'd basically have a dimly-lit FOWLR tank for awhile.

[GrimReefer]

sorry to hear about your losses. i don't know how i would feel if i lost my whole tank. threads like these really discourage me from SPS and metal halides...

[reeferaddict]

Originally Posted by genix

sorry to hear about your losses. i don't know how i would feel if i lost my whole tank. threads like these really discourage me from SPS and metal halides...

Don't let it scare you off... just pay close attention and plan accordingly if you DO decide to try SPS...