Why do tanks crash?

[abcha0s]

I've had a couple of misfortunate happenings.

My last fresh water tank was shut down due to a heater malfunction. The heater stuck on and cooked the tank. While the loss was sad, this sent me looking for an aquarium controller which lead me down the salt path.

I had two flame wrasses die in my 90G from what I believe was shipping stress. (A good argument for QT). The problem was I couldn't get the dead fish out. The water quickly went bad. With a series of massive water changes and the careful use of Prime, I lost only my shrimp and brittle star. The rest of the tank survived but it was a very close call.

I had another near miss when my Tunze ATO pump decided to stop working while on vacation. The return chamber in the sump ran dry and the return pump ceased. The real problems started when the tank sitter found the problem. After replacing the return pump and restarting the ATO pump, the ATO proceeded to pump 5 gallons of Kalk saturated water (pH 12.4) into the tank. The pH in the tank quickly rose to over 11.

Heres where the controller saved me. I received an alert for high pH and figured out what had happened. The tank sitter returned to my home and slowly brought the pH back down with vinegar. No losses. Thanks Bryce.

My new tank has two controllers, two return pumps, two groups of heaters, two fans, two ATOs, two auto feeders, and two skimmers. All of the critical equipment is split across two separate electrical circuits. Each controller manages one set of the listed eauipment. I'd still say there are potential problems, but I've gone a long way towards reducing risk.

I asked the question just for fun and to see what other peoples experiences have been. I'm very happy to learn from other peoples mistakes - especially if it saves my tank. Anyways, the chiller poll had been up for long enough.

[viperfish]

Mine started when I purchased my Apex Controller. There was a problem with the sensitivity and it would constantly reset the EB8 so a heater became a chiller dosing pumps would run contsantly etc. etc. it would reset on randon days but always at midnight. so a lot of damage was done while I was sleeping. I finally went online with it and the rep from Neptune logged into my controller and fixed it up. It is a great controller and I've sworn by it ever since. I did lose almost all my SPS in the process, a bunch of inverts died, cyano outbreak to the point where I had to bake my rock to cure it. To make matters worst I transferred my fish to a tank without a controller, I had the temp set correctly in the holding tank with my Rena heater. That night the heater stuck on an I woke up with all my fish dead! Some of these I had for years, my large yellow Tang and Hippo Tang were the biggest dissappointment. The silver lining was my Maxima and Squamosa clams lived! Go figure. I'm a big fan of redundancy but I learned the hard way that it just takes a moment and it can happen to anyone.

[Snappy]

As they say - there are two types of reefer's ------those who have had their tank crash and those who haven't -----------------yet!

I have had too many different issues and things go wrong I couldn't list them all. (especially since I don't know some of the causes)

[viperfish]

Originally Posted by Snappy

As they say - there are two types of reefer's ------those who have had their tank crash and those who haven't -----------------yet!

I have had too many different issues and things go wrong I couldn't list them all. (especially since I don't know some of the causes)

... but the main thing is we're too stubborn to give up!

... and we're lucky to have wives who don't mind a little water on the floor!

[PoonTang]

I had a full crash caused by a design flaw which led to electrical failure which led to no flow and low oxygen levels. I also had a nano crash when a heater got stuck.

[christyf5]

two partial crashes, one a SE bulb broke the outer casing and continued to work, irradiating one side of the tank with UV killing 3 fish and a multitude of corals.

Second crash was due to reefer stupidity (not listed, I selected temperature deviation): moving the tank at the end of the day (an all day move) and left the livestock on a cool concrete floor (it didn't feel all that cold at the time) while I took a dinner break. Then put the corals into the tank without matching the temperature. The colonies in the coolest water started to RTN and caused a cascade effect that took 2 weeks of massive waterchanges to get the ammonia down to an acceptable level where it wouldn't cause issues for the rest of the corals. I lost most of my larger colonies, didn't lose any fish though (they were in an insulated cooler).

[Lance]

One partial crash: An electric fan fell apart and into the sump, which tripped the
GFCI. Fish & critters came out ok but lost many corals. Not entirely sure if the problem was the oil in the fan getting into the water or a good jolt before the breaker tripped; or maybe a combination of both.

[amoreira]

My tank crashed due to the recirculation pump (from the sump to the DT) failing overnight. The oxygen levels in the DT fell and all the fish died. I think most crashes happen as a result of equipment failure. Cheap equipment is more prone to failure. For instance, many opt for cheaper pumps, which fail as they have a big demand on them (running 24x7 for years at a time). Cheap heaters will get stuck on and cause overheating. Skimmers overflowing will empty out the sump, etc.. IMO, get the best equipment you can afford. After all, it is a life support system for your precious reeflife. Losing them can be a big shock too (always use a GFCI).

[lastlight]

I think the ideal thing to do is run a pair of smaller pumps. Or (if your system is small enough) run an eheim. i'd bet my life on one =)

[Lampshade]

I agree, i lost all my coral and inverts when starting out due to a cheap heater sticking on. My advice to anyone starting out on a budget is that good used stuff is better than shiny new crap.