Kick me when I'm down

danny zubot · #1 03-24-2005, 02:31 PM

So after scrambling to recover from an Alk and Ph spike which caused a few coral fatalities. After my pump siezed draining my pocketbook even more, what else could go wrong this month?

Last night I went home to find my glass top broken and all of my lights swaying in the current in my tank. The MH bulb shattered instantly and my PC bulbs broke too. The pins were very corroded, probly because of the power was flowing through them for a while. I have no idea if the balasts are ok, but just by looking at them there is no damage.

Surprisingly my fish were all still alive! My corals were all closed up and shedding and spitting and burping etc. and the water was really cloudy. My skimmer was foaming out really red skimmate from the iron oxide in the water and there was glass everwhere in the tank.

I did a 25% water change and my levels are fine accept for those I can't test for like heavy metels etc. So I'm probly going to take my corals over to my friends to watch until after I move.
Please tell me nothing else can go wrongwith this tank

AJ_77 · #2 03-24-2005, 02:42 PM

Man, that is just terrible - unbelievable Danny.

Do you know how the top broke?

Maybe after you guys move and get settled would be a nice time to think about a puppy... who knows...

danny zubot · #3 03-24-2005, 02:51 PM

I'm sure it was the heat. Just trying to keep everything alive until we move and I get the new tank.

medican · #4 03-24-2005, 02:54 PM

OMG.....

If it wernt for bad luck you wouldent have any luck at all.....

But kutos for keeping on top of it and trying to keep everything going

Good luck

Delphinus · #5 03-24-2005, 02:54 PM

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. Wow, that's gotta suck.

Hang in there. We've all been through disasters (believe me). Good luck.

Sorry that you have to replace your lighting though, that's gonna be a small setback in the pocketbook. What do you think happened, what broke?

What wattage is your halide bulb. I might have some old lamps you can use to test fire your ballasts to see if they're still OK. You can use them until you can get a proper replacement as well. Let me know.

danny zubot · #6 03-24-2005, 03:15 PM

Hey thanks guys, I'm trying to laugh about it and not dispair, kind of a character building thing I guess.

Tony, the MH was a 250 watt mogul bulb. It would be great if I could test the balast, have you got one of those? Also, if anyone has old 65watt PCs (4 pin) that I could use to test that balast that would sure be handy!

BTW, iron oxide will lower you ph from 8.6 to 7.9 in a real hurry.

I guess some good did come of this.

BMW Rider · #7 03-24-2005, 03:29 PM

I have a new pair of 250w 10,000k bulbs on the way to me from J&L. I should have them early next week. Your welcome to my old Ushio 10,000k 250w mogul bulbs to get you by for a bit till you can afford new ones. They are a year old, so they should be ok for a month or two yet.

danny zubot · #8 03-24-2005, 04:00 PM

Hey Ed, I just ordered a new bulb from Aquaria.ca and they should arrive by next week but thanks. I think I'm going to just going to store all of my livestock at my friends until after I move so the lighting really isn't that important right now.

LostMind · #9 03-24-2005, 04:10 PM

Too bad you are in calgary, I've got 4 spare bulbs...

wow, I feel for you tho.. thats some bad luck on a scale I thought only I experienced

danny zubot · #10 03-24-2005, 05:22 PM

I guess everyone has their turn.