argiBK
Well-Known Member
Finally feeling ok enough to talk about this as coming back from 2-weeks in Europe, I returned to my fish tank with the vast majority of my fish community completely obliterated. I’m still a little numb to all this, constantly waivering between exiting the hobby and trying to salvage and rebuild, but here goes…
My house/dogsitter fuddled with my malfunctioning ATO while I was out, didn’t set it properly and basically set off a week of cascading failures which ultimately caused all of this. The water in the return chamber totally drained, causing the DT to start evaporating and the water temperature to drop to the high 60s for over a week! By the time the housesitter truly realized something was severely wrong, I basically had to call home (from a boat in Italy) and walk them through steps just to get the tank in serviceable shape for me to correct when I returned.
Day before return I received photos of the tank where all looked alive, but this was not the case when I walked through the front door. The tank was cloudy, and there were at least 2 dead/decomposing fish floating at the top of the tank.
All in all, I lost:
- G. Semifasciatus mated pair (I spent 2 years locating these two)
- Coral Beauty
- Potter’s Angel (I assume now irreplaceable, given collection ban)
- Copperband Butterfly (This and potter’s hurt especially, given how much work it took them to be successful on prepared foods, the Copperband was essentially a puppy to me)
- Lubbock’s Wrasse
- Pintail Wrasse
- CB Biota Mandarin
- Gem Tang
What Survived?
- Quoyi Parrot
- Oscellaris Pair
- Pink Smith Damsel Pair
- Regal Angel (which had been in the sump, luckily)
- All my corals and anemones, miraculously, including 2 Giganteas and 2 Magnificas (if these had gone, I’m pretty sure I’d be out of the hobby)
Since my return, I’ve completed 2 30% water changes and the tank is starting to look pristine again, just without any real movement from the fish community.
I had expected to have to replace my return pump and heaters as they had been running dry for days. Thankfully, the heaters are both intact and not shattered, and the return pump is still working.
I have replaced yet another ATO unit (historically and consistently the achilles heel of my tank, I must have had 3 or 4 models, all eventually failing on some level) with a pressure-based monitor and will never trust ATOs that utilize optical sensors again.
What’s Next?
I’ve been waffling between staying in the hobby and rebuilding, and, just cutting my losses and selling everything off. I’m heavily feeling sunk-cost fallacy regarding the hobby, given it will likely cost over $2500 to replicate the fish community, not to mention the time and care investment in getting another copperband and potter’s (if I can even find one) to succeed on prepared foods. Finding another G. Semifasciatus pair will cost well over $1300 (per Reef Pro Store).
I’m going to spend the next few weeks just ensuring the tank is running as well as it can. May judiciously add a fish or two and wait until the new year before making a final decision. If I do manage to rebuild, I will need to find a local tank maintenance company to periodically check in on the tank and manage as I will not be trusting anyone without experience again.
Thanks so much for allowing me to get this all out, and taking the time to read this. Last saturday, returning home really hit like a gut punch and almost each day since, understanding/seeing something else I cared greatly for had died, it’s been a lot.
My house/dogsitter fuddled with my malfunctioning ATO while I was out, didn’t set it properly and basically set off a week of cascading failures which ultimately caused all of this. The water in the return chamber totally drained, causing the DT to start evaporating and the water temperature to drop to the high 60s for over a week! By the time the housesitter truly realized something was severely wrong, I basically had to call home (from a boat in Italy) and walk them through steps just to get the tank in serviceable shape for me to correct when I returned.
Day before return I received photos of the tank where all looked alive, but this was not the case when I walked through the front door. The tank was cloudy, and there were at least 2 dead/decomposing fish floating at the top of the tank.
All in all, I lost:
- G. Semifasciatus mated pair (I spent 2 years locating these two)
- Coral Beauty
- Potter’s Angel (I assume now irreplaceable, given collection ban)
- Copperband Butterfly (This and potter’s hurt especially, given how much work it took them to be successful on prepared foods, the Copperband was essentially a puppy to me)
- Lubbock’s Wrasse
- Pintail Wrasse
- CB Biota Mandarin
- Gem Tang
What Survived?
- Quoyi Parrot
- Oscellaris Pair
- Pink Smith Damsel Pair
- Regal Angel (which had been in the sump, luckily)
- All my corals and anemones, miraculously, including 2 Giganteas and 2 Magnificas (if these had gone, I’m pretty sure I’d be out of the hobby)
Since my return, I’ve completed 2 30% water changes and the tank is starting to look pristine again, just without any real movement from the fish community.
I had expected to have to replace my return pump and heaters as they had been running dry for days. Thankfully, the heaters are both intact and not shattered, and the return pump is still working.
I have replaced yet another ATO unit (historically and consistently the achilles heel of my tank, I must have had 3 or 4 models, all eventually failing on some level) with a pressure-based monitor and will never trust ATOs that utilize optical sensors again.
What’s Next?
I’ve been waffling between staying in the hobby and rebuilding, and, just cutting my losses and selling everything off. I’m heavily feeling sunk-cost fallacy regarding the hobby, given it will likely cost over $2500 to replicate the fish community, not to mention the time and care investment in getting another copperband and potter’s (if I can even find one) to succeed on prepared foods. Finding another G. Semifasciatus pair will cost well over $1300 (per Reef Pro Store).
I’m going to spend the next few weeks just ensuring the tank is running as well as it can. May judiciously add a fish or two and wait until the new year before making a final decision. If I do manage to rebuild, I will need to find a local tank maintenance company to periodically check in on the tank and manage as I will not be trusting anyone without experience again.
Thanks so much for allowing me to get this all out, and taking the time to read this. Last saturday, returning home really hit like a gut punch and almost each day since, understanding/seeing something else I cared greatly for had died, it’s been a lot.
Ironically when I first got into the hobby 16 mos ago I bought an ATO but because I'm always home I haven't bothered to hook it up. I think it's one with optical sensors. I have been reading about issues with those. I saw a YT video last year on how to DIY one with mini float switches. I might look at doing one of those if there comes a time when I need to setup an ATO.
