Massive tank crash

[Cichlid Dad]

So I got a call this weekend to come help a fellow reefer that got sick and needed surgery. He was someone who had a small business selling coral out of his garage. I had never been there before but when the call came we need to do whatever we can. When I got there, I found out everything was dead and I believe it had been crashing for a month. The smell was unbelievable. One person had already been working on it for a week and just needed help. So many tanks and so much death. The amount of rock and dead coral was overwhelming. I felt so bad for him. I guess I'm venting at the only place I feel comfortable to get it off of my chest . One thing I took away from this experience is, when we build our systems, we need to take in account that someday it may crash and it may not be us taking things apart to clean everything out. Make sure every part of the system is designed to be taken apart with unions and to be able to close off systems with gate or ball valves. Make sure when you are adding shelving for more tanks there's room to get in and clean. We ended up having to cut so much plumbing it made me feel so bad, but it was the only way to get the stuff out so the smell didn't keep going into the house. I pray that he recovers and can start over.

 

[resortez]

Wow! How big of a system??? Sounds like there were various tanks. Also agree with building systems with ease in assembling & disassembling. Something that comes extremely handy when it comes time to move the tank.

Did the system get shut down or is it getting overhauled????

 

[Slocke]

Wow
That’s awful
Thanks for sharing though

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Wow! How big of a system??? Sounds like there were various tanks. Also agree with building systems with ease in assembling & disassembling. Something that comes extremely handy when it comes time to move the tank.

Did the system get shut down or is it getting overhauled????

Imagine a larger 2 car garage full of systems and we just were getting the death and small out

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yikes man, sorry. Thank you for helping a fellow reefer out. Hope they get better soon.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I don't know if I would be able to start over after that. Was there anything left, or was it back to square one?
I pray he recovers as well.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thats awful. im so sorry. but THANK YOU for helping out!!

 

[PharmrJohn]

Oh, that sucks. Not good Mav. Yeah, I've already foreseen this as a potential issue. Mine will be able to be taken apart easily. All plumbing marked as to direction of flow and where it goes as well as ball valves everywhere. Wiring harnessed and labeled. Sump able to come out on rollers. And anything else I can think of between now and next spring when it goes up. I'm teaching my daughter everything I know and drawing up bullet points as a how to deal with certain situations. All organized in a binder next to the tank. I ain't messing around.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I don't know if I would be able to start over after that. Was there anything left, or was it back to square one?
I pray he recovers as well.

One tank has some coral a 30 gallon low boy but they were on their way out.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Is he insured? Please say yes.....

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Is he insured? Please say yes.....

I have no idea, I know it's a nice plush newer house. Iv never met the guy so I only know he has been sick for a while.

 

[brandon429]

Filter bacteria that reduce ammonia toxicity survive crashes easily. Crashes are extra feed events for them they bloom temporarily

Once the rock is debrided of any waste best done with saltwater pressure washing big water gun, if will be skip cycle ready to reef in a clean system. No matter how long it just sat, the base bioslick filter bacteria are live. Pods will be live

Rip cleaning saves what's possible.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Most wont have insurance. Garage systems can get hot or cold and also various fumes if garage used for vehicles. As this is likely not an overnight occurence, , some past history may clue in as to what led up to this

 

[Northern Flicker]

Cichlid Dad this is a great thread.

A few months ago I had been planning a big fish room update to our basement. Running new circuits, etc. was going to set up a bunch of tanks and really dive into the hobby.

I stopped myself…I thought about how if I was in the hospital, my wife would be stuck with the huge mess and maintenance. I had been experiencing so strange pain in my stomach and abdomen, so I just couldn’t do it. Instead I settled for just upgrading my reef.

Turns out I may have something which could put me in the hospital, and may shorten my lifespan or leave me with some loss of function long term.

I am so grateful I stopped myself. These tanks take a lot of time and effort.

 

[Delatedlotus]

Jan 13th 2023 - Friday the 13th I went in for open heart surgery. I then came out 13 days latter not being able to walk at all. I insisted to my insunifecute other to stop by my little car lot. It was 38 degrees below zero that morning with no warming at all. My furnace fan had gone out for the last 2 maybe 3 days and it was colder inside than it was outside a true fact. I lost everyone of my fish and about 1/3 of my corals. Called every furnace guy in the world they where all busy till the next morning, heaters, fans I did everything I could but the lose was stinkin great.. I slept on the cold floor, in a sleeping bag at my office that night. With my tanks 350g of saltwater. It was so stinkin cold! I feel for him and you... And I pray all went well with him.?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Jan 13th 2023 - Friday the 13th I went in for open heart surgery. I then came out 13 days latter not being able to walk at all. I insisted to my insunifecute other to stop by my little car lot. It was 38 degrees below zero that morning with no warming at all. My furnace fan had gone out for the last 2 maybe 3 days and it was colder inside than it was outside a true fact. I lost everyone of my fish and about 1/3 of my corals. Called every furnace guy in the world they where all busy till the next morning, heaters, fans I did everything I could but the lose was stinkin great.. I slept on the cold floor, in a sleeping bag at my office that night. With my tanks 350g of saltwater. It was so stinkin cold! I feel for him and you... And I pray all went well with him.?

I don't know, I've never met him. I know it's cancer and that is all. Now that's cold!

 

[Uncle99]

The fact you went to help a fellow reefer certainly speaks to your character.

Good for you!

We need more of that on this rock.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

The fact you went to help a fellow reefer certainly speaks to your character.

Good for you!

We need more of that on this rock.

Thank you, I meant the post mostly for all of us to think about how we can set our systems up so that if ever we are in the need, it will be easier for others to help us out. I know many of us don't think about this when we build or add onto them. If he pulls through and wants to take up reefing again, he will have to re-plumb almost everything.

 

[brandon429]

the #1 design change people could make that would help prevent or mitigate crashes-in-progress is to be sandbed-free. bare bottom is safer than setups with sand where crash intervention, prevention and mitigation goes. the diaper kills many thousands of reef tanks that may have lived otherwise.
of course this doesn't mean bare bottom systems won't crash...it means it's easier to stop crashes in process and fix them when a giant stinking diaper is not part of the system design.

the type of crash bb would fix is the kind where a powerhead comes loose only when the owner is on vacation, aims down, and kicks up the sandbed waste killing a few fish when nobody was there to remove them before the full loss cascade.

being sand-free is also 1000% preferable in power outage tests, a bare bottom system commands less precious systemic o2 that way air breathers get to live a little longer. when power kicks back on there is less rotting death swell to move around the tank too. Biological oxygen demand/chemical OD are greatly influenced by presence of a sandbed / associated waste stores.

sandbeds are big reef killers. you wouldn't think they are, but they sure are. if sandbeds weren't reef killers we wouldn't need a tank transfer thread, we'd just actually relocate the tanks without all the rinsing fanfare.

if we are giving remote care/intervention instructions to someone to help a crashing reef, being bare bottom is going to make it easier for that care person to not kill the system/make things worse. water changes will actually export vs cause a massive dust-up when we pour back in over a giant old sandbed. hoisting fish out of the tank is easier when it's not totally clouded up