Tank crashed - how do deal with the damaged and dead?

[rmorris_14]

That is not a problem. how fun = live time runs are the best so glad you responded.


*you need extra clean water beyond the 34 gallons to rinse rocks and hold fish in some new water during tank disassembly and cleaning make about 15 extra or so, 20 extra is best

this is the exact process it will skip cycle fix your tank and give your animals the best chance:

verify water is clean and clear and temp and salinity matched

catch all your fish and hold them somewhere in that clean water matching temp and salinity as well to the current water. Have it aerated and circulated a little while so gasses equalize then add the fish by net right in

the only two things to measure in this entire job are temp and salinity- it cuts down on misreading test kit interference which causes people to veer off and add new things away from the plan

make sure the salinity meter you use is reliable and can’t be off accuracy / re calibrate if needed

cover the fish during holding, we see jumpers a lot during tank transfer work

**your tank will take about four hours cleaning so they’ll be held a while. The container needs heat and circulation

an air bubbler works + heater

if this mini fish holding prep takes a while to secure that’s fine but try and assemble the required supports quickly this water in the tank needs to go to stop the loss cascade




once fish are out you have corals rocks and dirty sand


*before draining water out of the tank catch a bunch to hold in a side bucket this is your initial rock rinse saltwater after we clean the rocks

lift out rocks and set on the counter

add your existing clean up crews still alive to the fish holding container of clean water

dribble saltwater across corals as they sit there on the counter attached to rocks, corals will be fine. Use a kitchen knife to press into target areas and rasp out algae holdfast areas, these are cavities and the rock is a tooth and you’re the dentist, dig firmly be precise. Dig out algae, use a tiny bit of common peroxide on the spot -after you cleared it- to burn invisible anchor algae cells still in the area

do all surfaces, every rock by hand. set the rocks after firm detailing in the old tank holding water and twist-swish to cast off all your knife scrapings

if you missed any, repeat and use the peroxide step.

**final rinse all rocks in one round of clean saltwater / you can pour some clean water over them is ok, this was the final removal of dead plant material the rocks now look like the final pics above.


Sand cleaning is next steps, it’s going to take about 3 straight hours no joke.

Respectfully this seems quite a bit a of an over kill given the situation. The remaining corals are already stressed and look like they are at the point of bailing. This process will further stress them out. Personally I would just increase water changes and for awhile and leave everything where it is. There is no need to tear down and reassemble the tank at this moment.

 

[rmorris_14]

OP be careful with fixing this with quick heavy handed remedies. That is what got you in this process in the first place. RIP cleans have a time and place, but I don't agree this is one of them. Just my two cents.

 

[fishguy242]

Take a breath, get parameters back to normal, remove all dead inverts...
lots of good advice from yesterday...

Corals turning black and dying?!!

I had a huge ammonia spike yesterday, I still have no idea what caused it. Treated it with reef fraction until I could buy some sea water and change it. Got the ammonia under control then the ph and alk dropped, corrected that but my corals are still dying by the minute. Is this a delayed...

www.reef2reef.com

...

 

[Nman]

Respectfully this seems quite a bit a of an over kill given the situation. The remaining corals are already stressed and look like they are at the point of bailing. This process will further stress them out. Personally I would just increase water changes and for awhile and leave everything where it is. There is no need to tear down and reassemble the tank at this moment.

Correct

 

[brandon429]

Can anyone post a link or a set of pics we can see where they repaired this before, for another person. We have some pics on file for the stated method, it's fair to think a better way also has pics.

She needs to be able to select from completed jobs the coaches have to offer

To take guesses with her tank is unsafe

 

[brandon429]

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

The best way to prepare your sand for use in a transferred reef tank, an upgraded reef tank, a reef tank under invasion etc is to put the sand in sections in a bucket and TAP WATER rinse it outside over and over with the garden hose until all the silt / waste is ejected, expect hours of work per...

www.reef2reef.com

53 pages of completed jobs done exactly as described. For safety tracking, comparison to other methods we may see linked in counter

Phoerut

Don't think saving yourself the work is good for your tank, we're controlling the long game by ejecting this waste vs keeping it.

The common method doesn't fix your tank, the common method brings your tank here needing fixed. I think the common method might not have any completions we can read~it makes you have to guess at the long game outcome

Above we can select any posters name and select find all posts to see long term outcomes, that safety verification is crucial in the choice.

Fixed by tomorrow... if you'd rather hold course that's no problem at least we'll end up with an outcome to study alongside the ones linked.

 

[rmorris_14]

Can anyone post a link or a set of pics we can see where they repaired this before, for another person. We have some pics on file for the stated method, it's fair to think a better way also has pics.

She needs to be able to select from completed jobs the coaches have to offer

To take guesses with her tank is unsafe

Not every situation calls for your methods. ( I have used them myself BTW) I stated my reasons for dealing with her specific situation and the reasons why. You can't copy and paste your method on every single situation and say its the only safe way to handle it. The OP already seems so overwhelmed with is going on with her tank and her corals, which she clearly loves. They are very upset. Moving them around and leaving them out of water etc is "unsafe" given their current situation. So with all that, It is my opinion to not go the route you have suggested. Other people are allowed to share their experiences. Thats all I will say, I'm not get into a chest puffing contest with you. She can decide which road she wants to choose.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tank crashed

This was the series of events that caused this:

Reef flux added

24hours later crazy ammonia spike - why this happened I’m not sure - like off key maxed out my testing kit and I wondered how everything was still alive. Fish okay. Some of my corals look ticked. Urchin was dead or dying. Spines still in tact but didn’t look good.

Added fraction to neutralise it. Nearly a whole bottle, couldn’t get any sea water in there until the morning.

Next morning huge water change. I accidentally put 10 litres of RO in thinking it was sea water but the salinity didn’t drop to much but it probably did for a minute. Nothing looked any more adversely effected.

Conducted more tests. Ammonia at 0. Magnesium at 1200. Alk at 5. Ph way way too low. Corals are literally dissolving now. Bought magnesium up to 1350 and alk up to 6. Very quickly. It was stupid but I made a lot of mistakes because I was freaking out at this point.

The rest of the night snails dropped dead. And I every coral in the tank is suffering severe damage if not completely dead. Fish and shrimps are all okay.

I know everything basically went wrong but can someone comment on my complete failure here so I can improve (be gentle, I’m gutted).

Also how do I determine dead and not dead among corals? When will I see improvements if I’m going to? With such a large die off, I wouldn’t want another ammonia spike.
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This is the reason I despise reef flux which is fluxonasal. Despite claims- It is not safe with nverts and is an alternative, rarely a solution to certain algaes.
Sorry to hear of the issues and there in this hobby is light at the end of the tunnel.
As you can imagine, this is the time to do a Major water change in the tank, refresh all media, and take two steps back.
Assure you are using reliable test kits as there is nothing worse than false readings that lead to disaster.

Stocking very slowly cannot be emphasized when events like this occur. Take the time to enjoy the livestock you have remaining, feed sparingly, add some Bacteria at 1.5 ml per 10 gallons every other day and test in between. While testing (focus on ammonia-nitrate-ph-salinity) occasionally take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api anything and compare with your readings to assure you are getting reliable numbers/values with your tests.
Personally I would wait at least 6 weeks to add any coral.

Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?

 

[Nman]

Ones linked .

Not every situation calls for your methods. ( I have used them myself BTW) I stated my reasons for dealing with her specific situation and the reasons why. You can't copy and paste your method on every single situation and say its the only safe way to handle it. The OP already seems so overwhelmed with is going on with her tank and her corals, which she clearly loves. They are very upset. Moving them around and leaving them out of water etc is "unsafe" given their current situation. So with all that, It is my opinion to not go the route you have suggested. Other people are allowed to share their experiences. Thats all I will say, I'm not get into a chest puffing contest with you. She can decide which road she wants to choose.

correct it is her option and don’t post saying wait until tomorrow and we will see who is correct . Thank god vetteguy is her listen to this guy he knows his stuff. Any rip dawn man if you have issues with me or other ripped dawn is most drastic

 

[Jared Bryant]

I have used fluconazole with Snails, Shrimp, amemones, starfish etc... You should never use chemical remedies on a new tank no matter what. One side note fluc can probably be dosed at half or even quarter dose and still be effective.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Those that can, Do. Those that Can't, Coach.

 

[Dburr1014]

Right okay I’ve got a bit of carbon in there but nothing to hold it. It’s a 170litre (I didn’t rinse it before putting it in yesterday) another mistake I made. I thought the carbon dust might help. Idk why. But this is my ghetto contraption. Lol don’t judge.

Clean panty hose for the gac. Just dump it in, tie a knot and rinse for a minute under tap water.

 

[brandon429]

When you moved to the new reef how did you transfer the sand to this tank

 

[brandon429]

@nano man uk can you please link the job i don't see it, what post # is it


I wanted to see an outbound fix you completed, just one is ok

 

[Dburr1014]

Shall I feed the fish today or no? And yeah the lights seem to be making the corals die faster. Shall I keep them on or turn them off. I know stability is key but I’m just staring at it not knowing my next move

Don't feed the fish. They can go a day or two without food.
Try to get a handle on chemistry first.

 

[Crustaceon]

My perspective is this will resolve itself in a few months regardless of which path you take. IMO, the safer and better path long term is to just do a weekly 10% water change after scrubbing the rocks with a old toothbrush. Also make sure to siphon your sand during the process. Your tank is already full of beneficial bacteria and simply removing dead and dying material + a percentage of contaminates in the water is going to allow your tank to eventually stabilize. After that, stick to the absolute basics: Check nitrates weekly and only do a water change if that level creeps above 10ppm, adjusting the change % as needed. Realistically, your salt mix should meet all of your tank's needs. Beyond that, it's really just a matter of balancing nutrient levels and that's easy to do once you're consistent with water changes. Be VERY wary of dosing anything that addresses algae or any pest. IME, you don't need it and it's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Phoerut]

When you moved to the new reef how did you transfer the sand to this tank

I didn’t I started again because of meter long bristle worms! I didn’t want any bristle worms ever again. This was supposed to be a new beginning haha

 

[Phoerut]

This is the reason I despise reef flux which is fluxonasal. Despite claims- It is not safe with nverts and is an alternative, rarely a solution to certain algaes.
Sorry to hear of the issues and there in this hobby is light at the end of the tunnel.
As you can imagine, this is the time to do a Major water change in the tank, refresh all media, and take two steps back.
Assure you are using reliable test kits as there is nothing worse than false readings that lead to disaster.

Stocking very slowly cannot be emphasized when events like this occur. Take the time to enjoy the livestock you have remaining, feed sparingly, add some Bacteria at 1.5 ml per 10 gallons every other day and test in between. While testing (focus on ammonia-nitrate-ph-salinity) occasionally take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api anything and compare with your readings to assure you are getting reliable numbers/values with your tests.
Personally I would wait at least 6 weeks to add any coral.

Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?

RO water I’m still not sure what the DI bit means. 0tds from a big gas bottle looking tank that I attach to a hose

 

[Nman]

@nano man uk can you please link the job i don't see it, what post # is it

What are you wanting

@nano man uk can you please link the job i don't see it, what post # is it

iam getting sick of you now. it is a drastic measure in my Opinion do you get that my Opinion as the last post crustaceans said all of what I think the best result is for her a method that helps herself save the tank . As far as you I have read on multiple threads from you strip the tank . So if you know it all we only need you on the forum

 

[Tim'sReef]

DI in RODI stands for deionization it is an extra stage usually the last one. If you have an RO unit you only have the Reverse Osmosis. But if you get 0 tds from you're RO i would not bother with it.