Devastating Tank Tragedy

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Joined
May 16, 2006
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Location
Spokane, Washington, United States
I've been out of town all day, and out of cell service for a large part of that. So, when Angie came home to our 200 gallon tank, full of dying fish, she did the right thing, by starting water changes and doing water tests, until able to contact me. She also contacted Barbie at Aquarium Solutions for advice. Thank you Barbie!! Thanks are also due to Kevin at Aquatic Dreams, who gave me advice, later, on a chemistry question.

Anyway, as I was saying, Angie came home from work to find my oldest 2 daughters panicked and all of our fish dead or dying. Our pH was below 7.0 and she immediately started water changes. As soon as I finally got home, I immediately noticed that our Co2 tank was sweating. It was empty, and had emptied quickly. It seems the solenoid stuck and the entire Co2 tank dumped into the sump, plummeting the pH and raising the Alk to 28 dkh!!! No, unfortunately that is not a typo. I was only able to get an accurate test reading, after consulting with Kevin, since the test took 1 3/4 syringes of KH reagent.

So far, we've changed 50% of the water, moved ALL SPS and some LPS into our 40 gallon and moved what fish still seem to be breathing into the 40. I'm sure none of the fish will survive though. Some of our SPS has already experienced RTN and are completely white skeletons, from the major spike in Alk.

Our fish deaths so far are:
Female of our pair of Blue Jaw Triggers (male soon to follow)
Purple Tang
Scribbled Rabbit
Male and Female Benghai Cardinals

So far, I've been unable to find the Male of our mated pair of Black and White Occellaris.

The following fish are sitting on the bottom of the 40, still breathing, but I'm sure will be dead soon:
Female B&W Occellaris ?? Not sure if it's alive still or not
Male Blue Jaw Trigger
Starry Blenny
Lavender Tang

I believe that accounts for all of the fish that were in the tank.

We'll see if we wake up tomorrow to a 40 gallon tank full of white SPS skeletons.:(
 
That is terrible man. I'll add that to the list of why this weekend was horrible.
 
sorry to hear about this tradgedy! I feel for you!!!

Hope all is well in the end!

Keep us posted!
Cheers!
Matt
 
Oh man that sucks. How large was the CO2 tank and how much was still in it? I know someone that had that happen and they were in bad shape. Everyone in there house got really bad migrains and had to go outside because off the the CO2 that was dumped into the house.
 
Oh man Michael, I'm sooooo sorry to hear this. Let me know if there is anything at all I can do to help you out. I can be up there if you need me bud!
 
WOW! That totally bites! Keep us posted on how things proceed. I think a lot of us have had some form disaster with our reefs. Keep your head up, we are all pulling for you.
 
Michael,

I am so sorry for your loss. To have something like this happen just awful. This may seem silly to some, but I'll pray for your tanks and for your family.

Gary
 
Wow...that really, really sucks :cry:

Any idea why it dropped so fast with the solenoid open? To get the CO2 tank cold it must have all emptied within minutes. The needle valve should only let out a trickle... Sounds almost like a pressure relief valve failure, although i thought that was supposed to just vent the tank to the air.
 
To all of you...Thank you soooo much for your thoughts and words. To those of you whom are local, both those who responded here, those who PMd me and those whom I spoke to on the phone, thank you for your offers of help!!! I've had offers of ready made saltwater, tanks to hold inhabitants, bodies to come up and help and a lot of moral support!! Again, thank you all so very much!!! Reef Frontiers truly is an extended family to us!!
First the GOOD NEWS!!!
As of now, some corals, that are still in the 200, are showing improvement. Zoanthids, that were ALL closed up tightly, have mostly opened. Our beautiful Bubble Coral, which looked like a hundred tiny deflated ballons, is almost fully inflated. Our RBTA, has made a 1000% improvement. I found the male B&W Occellaris and was able to transfer it to the 40. So far, no more fish deaths, in the 40.

Now the BAD NEWS!!!
Haven't seen any improvement with any fish:(

Time will tell how the SPS handle the extreme spike in Alk and extreme drop in pH. I'm really worried about waking to a tank full of white skeletons.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Aiptasia is sensitive and has a negative reaction to Alk spikes...lol

1fishkeeper, I'd estimate that the 10# Co2 tank was at least 3/4 full.

Acro76, near as I can tell, here's what happened. Over the last couple of weeks, every couple of days, I've had to nudge the needle valve dial more open, just a hair. This has been because after a couple of days, the bubbles stop. SO, I'd nudge the valve until bubbles started again. I don't know if something was plugging the needle valve or what. However, I'm assuming that whatever was "plugging" the needle valve, corrected itself. Because of my "nudging" of the valve, the valve was open more than normal. This allowed the Co2 to empty rapidly. Keep in mind, this is all a theory. All I know as fact is: Yesterday, the Co2 tank was heavy, today it's empty and the outside of the tank was wet with "sweat." I will look into the other option you mentioned.

Lastly, and most importantly, IMO anyway, Gary, you mentioned prayer for our tank sounding silly lol and I do understand how it could sound that way but.... Not at all!! Your prayers are actually much appreciated!!;)
 
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