EMERGENCY- Tank just crashed....

[Katchupoy]

hello to all i need to borrow ph monitor.

i dont know why my 9 year old system crashed. Guess is the recently introduced kalk drip... in order to prove my theory is if i can borrow ur ph monitor... as in right now... so the ones closest to 98031... please if i have to pay....


super thanks.....
maybe this is my que to quit the hobby....

Cesar...

 

[Scooterman]

No don't quit, UPGRADE
No really, sorry for the issues, hopefully you can figure it out.

 

[eww]

No PH extra monitor but if you need a hand with anything let us know. We will be happy to help.

 

[trido]

I have a Ph monitor if you need to borrow one Cesar.

 

[Krish]

Sorry to hear Caesar. These things take years to build and a few mins to crash. Hope you get things sorted out.

Don't give up dude!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TJL]

Yea Cesar, definitely don't give up now. I've had a few close calls this past year or so and really hoping that the new system will keep my attention well enough to not let things slide this coming Salmon Season. Hopefully you will get it figured out and rebuild even better, when your ready would be happy to give you some new coral starts.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Katchupoy]

Thank you for all the people who offered their help.
Trido, i will take your offer in a heartbeat but your just too far.

ok people, lets try to be smart here... I need your most educated guess.

System:

75 Gallon System Mixed Reef.
With maybe 10 gallon water in sump.
No skimmer for the past 2-3 years
No calcium reactor since Ive been dripping 2 part from BRS but run out of chemicals 18 months ago.

Its practically closed loop system.
Water change since last 6 months ago (been neglecting it)
Feeding solely with flakes for two fish. A clown fish and a Yellow Tang.

1) started dripping Kalk 4 weeks ago. Drip system is from a 1 gallon container, filled every other day or so, when there is time (neglected too)
2) Run out of flakes, so tried my fresh water flakes. Gave them maybe two pinches really small portion for the two fish.
3) 3 days ago, everything was fine, taking pictures and videos to update my 13 month old LED lighting.

Mystery!

4) Yesterday night after I arrive from work. Everything in tank is cloudy, Glass has white film. And all corals are closed. Water temp is 82.

So take your best shot people, let me hear it. Im loosing my mind trying to back and think what I did wrong.

 

[trido]

Are any corals dead? Could be that one of your LPS spawn and clouded the tank and made everything mad.

A BIG water change and some carbon may be all that you need to save everthing.

 

[Katchupoy]

Good one Trido,

So my LPS are, Frogspawn, Branching Hammer, Candy Canes and Duncan. I dont know if any of those are known to spawn in captivity.

So Im isolating the 1 gallon dump of KALK in my theory because, I bought a PH meter test kit and it registered 8.0. So it maybe the KALK and it maybe not... It have all the signs of a KALK over dose but i should be seeing ph of 10 and above correct? i was getting ready to drip white vinegar on my tank but now Im more confused.


Ok lets say that it spawned for some reason... so does this mean that everything will be hiding in their stony corals...?

 

[trido]

Well, whether its Ph related or a spawn something is really wrong if all of the corals are retracted. The best course of action is as big of a WC as possible. I was able to recently save my whole tank by doing exactly that and only lost a few corals and one fish. Much like you, my tank was sumpless and I didnt have any test kits for anything. I was only able to do big WC's and run carbon. Much like your dilemma, my incident was also kalk related along with low salinity. You'd be surprised how much can survive this if you act quickly. Dillution is the solution to your pollution.

Petco has IO and reef crystals in stock now days if you dont have enough salt mix on hand if your LFS is closed. It's not too spendy.

 

[mcoomer]

Sounds like your calcium fell out of solution. The white film that you're seeing is residue from precipitation. If you hope to get this under control you need to do a massive water change. For your 85 gallon system I'd recommend changing 40-50 gallons. Do that, wait a day or two and do another large change. If you have a hospital tank I'd recommend putting all your corals in there.

Do you know what your calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels were when you decided to begin dosing kalk? I hate to say it but I get the feeling that if you're not doing regular water changes you're probably checking your water parameters as often as you should. If you fail to do this and begin a dosing regimen without knowing where you stand you're really asking for trouble. It's kind of like the warnings to consult your doctor prior to beginning a new exercise regimen. You need to have a baseline so that you know what you can and can't do. I hope that you stay in the hobby but I also hope that this leads you be a bit more attentive to your husbandry.

I'll quit preaching and I hope you don't take what I said personally. If you need water I'd gladly meet up with you at BRA and bring you 15-20 gallons, more if I have more in my container.

Mike

 

[Katchupoy]

Okay some more really sad images.... BTW i did 20 gallon WC the same night I found about it... and I cant do it right now because we have dinner party... (SUCKS)

This is a day before and after.... literally....

Hammer

Candy Cane

Duncan

Mind you that these are not the most priced corals out there, but the only thing I can be proud off is they have been my corals since the very beginning... It will take me forever to make them colony again, and not mere frags....
Very sad....

 

[oceanreefs]

okay I don't know what a pH meters going to do for you but if I was you I would make a water change right now at least 20%. Phil

 

[oceanreefs]

Make up a fresh batch of RO- salt water put whats left of your fish and corals in some type of container that will hold at least 20 or 30 gallons like a brand-new garbage can. Your livestock will last a few days while you can figure out what's going on with your tank.Phil, good luck

 

[trido]

I'd do another WC before bed. Regardless of how tired you are. I'm not so sure about the trumpet but that hammer is definitely savable.

 

[Katchupoy]

mixing water right now...

 

[Kickwrasse]

I had a similar sounding problem. I would suggest replacing return lines from sump if they're old and exposed to your light. None of my corals were opening and a day and a half later a hotdog sized piece of green hair algae came out through a return line. I could only determine that it was giving me bad water perimeters/ big water change. Good luck!

 

[Katchupoy]

Ok here is the plan.... let me know if I am on the right track...

mixing 10 gallon right now and Im putting all my LPS into the 10 gallon tank.. so this will be 100% water change for the LPS, hope this is not more shock to them than it is now.

 

[trido]

As long as the temp and salinity are the same they should be OK in a short term holding tank. IME the corals will do better if you can get them back into the display tank in the next day after that big WC or leave them in the display and do a 50% WC two days in a row. A small holding tank wont have the same flow or lighting and will only stress them futher if you try to keep them in there long term.

IMO the only reason I was able to save my tank was by doing two 75% WC's within the same day.

 

[BDinWA]

Have you checked for stray voltage?

Seems to me that I've read somewhere (on one of the dozens of forums that I visit) that it can cause these exact issues.

Then again, I could be confused ... I'm just a newbie.

Brian