Wow I just killed almost everything :(

[abmxdad2]

So I got a killer deal on a wet/dry filter with over flow pump & all for $100 bucks.
So I hook it all up & I'm loving it. Then three days go by & my huge leather closes up then I see all my zoos are closed to. Wake up the next morning & my water is very cloudy so I do a 20% water change. Next day everything is looking bad & water is all cloudy again. So I take out the wet/dry it's the only thing new. I take it all apart & find a brass pipe is being used as a fitting. I'm thinking it's the problem ???
So I have done a total of 80% water change so far. Water is clear now but almost everything is gone :-( All my fish, shrimp & crabs are doing great ???

So was it the brass fitting that killed everything ???

It was a beautiful 100 gallon setup

 

[mfinn]

That would be my guess.
My question is, why did you add the wet/dry?
Looks like you had live rock.

 

[reefman069]

i would say it was the brass fitting. if its not broken don't fix it. sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[kpiotrowski]

Very sorry for your loss!

How long was the wet-dry in operation before you removed it? my thoughts are if it was in operation a while, ike a few week or more then you may have more than one problem. wet-drys are awesome at breaking down ammonia and nitrite, so, if the wet dry had basically taken over and become a major player of your biofilter then removing it all at once is like removing most of your live rock at once.

when removing a wet dry you should remove a small amount of bioballs everyday over the course of a few weeks to allow the bacteria to increas their quanties in other areas like rock and sand.

also, the intial cloud may have been a bacteria bloom/ or die-off depending on which type of bacteria etc as the wet-dry was taking over.

 

[abmxdad2]

You can never have to much filtering.

 

[abmxdad2]

The cloud was from my huge leather :-( it was so BIG it was bigger than a five gallon bucket even after it was all closed up. The wet/dry was only on for five day. It's back on but with all new fitting & hoses. Now if I can only figure out how to keep my peppermint shrimp from getting in it. All though they are getting bigger lol

 

[mfinn]

You can never have to much filtering.

If you already have a functioning biofilter such as live rock, then the last thing you want to do is add a wet/dry filter.
Then add in the brass fitting......................

 

[abmxdad2]

If you already have a functioning biofilter such as live rock, then the last thing you want to do is add a wet/dry filter.
Then add in the brass fitting......................

Again can you have to much filtering ? Yes I have a refugium a XP3 canister filter and a wet dry...

 

[mfinn]

Again can you have to much filtering ? Yes I have a refugium a XP3 canister filter and a wet dry...

How much live rock in what size tank?

 

[abmxdad2]

OTE=mfinn;715422]How much live rock in what size tank?[/QUOTE]

About 200 pounds off live rock in a 100 gallon tank. 25 gallon refuge

 

[mfinn]

The wet/dry is totally unnecessary.
It would probably end up contributing to a higher nitrate build up in the tank.
If you are using the canister filter for anything other than carbon or a chemical filter, it's probably not really needed.
200 lbs. of rock in a 100 gallon tank will provide way more area for bacteria to colonize then you would need.

Got a skimmer?

 

[mfinn]

And again, the brass fitting was probably the cause of the problem.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

And again, the brass fitting was probably the cause of the problem.

Not so sure it was the brass. The copper in the alloy is fairly stable. Left underwater for years, barely gets a patina. I would assume ammonia spike as in biological cycling from organics present, or toxins. When you hear hooves, think horses not zebras.

 

[mfinn]

Not so sure it was the brass. The copper in the alloy is fairly stable. Left underwater for years, barely gets a patina. I would assume ammonia spike as in biological cycling from organics present, or toxins. When you hear hooves, think horses not zebras.

I'm not totally convinced that the brass valve is that stable, but hey..........
What organics?



And why am I looking out for horses?

 

[spieszak]

i'm doubting the fitting also, for the same reason noted above... although with it being used (at least i think you are saying it was used) it is more of a possibility. was the cloudiness similar to a baterial bloom? do you know what the equipment was cleaned with before you got it? doesn't take a lot of vinegar to cause a bloom, and they can get pretty bad pretty quick as far as stealing oxygen from the water... if they do get bad enough to harm/kill things each sucessive die off makes things worse.

regardless, it sounds to me like you are doing all the right things to recover what is left. if you are pretty confident you ended up with copper leaching into the system, throw a poly filter in the canister (see if it turns blue in a week) and swap your carbon often. even if you didn't, those things can't hurt. get an ammonia reading too. if there are things in there still dying or don't be afraid of a little amquel or other ammonia remover now between water changes...

its often really hard to know what went wrong..

 

[kpiotrowski]

were the bioballs "live" when they were added?

did you dose anything like ca,mg,alk that could have precipited?

 

[abmxdad2]

Thanks everyone. All the test show my water is great and some of my live stock is opening back up just did a copper test on some of the old water and there was some in there :-( But I'm not seeing any in my tank water now I'm running charcoal in all three chambers in my XP3 now & will be changing it out every other day for the next couple weeks. Running two skimmer at this time but will go back to one after everything settles back down

 

[abmxdad2]

were the bioballs "live" when they were added?

did you dose anything like ca,mg,alk that could have precipited?

No I put new ones in and cleaned the setup and than ran it for three days before putting in in use with my tank.

 

[abmxdad2]

If you already have a functioning biofilter such as live rock, then the last thing you want to do is add a wet/dry filter.
Then add in the brass fitting......................

I did not know there was a brass fitting in it... If I knew it was in there I would of taken it out before putting it in uses...

 

[tike]

Be safe an run a little cuprisorb in the tank to make sure all the metal is absorbed. So, the metal got into the water column ,killing off your large toad stol, causing an ammonia spike. I think that adds it all up. Sorry to hear of your loss! I am gald you decided to hang in there and not throw in the towel. All of us here have had a tank crash at some point in this hobby.