Full tank crash

[Sparent25]

Just got back from a vacation and RSMax 250 was spiraling out of control. Looks like I’ve managed to save RBTA and my 2 small clowns. Lost everything else cleaner shrimp, 2 urchins, some hermits, the blue and yellow tangs, small blue damsel I inherited. The tank smelled like a sharp chemical And skimmer is still producing white foam And flooding over. I had Tested water and added phytoplankton and eco pods (First time doing this) before I left and we had our well pump replaced and we flushed for 12+ hours before attaching our RO. I moved what I had left into a smaller tank. I’m worried about the live rock. Even all the bristle worms are dead - huge handful I didn’t even know I had that many. I’m assuming continue with the water changes and any advice? I’ve read take the live rock out and scrub in salt water. My tank looks like a white death zone. Makes my stomach turn

 

[Sparent25]

Even the 1 Aptasia I was planning to get today is gone

 

[Owen386]

Ohhh nooo I'm soooo sorry.
I have come home to this before after a vacation you are not alone I have lost 90% percent of my tank before (power outage.... drove home from Maine during vacation when my neighbor informed me of the power outage) awful awful feeling like stomach was in chest the whole ride.

Anyways just came on to say I'm so sorry and to give you little encouragement even if it is very little that my clownd survived my tank crash and are still kicking today.

 

[Owen386]

But yeah dilute dillue dilute increase oxygen and run carbon

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Sorry to hear the bad news, I'd run carbon along with water changes. I'm sure others will chime in as well.

 

[jazzsam]

My first thoughts is that is a lot of changes before going on vacation so the issue could be any one of them. Hard to tell. Honestly if I felt like something "poisoned" my tank I wouldn't even risk the rock. I would bleach it all but that is just me and I am sure others may have different opinions.

 

[gobyvin]

Is your RO unit always pressurized and attached to your ATO and did that malfunction and flush your tank with fresh water? Did you check salinity on the tank? A tank full of marine life that gets fresh water flushed can smell all kinds of chemical / rotten smells after that happens. I doubt this is it if you say a RBTA made it though. Also, you said you got a new well pump, was it also a new well? Is it possible the top off water was tainted from the well activity before or during your absence?

 

[Sparent25]

Sorry to hear the bad news, I'd run carbon along with water changes. I'm sure others will chime in as well.

Yes replaced existing carbon and added another bag pre main pump

 

[Sparent25]

Is your RO unit always pressurized and attached to your ATO and did that malfunction and flush your tank with fresh water? Did you check salinity on the tank? A tank full of marine life that gets fresh water flushed can smell all kinds of chemical / rotten smells after that happens. I doubt this is it if you say a RBTA made it though. Also, you said you got a new well pump, was it also a new well? Is it possible the top off water was tainted from the well activity before or during your absence?

Existing well but new pump which they use chlorine and that is the reason to flush It is not attached to ato but I had to fill ato reservoir before I left post flushing system but wondering if some got in. I’m going to test system again now.

 

[Sparent25]

My first thoughts is that is a lot of changes before going on vacation so the issue could be any one of them. Hard to tell. Honestly if I felt like something "poisoned" my tank I wouldn't even risk the rock. I would bleach it all but that is just me and I am sure others may have different opinions.

No only 10-20% pre crash. I went heavy water change post crash

 

[this is me]

Do you have any idea what happened?

 

[Sparent25]

Do you have any idea what happened?

Either the eco pods - and phyto I added before I left crashed it, or maybe the RO ato new well pump had traces of chlorine and wasn’t flushed or we had workers in the house in another room sanding and painting and something got into the tank

 

[Sparent25]

I’m trying to figure out what to do now too after the major water change. Do I break it down, assume the live rock is dead and start over or continue with water changes? Zero algae growth during this time too

 

[Lilys]

Bacteria bloom can kill everything even algae.... it might be a possibility, a uv sterilizer running for a few days might help. And leaving your tank running with just the rocks for a while it’s hard to pin point the best course of action in these cases. I hope you are able to salvage it.

 

[this is me]

I don't think it's the well pump. The RODI will remove all that out.
The sanding and painting is a concern.

I highly doubt the liverocks are dead. A large water change and run carbon is all I would do.
I would relax and watch the tank settle down. And think about how to avoid this from happening again before restocking.

 

[Alex Bonanno]

Have heard that bightwell’s purit does a great job at removing contaminants.

Brightwell Aquatics - Purit

www.brightwellaquatics.com

 

[gobyvin]

Sanding and painting most likely if your top off water and salinity check out ok. Was it floor refinishing? If so, and they used oil based polyurethane or any other high VOC painting was done and you did not ventilate the space and shut off Protein Skimmer or supply it with clean outside air during the process, then you have your culprit I bet. So sorry for the loss. I would be heartbroken too, I am for you... some skimmers throw lots of air into a system. I was having central air installed last week and came home to my wife playing board games with kids inside house while the crew was in the basement drilling through my foundation from inside to outside right next to my tank with all the canopy and cabinet doors wide open and dust everywhere. I quickly shut off skimmers I had running down there, opened all windows and put exhaust fan in the window near the hole. Shut doors on tank closet and canopy/cabinet. Now my pH is low and Alk went low. I think it is just from decreased evap since my basement was crazy humid before my Ductless install down there and central upstairs. Animals are fine, so I think I am unscathed. Funny thing, a Xenia frag I have is still pumping away at pH of 7.7! I thought that was not supposed to happen. API test kit and Hanna pH Hep probe agree after calibration.

 

[GraniteReefer]

Just got back from a vacation and RSMax 250 was spiraling out of control. Looks like I’ve managed to save RBTA and my 2 small clowns. Lost everything else cleaner shrimp, 2 urchins, some hermits, the blue and yellow tangs, small blue damsel I inherited. The tank smelled like a sharp chemical And skimmer is still producing white foam And flooding over. I had Tested water and added phytoplankton and eco pods (First time doing this) before I left and we had our well pump replaced and we flushed for 12+ hours before attaching our RO. I moved what I had left into a smaller tank. I’m worried about the live rock. Even all the bristle worms are dead - huge handful I didn’t even know I had that many. I’m assuming continue with the water changes and any advice? I’ve read take the live rock out and scrub in salt water. My tank looks like a white death zone. Makes my stomach turn

They shocked your well likely after replacing the pump and it can take up to three days for the chlorine to flush out adequately
The carbon prefilters on an RO wouldn’t be able to reduce the concentration of chlorine found when properly shocking a well

 

[Sparent25]

They shocked your well likely after replacing the pump and it can take up to three days for the chlorine to flush out adequately
The carbon prefilters on an RO wouldn’t be able to reduce the concentration of chlorine found when properly shocking a well

Assuming this was the cause then I only waited 24 hours. Awful

 

[Greg Hiller]

>we had workers in the house in another room sanding and painting and something got into the tank<

That would be my bet as well.