When Bad Things Happen to New Reefers

[SaltyDog]

A very dark day has descended upon my reef.

Last night I was trying to solve my surface scum problem by trying to rig up some spare tubing and adapters to try to get the skimmer intake to pull from closer to the surface. The intake hose refused to budge from the skimmer, and on my skimmer (a Remora), this intake points down into the tank. Finally, it gave -- but so suddenly, that my forearm broke the glass top (which was folded in half on the front of the tank as I reached over) in half.

Now, the good news, was -- no glass in the tank. So I took it off, found something to cover the tank with, and resolved to replace the top today. No big problem.

So, I go to my LFS this morning, get a new top, also find a device to solve my surface intake problem (overkill, but whatever), and come back all ready to solve the problems. The new device is this vertical tube with an intake at the bottom and a floating intake at the top, and an adjustment handle to control how much comes from each direction. it connects to the pump with a piece of accordion hosing. However, I'm fiddling with the adapters, which don't quite want me to make a good fix, and I'm trying to get the suction cups to stick to the back of the tank by the heater behind this big rock I have leaning up against the side of the tank, and I'm fumbling with the hose that's being uncooperative, when

CRASH!

The rock falls forward, and lands right on top of my hammer coral (by far the most expensive thing in my tank, and also the host to my clowns). If this weren't bad enough, the urchin happened to be on the rock at the time and, yes, you guessed it ladies and gentlemen, it lands smack in the middle of the hammer.

So, I pull the urchin off of it, pick up the fragments of hammer from the tank, move things into stable / safe spots, fiddle with the equipment, get that all worked out, do a minor re-aquascaping, put everything back where it goes, then do a water change (fortunately I was already planning one today and it was ready), vacuumed off the hammer and urchin a little with the siphon while I drained the tank, put on the new lid...

Now I guess it's time to sit back and shake a little.

The hammer's reopening just a little -- I've *never* seen it as closed as it was. I don't yet know the extent of the damage.

The urchin crawled off into a corner but I don't know if it'll make it. Should I remove it? I have no other tank to put it in, really... although I readied another batch of water already, if I get the salinity right, I guess I could drop him in my WC tank. He was a hitchhiker and probably is doing more harm than good, since I believe he's a rock-boring urchin and is probably inhibiting coraline growth. Still, I like him...

Does my hammer have a chance?

Is any of this likely to take out the rest of the tank? Are the fish gonna be ok?

Oh, yeah, and feel free to comment on my idiocy... I deserve it.

 

[zemuron114]

your hammer should be fine, you just have some hammer frags now! I've dropped mine countless times, and it always bounces back within a day. The urchin can't sting it or anything, so i dont see any reason for the hammer to die

 

[SaltyDog]

Hehe, hammer frags, good one. The pieces I sucked out and tossed were just mostly the green tips; there were about a dozen of them. I'm not sure those count as frags. Unless you're talking about a fragmentation grenade, in which case, I don't think I'd want them in my tank.

The urchin really seems unhappy, though. Not that I have any real idea to assess the health of an urchin...

 

[JohnK]

Sorry for your nightmare, we've all had them.

A suggestion, you can get a surface skimmer box for the remora. check this out.

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_protein_skimmers_aquac_remora_pro.asp?CartId=

scroll down a bit for the surface skim boxes.

Also easy to DIY, I could make you one, but it would take some time to get around to getting done, and the material would cost almost as much as just buying one.

EDIT; Oh yea, FWIW, most people don't cover their tanks anymore, no cover ='s more evaporation (evaporative cooling) and better light penetration.

 

[SaltyDog]

Thanks for the info on the surface box.

As for the cover, I'm just trying to prevent carpet surfing until I build a small canopy... a project which is almost in progress. (Famous last words.)

 

[SaltyDog]

Ok, maybe I'm being dense, but I can't quite see from the picture exactly how that box connects the skimmer to the pump.

I'm going to guess that there are two poorly pictured ports on the slotted side, one of which indirectly feeds the skimmer intake, and the other of which is intended to be connected to the pump's intake? Then, I guess, the other side sits under the return, and either overflows back into the tank or somehow releases water through the bottom, keeping the bubbles inside?

Please enlighten me, oh wise one.

BTW, the good news -- the hammer seems ok (it actually looked normal this evening, sort of semi-open as it normally is under the actninics), and the device I got to pull from the surface did a great job; it was completely clean within an hour of turning it on. Also, the urchin has crossed the tank, so it's at least still moving.

 

[delta]

Don't bother with the AquaC surface skimmer they leave alot to be desired. You can save a few buck with just a surface skimmer that attaches to your pump. And works much better

http://www.petsolutions.com/Fluval+Surface+Skimmer-I-15510240-I-.aspx

 

[SaltyDog]

That's actually more or less exactly what I bought, although I think it might've been another brand with slightly different adapters. Works like a champ, so far.

Of course, this morning I noticed my water level lower than I recalled. A little investigation shows that the bottom of the tank at the back is bowed out near one side -- looks like a seam popped and I have a slow leak, which, fortunately, is being greatly slowed by the sand (I presume). So, looks like I'm staying home today to replace my tank.

This'll be a first for me... can anyone suggest a sequence?

Rough plan... drain some TW into buckets
Move LR and coral into said buckets (separating corals to avoid chem warfare)
Catch fish and move to buckets
Drain rest of water
Remove tank and replace with new tank
Move sand (how?)
Replace some water
Reverse process

Ouch... this *doesn't* sound like a good time.

 

[NateHanson]

What a run of luck!

Good luck with the tank swap. Was it a new tank?

 

[SaltyDog]

It was a birthday present early this June, when I got into this hobby, and, yes, it was new. I can't see how this weekend's events could've caused the leak... either the seal was defective, or it got stressed some time ago and just popped. Or it's been leaking for a while and it just got fast enough to notice? The rockfall was diagonally opposite the tank from the leak, so I doubt if that did it.

I did move the tank about a month ago; it's in an entertainment center where the TV is supposed to go, and I moved it by emptying it halfway, getting a piece of cardboard under the entire piece of furniture, and sliding it about 15 feet across the room. Then took the cardboard out, which turned out to be the hard part. So that should've minimized stress on the tank itself...

At least the leak is slow... and at least I have a job that lets me work from home. So I'm sitting here in the same room as the tank, watching the water level; will take a lunch break to get the new tank and some buckets; and then put off the actual move until after I knock off for the day -- unless the leak speeds up, and then I can just blow off work and do what needs to be done.

 

[NateHanson]

I was going to say it might be covered by warranty, but sometimes that only applies if the tank was on a stand branded by the tank manufacturer. So you might be SOL.

 

[Reef55]

Are you positive the tank itself is leaking and it is not salt creep from water trickling over the side somewhere? I nearly replaced a tank once and found at the last minute it was not a tank leak at all. Try drying off the surrounding area as best you can, and put a band of paper towels around the top of the tank, seeing if those get wet. If they are, you should be able to see where the source of water is coming from.

 

[SaltyDog]

I'm a little less sure it's leaking.

The bulge I saw was from the backing... doh!

And the water level does not seem to be dropping any more.

I did go ahead and get a new tank, but I haven't started the move yet... another theory I developed, belatedly, is that the skimmer has developed a leak. But that doesn't seem to be supported by an examination, or by the fact that the leak has stopped.

Is it possible to have developed a leak high in a corner? And now that water level is below the leak, it's stopped?

Or maybe, somehow, the lid and the pump cord interacted near the skimmer return to dribble some water out the back?

Not sure what to do now, part of me is inclined to just make the swap into a new tank and then troubleshoot the old tank in the basement or somewhere that I can make a mess and not worry about the health of my livestock or condition of my carpet...

I like the paper towel idea, maybe I'll give that a shot. I have poor access to the sides and back, though, so it's gonna be a bit dicey.

 

[Reef55]

Or maybe, somehow, the lid and the pump cord interacted near the skimmer return to dribble some water out the back?

That is almost exactly what happened in my case... water was trickling along a cord, making me think I had a leak. Highly unlikely that a small leak developed high in a corner... there is almost zero pressure there. If you've dried it all up, keep an eye on it. With the current things your tank has gone through, the last thing I would recommend is a tank swap.

 

[Andy O]

Did you buy a bigger tank or stick with the same size?

 

[SaltyDog]

But if it's not a leak, then whatever shall I do with this empty 29?

Boy, this is a dangerous hobby...

Actually, more seriously, how hard is it to drill an overflow into a glass tank? Then I could put in a sump without worrying about breaking siphon, after a (later, better planned) tank swap...

Of course, that would still leave me with a spare 29....

 

[SaltyDog]

Did you buy a bigger tank or stick with the same size?

Same size, as you can see from my last post, because it's really the absolute biggest that will fit on this piece of furniture.

 

[SaltyDog]

Crossing my fingers now... I have refilled the roughly 3 gallons of water that I lost, and so far, there doesn't seem to be any sign of leakage. Hopefully it was just a cord pulling water off the skimmer return. That'd make me feel stupid, but I guess less stupid that changing tanks for no reason.

The hammer opened up pretty well today, although not as well as before the accident. However, it's doing well enough that I'm very optimistic it'll make a full recovery.

So the lesson learned (at least provisionally, knock wood): don't panic, it's not that bad.