tank crash - what to do? SOS

[tjlee]

Hi all

very sad this morning

two nights ago, my chillar broke down, thus did not switch on light, this morning found that some of my coral melted and polluted the water. How come the temp can be 32 degree? without light?

managed to save some and currently put in my the other tank. trying to save the fishes and temp put in containers. have to change all the water right? do i need to change the filter sump and others things?

please advise...really very sad the tank three years old and fishes with me for long time. did not expect such things to happend, may be should give up!

[Qxnviolet]

Gosh...im sorry for your lost. Its the hot season now and temperatures can go up by quite abit. Do you have alot of pumps/powerheads running in your sump/tank? All these gives out heat which will raise your tank temperature.

Hrmz, for your temporary fish housing containers, make sure you have an air stone running to provide some form of circulation within the container. As for changing anything, i guess you shouldn't panic so much, how big is your tank? And if you have a powerful skimmer, the "pollutants" released by your melted corals wouldn't caused much of a problem. Still, a partial water change wouldn't do any harm. If you are worried, do a bigger one.

Hrmz....things like that happens and there were a few times i wanted to give up too. But im sure the hobby has given you alot of joy for the past 3 years and to give up because of a crash after you've accumulated all the experience is a waste. Get your chiller repaired and since your tank is fishless and has no corals, why not take a chance to do a rescape...after you get your chiller running again, it'll look like a new tank! Good luck!

Oh, just came to my mind...maybe we should all standby fans to cool the water if the chiller fails.

[tjlee]

Thanks Bro vielet

now at work so my mum is helping me to catch the fish, must really buy her a big dinner for mother's day.

thanks for your encouragement and will try to think positively. just hope my fishes can tahan while i redo my tank. as for chiller, do know whether to get a better one or repair?

will update you.

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, i do not know how to troubleshoot a spoilt chiller but hwo long have you been using your chiller? Maybe you can try getting a quote and if its too expensive, get a replacement.

[lee]

Hi tj,

If you have your livestocks in a stable tank for quite a while then I believed they will be quite resilent. A quick change of water & anything to reduce stress will let your livestocks in better stead.

I got quite a similar experience last Friday morning when I just stepped out for work.

My external filter connection to the chiller suddenly gave way & water from the tank started gushing within the cabinet and into my living floor. It was at least 30 min before my family members realised my living floor was flooding with the tank water. By then the tank water left on 1/4 and those soft corals above were drying up. I was contacted only 2 hrs later and asked my family member to put whatever removeable livestock into a pail.

I came back around 3pm and try to put things in perspective. I found the water had slipped into the main power socket (causing breaker to tripped) and the chiller as well. It was almost 5pm when i changed the power sockets, bought seawater & refilled my tank. However my chiller was not working caused it had a lot of moisture from the water. It was only 2 days later that the chiller started to work again.

Luckily most of the my livestocks managed to survive the ordeal and slowly recuperating. I guessed one of the most important aspect is the 'hardware'; make sure there is little or no chance in our setup to cause those preventable failures such as leakings, electrical problems, etc. With those in control, we will be able to concentrate on the 'software' parts which typically are more challenging.

All the best.

[tjlee]

thank you for sharing. i have taken out all my fishes. thank God, my yellow. purple, power blue, nemo and a few small one still survive. but most coral not very good condition.

just to share, i am running on two external canisters and one internal build in filter. the tank was original for planted from my friend. thinking if i should get one with sump. it has been running very well for three years. saw one bro want to sell his whole 5' system, just wonder should change.

just talk to derick, he will come and see my chiller on sat. meanwhile should i put my fishes in the containers or should i put them temp in my the other tank. worry may overload the other tank then crash again.

really thankful for all the support from fellow reefers. UP and On for our veryown reef club.

[Tanga]

Yup agree with bro Lee just do 50% water change for now it should OK and monitor your L/S for further stress. If need to change another 30% the week after so that most of the unwanted stuff reduce.

[Underwater]

Wow, sounds bad. But don't give up, bro.

Temp of 32 is pretty high. Maybe you can see where you place yr tank, is it well ventilated or is it against/near a wall tt's hit by afternoon sun? The ambient temp can be quite high at tt period. A fan will likely not be effective if the ambient temp is high also.

Like what bro Qxnviolent said, the number of internal pumps also play a part. My tank temp increases to 29plus now after adding a cheapo internal pump.

Let me know if you need another tank and filter pump for yr fishes. l can lend it to you FOC.

All the best.

[jervismun]

Sad to hear your experience... but in comparison I think bro LEE has gone through a horrid experience too.

Thanks guys for the reminder, I will relook at my connections and pipings to avoid similar catastrophe.

Give up? Nah...

[tjlee]

Hi All

manage to rescape and change the water but the NO2 still very high

(red colour) when tested.

may be wait for few more days.....fishes still in container but change water regularly, still swimming and eating...if condition donnt change do i need to recycle the whole Tank? then must put fishes in one of your tank haha.... if they are happy then give to you lah...

cheers

[jervismun]

Hi All

manage to rescape and change the water but the NO2 still very high

(red colour) when tested.

may be wait for few more days.....fishes still in container but change water regularly, still swimming and eating...if condition donnt change do i need to recycle the whole Tank? then must put fishes in one of your tank haha.... if they are happy then give to you lah...

cheers

R u adding in Nitrifying bacteria?

[tjlee]

Hi All

a big thank you for those who offer help and advice.

I have reconnect back my tank, chiller repaired and things are running well.

just tested the water parameter...all seem OK

all fishes in the tank is doing very well, only coral dead.......

when can i transfer the fishes back?

will try to post some photo when fishes are back